Official backing follows criticism from government-aligned figures
Cuba’s Communist Party has publicly endorsed Raúl Guillermo Rodríguez Castro, a grandson of former leader Raúl Castro known on the island as “El Cangrejo,” as an official intermediary in diplomatic contacts with the United States, party officials said Friday.
Elier Ramírez Cañedo, the deputy head of the party Central Committee’s Ideological Department and a member of its Central Committee, confirmed Rodríguez Castro’s role in a social media post, according to the United Press International. Ramírez Cañedo said Rodríguez Castro was participating in the negotiations “by decision of the country’s highest leadership.”
Cuban Prime Minister Manuel Marrero reinforced the government’s account of the talks between Havana and Washington in a post on X on Friday. Without directly mentioning Rodríguez Castro, Marrero supported the version presented by the Communist Party and defended the negotiating team designated by the country’s leadership.
“As President @DiazCanelB has stated, in keeping with the Revolution’s consistent policy, talks have been held with representatives of the U.S. government aimed at seeking solutions through dialogue to bilateral differences,” Marrero wrote.
Marrero’s message also emphasized that the negotiating group was acting under instructions from the “army general,” a reference that again placed Raúl Castro at the center of Cuba’s political decision-making — despite his lack of a formal government or Communist Party post — according to the digital news outlet CubaNet.
The institutional defense of Rodríguez Castro came after a USA Today profile prompted an unusual wave of criticism from some figures aligned with Cuba’s political system. The profile, published last week, described Rodríguez Castro as someone prepared by his grandparents for a political role, aware that he had lived a privileged life, and convinced he could help mediate an agreement with the United States that would allow Cuba to prosper.
Rodríguez Castro holds no formal political or diplomatic position in President Miguel Díaz-Canel’s government. However, he told USA Today he regularly has access to classified reports from the Interior Ministry, the armed forces and the Foreign Ministry, which he said he discusses daily with his grandfather. The newspaper also described Rodríguez Castro’s affluent lifestyle, including his use of luxury goods and frequent international travel. He acknowledged enjoying privileges unavailable to most Cubans but attributed them to gifts from wealthy friends and admirers.
Cuban dissident media reported that several figures aligned with the government criticized Rodríguez Castro despite the Communist Party’s public support. Israel Rojas, a musician closely associated with the government, said that “no familiarity or joviality on the part of a revolutionary leader can excuse bypassing the country’s institutions, even symbolically,” according to digital news outlet 14ymedio.
Rojas also criticized the type of man he said Rodríguez Castro represents, arguing it contradicts the ideals of the Cuban Revolution. “Men and women who pay the price of the embargo and internal blunders. Far removed from luxuries, yachts, indecent gifts and VIP areas,” Rojas said.
The dispute reveals the extent of internal discontent with the current situation and the way the Cuban government is dealing with it, according to the Miami Herald, which reported that the Communist Party took note of the criticism.
MSI previously reported that CIA Director John Ratcliffe met with Rodríguez Castro and senior Cuban officials in Havana in May, conveying President Donald Trump’s message that the United States is prepared to engage only if Cuba makes fundamental changes. The meetings, which included Interior Minister Lázaro Álvarez Casas and the head of Cuban intelligence, marked the latest in a series of high-level encounters amid escalating tensions over Cuba’s energy crisis and the U.S. fuel blockade.