Update: D’oh! The Times says it’s just temporary. They should know.
Update2: A bit about his brother from the AP:
Raul, a political hardliner, belonged to a Communist youth group even before the revolution. The elder Castro didn’t publicly embrace socialism until 1961.
But on the economic front, he showed signs of flexibility. As defense minister, Raul has overseen some of Cuba’s most important experiments with limited market-style reforms. Military units produced and sold food at free markets and the military ran an important tourism company, Gaviota.
He also expressed interest in China’s version of free-enterprise socialism during a November 1997 visit.
In 1962 he became deputy prime minister and in 1972 first deputy prime minister, behind Fidel.
Like his brother, Raul has been suspicious of the United States and at a September 1960 rally denounced the U.S. Embassy as “a cave of spies.”
