When Raúl Castro, the brother of the late Fidel Castro, resigned in 2021 as First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba, the highest position of power on the island, it marked the end of almost six decades Castro rule.
The mantle was passed to Miguel Diaz-Canel. But for many Cubans, Raúl has continued to exercise what they consider a kind of “power in the shadows,” as they claim his presence and influence in the country’s politics remain ever-present.
During his farewell at the closing of the 8th Congress of the Communist Party of Cuba in April 2021, the army general warned that, as long as he lived, he would be ready, “with his foot in the stirrup,” to…