On November 25, 2016, Fidel Castro, Cuba's former leader, who had undergone more than 600 assassinations, died peacefully in his sleep.
Five years before his death, Fidel handed over power to his chosen heir, his most trusted comrade-in-arms, and his younger brother, 87-year-old Raul Castro.
Although Raul Castro was well-governed, many of his political ideas were very different from Fidel's administration, and many wondered why Fidel did not give the inheritance to his eldest son, Fidel Jr..
<h1 class="pgc-h-center-line" data-track="5" > the Castro family dogma is strict and the heirs are selected cautiously</h1>
To gain insight into the process of selecting the heirs of the Castro family, you must first master the strict rules of the family.
In February, Fidel Castro's grandson Sandro posted a video of his show of wealth on social networking sites, in which he was full of sunshine and luxury cars.
The move immediately caused an uproar, and such a show of wealth violated not only the family rules of the Castro family, but also the dogma that restrained the family from keeping a low profile during the lifetime of Grandpa Fidel.
Sandro's grandmother immediately gave him a slap, although Sandro later explained that the luxury car was only owned by his friends and he borrowed it, but he also had to accept the family punishment, not only could not continue to get a good life, but also was sent to the military base to work volunteers and clean the fuel tanks.
After Fidel's death, the Castro family was still so strictly managed. During Fidel's lifetime, there were only a few more rules in the family.
Fidel Castro was married twice in his life and had a son with his first wife, and this son was the little Fidel he valued most.
Although little Fidel has the status of the eldest son, he can gain the favor of his father, but also thanks to his superior mind and his appearance that is very similar to his father.
In the 1970s, Fidel Jr. was admitted to the Soviet Union with excellent grades, and when he returned home, he was responsible for the development of the Nuclear Power Program in Cuba as the main leader.
In 1980 he was appointed President of the Cuban Atomic Energy Commission, but a few years later, the Soviet Union collapsed, cutting off financial assistance to Cuba and suspending nuclear power plant projects.
In the same year, Fidel Jr. suddenly fell out of favor in front of his father and was removed from his post, and Fidel Castro also declared that his son was not qualified for this position.
Being able to deny his son's ability to the outside world so much shows that little Fidel has long been kicked out of the heir to consider the candidate.
People who have dealt with little Fidel say that he is not like a politician, but more like a polite scholar, and there is not much scheming between words, easy-going behavior, and not too much deterrence.
As a scholar, easy-going is the advantage, but as a politician, the lack of deterrence is absolutely impossible.
In terms of science, Fidel Jr. can be described as a conscientious person, winning the recognition of many experts in domestic and international physics.
But even so, Fidel Castro needed an heir not a scholar who only knew how to invent, but a political machine that knew how to dictate and dispatch people's hearts, and it was precisely because of his excessive investment in science that Fidel Castro quickly put his firstborn son outside the consideration of heir.
Of course, the reason why fidel jr. was completely abandoned by the Castro family did not stop there.
As the eldest son, little Fidel followed his father's example, dressed in a direction and political philosophy, and tried to move closer to his father.
It is precisely because he is too similar to his father that he has many difficulties on the political road.
The Cuba that separated the 20th century from the 21st century is no longer the Cuba it once was, and it needs an economic transformation to break the difficulties of successful development.
At the same time, the United States needs a place that can take on high health insurance, and Cuba's medical development is unique in Latin America, while some of the old industrial cities on the southern coast of the United States have been in a decay cycle, and it is necessary to transfer production capacity to Cuba.
Economically, if Cuba can match the United States, there is a new possibility for the future.
However, if cooperation with the United States is to be developed, then the political ideas that Cuba once adhered to will be turned upside down, and a little Fidel, who is always close to his predecessors, will certainly not be able to take on the heavy responsibility of this vast reform.
Therefore, little Fidel only tasted the sweetness of power, fell from the clouds, and was abandoned by his father and his people in history, and this gap also caused him to become depressed and committed suicide in 2018.
It can be seen that Fidel Castro has extremely high requirements for the heirs of his children and is extremely strict with his children.
He firmly believed in the principle that "no diamonds, no porcelain work", and none of the 5 sons of his second wife entered the political world, and for a long time they were unknown.
<h1 class="pgc-h-center-line" data-track="33" > pass is located in the "right and left arm"</h1>
With no one to succeed to the throne, Fidel Castro had to set his sights on the rest of the family, and his favorite in the family was his brother Raul Castro.
Time magazine once said of the two of them: "Fidel Castro is the heart and soul of the Cuban Revolution, and his brother Raul is the fist of the revolution." ”
As Fidel's assistant, Raúl had a high prestige in Cuba, but in order not to dominate, he rarely showed his face, but only acted as a foil for his brother.
Raul Castro is inseparable from his brother and has a deep affection.
The two came into contact with Marxist-Leninist ideas together at a young age and took communism as their mission.
On July 26, 1953, the two led the revolutionary army to attack the Moncada camp, intending to start an armed struggle, and after the failure of the uprising, they went into exile in Mexico together and fought side by side to organize a new armed uprising.
In the course of the Mexican struggle, Raúl recruited a soul of the Cuban Revolution, Che Guevara from Argentina.
In 1956, fidel, Raúl and Guevara, the core figures of the Cuban revolution, entered the Mountains of Maestra to wage guerrilla warfare.
In order to help his brother expand his armed forces, Raúl launched a second front and engaged in guerrilla warfare with the enemy.
In the course of the war, he skillfully maneuvered between people and soldiers, received strong support from the local people, and cultivated many outstanding talents in Cuba in the later period.
It can be said that the victory of the Cuban Revolution is half the credit of Raúl.
After seizing national power in 1959, Raúl became the second in command of the Cuban party, government and army, and was elected as a member of the Politburo and second secretary of the Politburo at major political conferences of the Cuban Communist Party.
He was the minister of the Ministry of the Revolutionary Armed Forces and the only general in the Cuban army, and he assisted his brother in grasping the direction during the voyage and participating in leading the economic work.
It was these few experiences of fighting side by side that Raúl won almost 100 percent trust from his brother Fidel Castro.
But to become Cuba's next leader, Fidel Castro alone is clearly not enough to convince everyone, and Raúl is a politician who can convince the public.
Raúl's early years of fighting alongside Che Guevara gave him a good international reputation, and many of Che Guevara's followers were willing to offer a little kindness to the idol's comrades-in-arms.
On the basis of this international wind review, Raúl also made his own efforts.
Compared with his brother, Raul Castro was a pragmatic man who knew the economic situation very well, what Cuba needed for development and what the people needed for their lives.
Long before taking over, Raúl began to promote economic reforms in Cuba and to contribute to the development of the people's quality of life.
In 1986, the drastic changes in Eastern Europe, the Soviet economy collapsed, and Cuba, which has always relied on the Soviet Union, was even more withered away, the UNITED Blockade was outside, its own development was insufficient, many people's lives were unsustainable, they fled, and Cuban society was in a panic.
In order to stabilize the social order, Raul Castro took to the podium for the first time and said calmly to the masses: "Beans are more important than cannons." ”
This sentence made Raul Castro completely win the hearts of the people and became the most majestic and powerful needle in the hearts of the Cuban people.
With the favor of his brother, the recognition of the international community, the support of the people, and the seniority of the military, Raúl unsurprisingly became Fidel Castro's successor.
On 31 July 2006, Fidel Castro had to delegate power for gastrointestinal surgery, and in accordance with Article 94 of the Cuban Constitution, he temporarily transferred supreme power to Raul Castro.
After Raúl's succession, the Cuban people's understanding of the tacit understanding of the Castro brothers has reached a higher level.
Despite his abdication, Fidel still has a voice behind the scenes, and he is closely watching Raul's every move, always ready, and if his successor is not qualified, he will adopt a backup plan.
Fortunately, Raul's performance did not disappoint him. In terms of political stance, Raul and his brother are not too close to the United States, but he is not completely unkind, and will make modest concessions in economic and medical care.
Raúl paid more attention to socio-economic and popular life than to political ideals, and after his succession, Cuba officially bid farewell to the Cold War era and entered a stage of development.
Many who did not know the Castro brothers thought that Raul's wanton behavior was bound to anger Fidel.
After all, Fidel advocates the spirit of just-in-the-middle and unbending jealousy, and Raul's use of market factors in the planned economy is, in the eyes of Fidel's followers, opportunistic, a flood beast that destroys the communist economy.
However, the outside world underestimated the tacit understanding between the two brothers, and Fidel not only did not get angry, but strongly supported his brother's behavior.
They had a revolutionary friendship and trust that no one else could match, and it was because of this trust that Fidel was reluctant to interfere too much in his brother's internal affairs.
In Fidel Castro's view, to make Cuba better, he chose the right heir, as for the inheritance and persistence of political ideas, Fidel did not pay attention to it.
Raul, on the other hand, has undoubtedly successfully fulfilled the task entrusted to him by his brother.
After completing the expedition, Fidel finally officially handed over power to Raul Castro at the 2011 Congress of the Sixth Congress of the Communist Party of Cuba.
After Raul took office, according to his own political vision, he began to plan cuba's new future, breaking the ice in relations with US President Barack Obama.
In December 2014, Raul spoke on television and announced to Obama over the air that the two countries would work together to normalize relations.
Since then, Cuba's relations with the United States have continued to improve, and the warming of this relationship has also injected new vitality into the Cuban economy.
Cuba's tourism industry is growing rapidly, and professional medical services are constantly innovating.
Thanks to its reforms, the Cuban people can freely enter and leave the country with visas, and economic development has also brought impetus to Cuba's mobile network and social media, and the Cuban people have more and more contact with foreign ideas, and the spiritual and material culture has flourished.
Old problems sink to the bottom of the sea, new ones surface, and Raul grows older, like his older brother Fidel.
In 2021, Raul Castro was 89 years old, and the hospital made him unable to govern the country, and on April 19, at the 8th National Congress of the Communist Party of Cuba, Raul Castro announced his official retirement, with Diazcanel as the first secretary of the Cuban Communist Party.
Raúl fulfilled his brother's entrustment, and will his chosen heir lead Cuba into a new era? The answer to this question is probably left to time to verify.