The Oldest Castro Brother Is Dead

JP Carroll

Former Cuban dictator Fidel Castro and current dictator Raul Castro’s brother Ramon Castro died Feb. 23 at 91.

The lesser-known Castro brother was the oldest of the three siblings. Castro spent his life involved in the Cuban agricultural sector.

Castro went by the nickname of “Mongo” and was known to smoke cigars since he was 12 years old. When his more well-known brothers were in prison in 1953, he would send them cigars.

Mongo’s brother Fidel Castro came to power in 1959 after leading an armed uprising against the government of General Fulgencio Batista. Diplomatic relations ended between the U.S. and Cuba in January 1961 under the Kennedy administration.

While Fidel Castro led Cuba, there were two of the most consequential confrontations of the Cold War era. First, there was the April 1961 Bay of Pigs Invasion which consisted of U.S.-funded Cuban exiles who failed to overthrow Castro. Then there was the Cuban Missile Crisis in October 1962 where the Soviet Union deployed ballistic missiles in Cuba.

While Fidel was leading Cuba, his brother Mongo lived a quiet life as a farmer but also officially consulted the government and founded several state-run companies dealing with the agricultural sector. Mongo was also a aeputy in the Cuban National Assembly, the equivalent of a congressman in the U.S.

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