Cuba’s Raul Castro leaves political stage after decades

Raul Castro (L) leaves office amid an economic crisis that has caused shortages of even basic goods. Right, former President Barack Obama. [Courtesy]

Raul Castro, who is retiring from high public office, for most of his life toiled in the shadow of his older brother, Fidel Castro. Yet he also played a key role in Cuba’s 1959 leftist revolution and the preservation of Cuban socialism.

While Fidel was the charismatic leader who rallied Cubans to defend the revolution and defy the United States, Raul, 89, built the military into a formidable fighting force that saw off enemies, including a US-backed invasion at the Bay of Pigs.