Raúl Castro

Raúl Modesto Castro Ruz (Spanish: [raˈul ˈkastro]; born June 3, 1931), is the current President of Cuba. He played an important role in the Cuban Revolution against the Batista regime. He became the leader of Cuba in 2008, when his older brother, Fidel Castro, was forced to resign due to health issues. Raúl himself has announced that he will probably retire in 2018.

Under the leadership of Raúl, Cuba has undertaken small economic reforms which have been seen by some as the beginning of market socialism in Cuba. The Cuban ambassador to Finland, Enrique Gonzáles, told the Commmunist Workers' Party that "Cuba's economy and society are changing, but we will not give up our principles. We have a socialist system and we want to build communism. We have our own Cuban way of doing things, we will not give up the principles. The US-led embargo, that the EU is also imposing, is preventing our development because capitalism does not want socialism to progress. We are making economic reforms, but the means of production will remain in the hands of the state. We will not sell our country, as happened in the former socialist countries in the 1990s in the name of free trade. Cuba belongs to Cubans."