Juanita Castro, a younger sister of the late Cuban leader Fidel Castro and who She had been in exile since the 1960sHe died this Monday at the age of 90 in a hospital in Miami, reported journalist María Antonieta Collins, co-author of her memoirs.
“Today, Juanita Castro precedes us on the journey of life and death“Extraordinary woman, tireless fighter for the cause of her Cuba, which she loved so much,” Collins posted on her Instagram account.
Juanita Castro was very critical of the regime led by her brothers First Fidel Castro (1926-2016), then Raúl, 92 years oldand always showed his political differences with the government of Havana.
Collins was the author of the Castro sister’s memoirs, who left Cuba in 1964 after breaking up with them. The journalist, who did not elaborate on the cause of death, asked for “privacy at this very painful moment” on behalf of her sister Emma and her family.
“There will be no interviews and his funeral will be private, in keeping with his wishes.” We ask for your prayers for the eternal rest of his soul.“he added.
A few years after the triumph of the Cuban Revolution Juanita Castro left the island for Mexico and a few months later he went into exile in the United States, of which he received citizenship in 1984.
It developed in South Florida a life as a businesswoman and was an activist for years against the Castro regime.
He said this years ago from his exile in Miami For decades he confronted the Cuban system and also those who “wrongfully did not forgive in exile” that their surname was Castro Ruz and “attacked them mercilessly.”
She showed her political differences at all times with the regime in Havana and although he mourned the death of Fidel Castro in 2016, he said that he did not plan to attend the funeral.
Then, in an interview with the Hispanic network Univision, he said that it was the two of them “Separated for political reasons for many years”but that his feelings and family ties had been maintained “with much pain” on his part.
According to a biographical sketch on the Telemundo channel, the fourth of the Castro Ruz brothers was born on May 6, 1933. She studied business administration at the Las Ursulinas nun school in Havana and returned to her hometown of Birán in what is now Holguín province, where she opened the Juanita cinema.
He supported the revolution against Fulgencio Batista and the victory of the rebellion, but soon he began to have disagreements with his brother Fidel after the political persecution of those who did not agree with the ideology of the communist regime began.
Juanita Castro’s contacts with the CIA began in June 1961 during a trip to Mexico to visit her sister Emma. He later bought an apartment in Havana Where he hid persecuted politicians, he also helped nuns who were expelled from the island, Telemundo reported.
After joining the opposition group Cuban Catholic Action in 1964, Raúl Castro showed him a file containing all of his conspiratorial activities and decided to seek refuge in Mexico, as he says in his memoirs.
While in exile in Miami, she opened a pharmacy in 1973, which she ran until December 2006 sold his business to the retail chain CVS. For the past few years, she has lived away from the media spotlight in her home in the Coral Gables neighborhood of South Florida.