Ramon Castro, farmer big brother of Fidel and Raul, dies at 91

HAVANA, Cuba – Ramon Castro, the eldest brother of Cuban President Raul Castro and revolutionary icon Fidel Castro, has died at the age of 91, official media reported Tuesday, February 23.

The eldest brother, a farmer who was not a member of the government, nonetheless influenced agricultural policies after the 1959 revolution.

“This morning, comrade Ramon Castro Ruz passed away in the capital at the age of 91… his remains have been cremated and will be returned to his birthplace,” a news announcer said, without giving a cause of death.

The eldest Castro had already held the honorific of “Heroic Worker of the Republic of Cuba.” His death follows that of the president’s sister, Angela, who died in Havana in 2012.

Ramon Castro was born in the farming village of Biran, in eastern Holguin province. He was the second of 7 sons of Spanish immigrant farmer Angel Castro and Cuban-born Lina Ruz.

When his brothers got involved in rebel activity and politics, he ran the family farm.

“I don’t look like Fidel,” he often joked, saying “he looks like me, since I’m older.”

Raul Castro took over the leadership of the Americas’ only communist country from his brother Fidel in 2006 and was formally made president in 2008. Raul Castro is 84 and Fidel Castro is 89. – Rappler.com