Alejandro Castro Espín (born 29 July 1965) is a

Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...

n political and military figure. He holds the rank of Brigadier General in the

Interior Ministry An interior ministry or ministry of the interior (also called ministry of home affairs or ministry of internal affairs) is a government department that is responsible for domestic policy, public security and law enforcement. In some states, the ...

of Cuba. He is the only son of

Raúl Castro Raúl Modesto Castro Ruz ( ; ; born 3 June 1931) is a Cuban retired politician and general who served as the First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba, first secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba, the most senior position in the One-par ...

, the former

First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba The First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba is the Supreme leader, top leader of Cuba. The First Secretary is the highest office within the Communist Party of Cuba as well as ranking first in the Politburo of the C ...

, and Vilma Espín, one of the main leaders of the

Cuban Revolution The Cuban Revolution () was the military and political movement that overthrew the dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista, who had ruled Cuba from 1952 to 1959. The revolution began after the 1952 Cuban coup d'état, in which Batista overthrew ...

; he is a nephew of

Fidel Castro Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz (13 August 1926 – 25 November 2016) was a Cuban politician and revolutionary who was the leader of Cuba from 1959 to 2008, serving as the prime minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976 and President of Cuba, president ...

Biography

Alejandro was born on 29 July 1965. He is the only son of the marriage between Raúl Castro and Vilma Espín (1930–2007), and brother of Deborah, Mariela and Nilsa. His sister Mariela is one of the country's most prominent

sexologists Sexology is the scientific study of human sexuality, including human sexual interests, behaviors, and functions. The term ''sexology'' does not generally refer to the non-scientific study of sexuality, such as social criticism. Sexologists app ...

, and also director of the National Center for Sex Education in Cuba. He participated in the Cuban contingent sent by his government to the

Angolan Civil War The Angolan Civil War () was a civil war in Angola, beginning in 1975 and continuing, with interludes, until 2002. The war began immediately after Angola became independent from Portugal in November 1975. It was a power struggle between two for ...

, and although he did not fight on the

front line A front line (alternatively front-line or frontline) in military terminology is the position(s) closest to the area of conflict of an Military, armed force's Military personnel, personnel and Military technology, equipment, usually referring to ...

, he had an accidental injury to an eye (no eye loss) during a military exercise in

Luanda Luanda ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Angola, largest city of Angola. It is Angola's primary port, and its major industrial, cultural and urban centre. Located on Angola's northern Atlantic coast, Luanda is Ang ...

Angola Angola, officially the Republic of Angola, is a country on the west-Central Africa, central coast of Southern Africa. It is the second-largest Portuguese-speaking world, Portuguese-speaking (Lusophone) country in both total area and List of c ...

. This injury earned him the nickname "The One-Eyed" () among Cuban dissidents. Alejandro Castro is an engineer and has a master's degree in

international relations International relations (IR, and also referred to as international studies, international politics, or international affairs) is an academic discipline. In a broader sense, the study of IR, in addition to multilateral relations, concerns al ...

. He has also been highlighted as a researcher on issues related to defense and national security. Since his father,

, came to power, Alejandro has become personal assistant to the president and been involved in various political events and official visits, which has increased speculation about the possibility that he is Castro's successor as head of the Cuban regime. He regularly writes articles in the Cuban press, and in 2009 he presented his first book, ''El Imperio del Terror'' (), published by the publishing house of the Cuban Interior Ministry, which explains his particular vision of the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

' interests of power in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

References

External links

Selected articles by Alejandro Castro Espín
1965 births Living people Politicians from Havana Cuban communists Cuban military personnel of the Angolan Civil War

Alejandro Alejandro is the Spanish form of the name Alexander. Alejandro has multiple variations in different languages, including Aleksander ( Czech, Polish), Alexandre ( French), Alexandros ( Greek), Alsander ( Irish), Alessandro ( Italian), Aleksand ...

Cuban people of Canarian descent Cuban people of Galician descent Cuban people of French descent Children of presidents of Cuba {{Cuba-mil-bio-stub