THE INNER CIRCLE OF POWER
Complete Biographies of Cuba Power Elite.
General of the Army Raúl Castro
(86 years old)
First Secretary of the Communist Party
An intolerant Marxist-Leninist, Raúl Castro is a highly organized, cautious and clannish leader with an unwavering commitment to Communism, Russia, Iran and Venezuela.
In March 1953, Raúl traveled to Vienna (four months before the “Moncada”) to attend the Moscow sponsored World Youth Conference. Afterwards, he went to Budapest, Prague and Bucharest. He liked what he saw. During this trip he established a long-lasting friendship with Nikolai Leonov, a KGB espionage officer that later turned out to be a useful link with the Kremlin. Raúl recalled that from that moment on “he was ready to die for the Communist cause.” Declassified KGB documents offer evidence that Fidel Castro “deliberately made a Marxist of Raul.”
At 22, back in Cuba, Raúl joined the Cuban Communist Party Youth Branch (CCP). Latter while in Mexico for the “Granma” operation, Raúl struck up a close ideological friendship with Ernesto “Che” Guevara and forged a commitment to create a Marxist society in Cuba. In 1963, Raúl was the official link between Fidel and Nikita Khrushchev to deploy nuclear missiles in Cuba. At 86, he still remains strongly attached to his lifelong ideology. While he is healthy and running Cuba, individual rights and private property will be forbidden in the island. (A car and a house are the exceptions). There are reports stating that Raúl is having health issues.
Commander of the Rebel Army
José Machado Ventura
(87 years old)
Second Secretary of the Communist Party
A medical doctor, Machado was appointed to the Politburo in 1975. He is a hardline Communist ideologue and a key member of Raul Castro’s inner circle of power.
As Second Secretary of the Communist Party, Machado is the immediate successor of Raúl Castro as Interim First Secretary of the Communist Party, until ratified or substituted by the Politburo. Machado has been effective in the selection of younger Communist leaders, like Miguel Díaz-Canel, Lázara López and Lázaro Expósito in the succession process. He remains close to Raúl Castro and committed to safeguard Communism as an irreversible revolutionary dogma.
General Luis Alberto Rodríguez López-Callejas
(57 years old)
President of GAESA
Son of General Guillermo Rodríguez and father of Captain Raúl Guillermo Rodríguez Castro (grandson of Raúl Castro and head of his bodyguards). López-Callejas leads GAESA, a gigantic conglomerate of state and mixed enterprises that manages over 65% of the legal and illegal financial deals of the Cuban Government (highly secret operation), including the Port of Mariel’s developing enterprises, and a distribution partnership with the Colombian and Venezuelan drug cartels. General Rodríguez is the czar of the economy and a powerful heir to the military dynasty. Member of the Communist Party Central Committee.
Colonel (R) Miguel Díaz-Canel
(57 years old)
President of the Council of State and Ministers
Member of the Communist Party Politburo
Díaz-Canel is a Colonel of the FAR and a Civil Engineer. From 2009-2012, he was Minister of Higher Education. A protégée of Ramon Machado Ventura and close collaborator of Colonel Alejandro Castro. The power of his new political role will depend on his personal administrative abilities to navigate a very difficult assignment as President.
Coronel Alejandro Castro Espín
(53 years old)
Son of Raúl Castro
Intelligence Coordinator of the Armed Forces and the Ministry of the Interior
From this position of extraordinary power, Alejandro Castro was involved in the Moscow meetings and in planning the details of President Vladimir Putin’s trip to Havana. (2014). He also led secret talks with the Vatican prior to the normalization of diplomatic relations between the U.S. and Cuba, and participated with his father Raúl Castro and President Obama in meetings in Havana. He has a degree in Diplomatic Relations. In spite of his rank, he is a very powerful figure in the succession process.
Army Corps General Leopoldo Cintras Frías
(73 years old)
Minister of the Armed Forces (MINFAR)
Member of the Communist Party Politburo
Chief of the Western Strategic Region.
Expert in the deployment of armored units. He distinguished himself in Africa where he commanded the southern front. Lacking charisma, he is reliable and loyal to Raúl Castro. Former Chief of the Western Army. General Cintras is highly esteemed within the FAR officers.
Army Corps General Álvaro López Miera
(71 years old)
First Vice Minister of the MINFAR
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
Member of the Communist Party Politburo
Veteran of guerrilla struggles in Cuba and Africa. Astute and discreet, he is respected by the officer corps. Through the years, Lopez Miera developed a close bond with Raul Castro and Vilma Espin’s family. He’s one of the ranking generals in the succession process.
Army Corps General Ramón Espinosa
(78 years old)
Vice Chairman of the Armed Forces
Member of the Communist Party Politburo
Chief of the Eastern Strategic Regions
Veteran of the African campaigns. He was severely wounded in Angola. Former Chief of the Eastern Army. General Espinosa is well regarded in Raúl Castro’s inner circle of power.
Army Corp General Joaquín Quintas Solá
(79 years old)
Vice Minister of the MINFAR
Chief of the Central Strategic Region
Quintas Sola joined Raúl Castro’s guerrillas (1958) in the Sierra Cristal. In May 1976, he replaced the wounded General Ramon Espinosa as Chief of the Cabinda front in Angola. From 1987-2008 was Chief of the Revolutionary Armed Forces (FAR) Central Army. Member of the Communist Party Central Committee.
Commander of the Rebel Army Ramiro Valdés
(85 years old)
Member of the Communist Party Politburo
Veteran of the Moncada, the Granma and the Sierra Maestra guerrillas. Founder of the State Security Service, (including MININT), was trained by the East German Stassi in the application of terror, torture and executions of oppositionists. Ramiro Valdés has been very active setting up the intelligence and repressive apparatus in Venezuela
Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla
(60 years old)
Minister of Foreign Affairs, 2009-Present
Member of the Communist Party Politburo
He is an attorney and served in Angola on the internationalist missions as a junior officer in the FAR. From 1995-2003 he was the Cuban Ambassador to the United Nations. In 2004, he was appointed First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs for Latin America and Minister of Foreign Affairs in 2009. At the University of Havana, he was a leader of the F.E.U. (Federación Estudiantil Universitaria). A director of Juventud Rebelde magazine. A Member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party, and in 2012 was appointed to the Politburo. He is considered a future alternative to Díaz-Canel if he fails in his task as President of the Council of State and Ministers.
Esteban Lazo Hernández
(74 years old)
President of the National Assembly of the Peoples Power since 2013
Member of the Communist Party Politburo
He is the highest-ranking Cuban of African decent in the Communist government. He controls the National Assembly. Highly influential within the “nomenclatura” for his direct access to Machado Ventura and Raúl Castro.
Coronel Marino Murillo Jorge
(56 years old)
Chairman of the Economic Policy Commission
Member of the Communist Party Politburo
Marino Murillo was a prominent member of the Union of Young Communists. He is a graduate of the National Defense College. From 2006-2009 was Minister of International Trade. From 2009-2011, was Minister of Economic and Planning. In 2011 he was appointed Chairman of the Economic Policy Commission. As Chairman, Murillo is in charge of implementing Raúl Castro and GAESA’s economic updating of Cuba’s system. On August 2012, a daughter of Murillo entered the U.S. though Laredo Texas and settled in Tampa, Florida.
Division General Leonardo Andollo
(71 years old)
Second Chief of Staff, MINFAR and Chief of Operations
Veteran of wars in Africa. He attended the Voroshilov Military Academy (1974-1976) for training as military engineer and logistics. Andollo is working with General Luis Alberto Rodríguez in the development of the Port of Mariel enterprise. He travels frequently to Caracas where for years he has excellent operational relations with the Venezuelan military in the transshipment of drugs from Colombia and Bolivia. Andollo has a Ph.D. in military engineering, is executive director of the “Implementation and Development of the Cuban Economy,” and a Member of the Communist Party Central Committee. He has a son living the U.S. and a daughter that resides in Yucatan, Mexico.
Division General Francis Pardo
(76 years old)
Vice Minister of the MININT
Veteran of the African Wars. General Francis Pardo is one of the most powerful officers in the Armed Forces. He served as chief of the security for Fidel Castro. Later he became Chief of the Personal Security Directorate of the MININT including all prominent officials of the Cuban government. Recently he had severe health issues but reappeared in March 2018, in Caracas, with General Raul Castro. His command included an “elite” group of more than 3000 troopers stationed in the Havana area. Captain Raúl Guillermo Rodríguez, Castro’s grandson, is under his supervision, been trained for higher ranks and security responsibilities. For years he has had close links with Luis Alberto Rodríguez and Alejandro Castro. His health remains an issue of concern.
Vice Admiral Julio Cesar Gandarilla
(77 years old)
Minister of the Interior (MININT)
Coordinates the intelligence gathering, infiltration and brutal repression of the population. His main weapon is a systematic, inflexible system of the state security forces’ application of violence. Gandarilla is also in charge of the National Police, the “guarda fronteras” forces, the Fire Department and prison system. He is a close collaborator of Alejandro Castro. Member of the Communist Party Central Committee.
Division General Onelio Aguilera
(64 years old)
Chief of the Western Army
General of the African War generation. He was 4 years old when Castro came to power. His recent appointment from the Eastern to the more powerful Western Army (that included the tank division “Rescate de Sanguily”) is an indication that General Aguilera is raising in the Cuban Armed Forces chain of command. He also headed the troops marching at the Plaza de la Revolución to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of “Girón.” General Aguilera is a Member of the Communist Party Central Committee since 1982.
Division General Raúl Rodríguez Lobaina
(68 years old)
Chief of the Central Army
General of the African War generation. His army includes the tank regiment at “La Paloma Base” in Matanzas. General Rodríguez Lobaina is a Member of the Communist Party Central Committee.
Division General Rafael Hernández Delgado
Chief of the Eastern Army
General of the African War generation. He was recently promoted as Chief of the Eastern Army. It includes the mechanized Division 50 based near Holguín and the Border Brigade facing the U.S.-Guantanamo Naval Base. General Rodríguez is a Member of the Communist Party Central Committee.
Coronel Homero Acosta
(54 years old)
Secretary of the Council of State
He has been serving as the Secretary of the Council of State since August 2009. He holds an undergraduate degree in Law and a master’s degree in Public Law. He began his career in the Revolutionary Armed Forces Military Tribunals first as a Military Judge, and later as a specialist in the Directorate of Military Tribunals. Coronel Acosta arrived at his current position because of his closeness to Raul Castro in the Secretariat of the Ministry of the Revolutionary Armed Forces as a judicial advisor. According to reports, Acosta is very organized and efficient. He took part in the negotations to reestablish diplomatic relations with the United States. During the latest plenary session of the Central Committee, Acosta presented the report on constitutional revisions. He is a Member of the Communist Party Central Committee and deputy of “Poder Popular.” He’s also close to Alejandro Castro. He is a person with growing political power.
Gladys María Bejerano Portela
(71 years old)
Comptroller General of Cuba since 2009
Vice President of the Council of State and Comptroller General since 2009. She is the auditor of accounting and oversees the financial reports, such as balance sheets and income statements, of all the State organisms with the exception of Luis Alberto Rodriguez’s GAESA, that has never made public a financial statement. She is a though comptroller who follows the lead of Coronel Alejandro Castro, Coordinator of Intelligence of the MINFAR and MININT. They never notify in advance when they will do an audit. Her record of bureaucrats sent to prison for corruption included the Food Minister Alejandro Roca. GAESA and the military enterprises are out of the reach of the Comptroller General. Member of the Communist Party Central Committee.
Rodrigo Malmierca
(61 years old)
Minister of Foreign Trade and Foreign Investment
He is the son of former Cuban Foreign Minister Isidoro Malmierca Peoli, founder of State Security and Deputy Minister of the Interior. Rodrigo graduated in economics from the University of Havana in 1980. He worked from 1982 to 1992 in the Department of International Economic Institution. In 1992, he was appointed Economic and Commercial Counselor of Cuba in Brazil. From 2002 to 2005 Malmierca served as Havana’s Ambassador to Belgium, the European Union and Luxemburg. In 2005 he was sent with the same position to the United Nations. In 2009, General Raúl Castro appointed Malmierca as Minister of Foreign Trade and Foreign Investment. He is a Member of the Communist Party Central Committee and the National Assembly of Popular Power.
Coronel Manuel Marrero
(54 years old)
Minister of Tourism since 2004
He is an architectural engineer. In 2001 he was named director of GAVIOTA, S.A., a major tourist operation that administers 4-5 start hotels. In 2004 Colonel Marrero was appointed Minister of Tourism. He has held this important position for over 14 years. The Ministry of Tourism is one of the hard currency earning operations in Cuba, and is closely controlled by GAESA, the gigantic enterprise of the Armed Forces led by General Luis Alberto Rodríguez. Member of the Communist Party Central Committee.
Lázaro Expósito Canto
(63 years old)
First Secretary of the Communist Party in Santiago de Cuba
Expósito is a teacher by trade, later becoming the principal of a small primary school. He began his political career in the Communist Party in Caibarién as a Member of the Executive Committee of People’s Power. Later, he was promoted to First Secretary of the Communist Party in Santa Clara, and subsequently appointed to lead the Communist Party in the province of Granma. In September 2009, the Plenary Session of the Central Committee publicly designated him First Secretary of the Party in Santiago de Cuba, a city which can be a dead end for some and springboard for others due to its heroic, hospitable, and rebellious character. In May 2015, Expósito was awarded by Raul Castro the title of “Hero the Republic of Cuba.” He is well regarded within the communist inner circle leadership, especially by Machado Ventura. Member of the Communist Party Central Committe.
Colonel Abel González Santamaría
(46 years old)
National Defense and Security Deputy Director
Coronel of MININT, Abel González is one of the top advisors of Colonel Alejandro Castro. He holds a Ph.D. in Political Science and a Master’s in International Relations. Colonel González has published Op-ed articles in Granma and in “Cuba Debate.” He is the author of several books on the U.S. “imperialist” policies and compiles speeches of Fidel and Raúl Castro. Colonel González was the leading member of the Cuban delegation (3 meetings) in Washington on “U.S. and Cuba Law Enforcement Dialogues.” González is an ideological hard-liner among the younger generation led by Alejandro Castro.
Roberto Morales Ojeda
(51 years old)
Vice President of the Council of State
Minister of Public Health
Member of the Communist Party Politburo
Graduated from Medical School (1991). He becomes a “professional cadre of the CPC” and serves as member of Provincial Committee of Communist Party in Cienfuegos. In 2006, he was appointed First Secretary of the Provincial Committee and Member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party, and in the VI Congress he is appointed Member of Secretariat. He was appointed First Vice Minister of Public Health and in July 2010 replaced José Ramón Balaguer at the head of the ministry. He is Deputy to the National Assembly of Popular Power. Morales Ojeda coordinates with GAESA the multi-million dollar program from Cuban Medical Doctors and nurses, assigned to several countries, throughout the world.
Salvador Valdés Mesa
(72 years old)
First Vice President of the Council of State
Member of the Communist Party Politburo
Served as Secretary General of the Association of Rebel Youth (Asociación de Jóvenes Rebeldes [AJR]),in the Amancio Rodríguez region, today located in Las Tunas Province. He has occupied several positions in the CTC and in the Communist Party. He was Secretary General of the National Trade Union of Agricultural Workers (Sindicato Nacional de Trabajadores Agropecuarios) and Second Secretary of the CTC. Minister of Labor and First Secretary of the Communist Party Provincial Committee in Camagüey.