Raúl Castro, 95, reappears in public; images circulate worldwide

Less than a month after his last public appearance in the Cuban capital during commemorations marking the 100th anniversary of Fidel Castro’s birth, Cuba’s former leader, Raúl Castro, has been seen again at a public event at the age of 95.

Over the weekend, the country’s state television broadcast footage from a ceremony attended by Raúl Castro marking the 65th anniversary of the establishment of a unit within the Interior Ministry. The unit is responsible for protecting senior Cuban officials, including Fidel Castro himself.

Alongside his grandson, Raúl Guillermo Rodríguez Castro, who heads the personal security unit, the former president greeted several of its veterans. In the footage, he appears to be in good health, wearing his signature green military uniform.

Raúl Castro led Cuba from 2006 to 2018. Although he currently holds no official position in the state apparatus or the Communist Party, he continues to wield considerable influence over decision-making and maintains strong ties with the armed forces.

In June, the president’s office announced a package of economic reforms aimed at fundamentally restructuring the island’s economy and addressing the severe crisis gripping the country.

These measures have been described as the most profound transformation of Cuba’s economic model since the establishment of the communist regime around 70 years ago.

Meanwhile, in May, Raúl Castro became the subject of a lawsuit in the United States over the deaths of four American citizens in 1996. The incident occurred when two small aircraft carrying members of an anti-Castro group were brought down. At the time, Castro was serving as Cuba’s minister of the Revolutionary Armed Forces.