A Powerful Cuban Dies Unexpectedly

 

      On July 1st-2022 the death of Luis Alberto Rodriguez Lopez-Calleia in Villa Clara has shocked Cuban watchers on the island and in the United States. He was 62-years-old and he apparently died from a heart attack. For many years Lopez-Calleria has reportedly been in total charge of about 80% of Cuba's economy. He was personally sanctioned when the Trump presidency expanded the 60-year-old Embargo into what many observers consider to be a genocidal Blockade.

     The mainstream U. S. media, as shown above, is abundantly aware of what the death of  Lopez-Calleia means. Despite rampant speculations inside the wild and unknowing gazes of the media, there is simply no one on the island that has been groomed to replace the irreplaceable Lopez-Calleia and his passing at age 62 was unexpected.

     For decades any listing of the Power Elite of Cuba has included Luis Alberto Rodriguez Calleia. He was formerly married to Raul Castro's daughter Deborah but his power evolved from his position within the Cuban military, as well as his closeness to both Fidel and Raul Castro.

     Fidel Castro died six years ago at age 90 but Raul Castro, at age 91, is still alive. His main bodyguard has been his grandson, also named Raul, who is the son of Lopez-Calleia and Deborah Castro Espin. It is not believed by insiders that any of the Castro children have serious political ambitions or political support.

    The death on July 1-2022 of the 62-year-old Rodriguez Lopez-Calleia while his 91-year-old mentor and father-in-law Raul Castro still lives, adds immensely to the new equation in Cuba.

     But while Rodriguez Lopez-Calleia was still alive, Cuba's President Miguel Diaz-Canel since 2018 has already carved out a strong niche as Revolutionary Cuba's leader as the predecessor to the Castro brothers Fidel & Raul. That is so, but often overlooked by analysts, even though Diaz-Canel, the island's former Education Minister, was born after the January-1959 triumph of the Cuban Revolution. Thus...Diaz-Canel will decide who inherits Lopez-Calleia's former, and unique, power in Cuba.

      Although he was not a rebel, President Diaz-Canel worships the Cuban Revolution because Fidel Castro is his all-time hero. From Havana to Santiago de Cuba on the other end of the island, Diaz-Canel often worships at Fidel's tomb.

    Contrary to what Americans are told, from the 1950s until July of 2022 there have always been plenty enough Fidel Castro worshippers in Cuba to keep the Revolution viable against staggering odds for seven decades. While counter revolutionary powers eagerly deny that fact, it remains the main reason -- against all odds -- Fidel's Cuba has not been overturned.

     Even though he died almost six years ago at age 90, Cuba remains Fidel Castro's Cuba...and that will remain so until someone overthrows or destroys his Revolution.

*&***********************&*