Ramon Castro, older brother of Fidel and Raul Castro, dies at 91


Ramon Castro, a rancher, farmer, and Fidel Castro's elder brother, died Tuesday. He was 91.
His death was announced by Cuban state media. Born on Oct. 14, 1924, Castro, nicknamed "Mongo," took a different path from his brothers Fidel and Raul, staying in eastern Cuba and working with his father at the family business. He did not have a lot of power in the government, but was a founding member of the Community Party of Cuba and worked as a consultant for the ministries of sugar and agriculture. He founded the state companies that oversaw the transportation of sugar cane and the production of oranges, and conducted agricultural research.
Castro bore a strong resemblance to Fidel, and was said to have told people that since he was the older one, his brother looked like him, not the other way around, The Associated Press reports. Castro was married once, and had two sons: Ramon Omar Castro and Angel Castro.
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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
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