‘The Crab’: The Castro who could end communism in Cuba

March 30, 2026 — 3:45pm

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Washington: Since Fidel Castro swept to power in 1959, Cuba’s communist regime has weathered CIA assassination plots, American blockades and even a US-sponsored invasion.

The Castro family still controls Cuba more than six decades later, but its grip on power is slipping. This could be the moment the United States is able to quash what it regards as a communist irritant right under its nose – and it could be Castro’s grand-nephew who lets it happen.

As the grandson of Cuba’s de facto ruler, Raúl Castro, some refer to Raúl Guillermo Rodríguez Castro as Raúlito or “little Raúl”.

To others, the hulking figure is El Cangrejo – “The Crab”, a derogatory nickname for such a powerful individual, referring to the fact that he was born with six fingers on one hand.

But now the 41-year-old is emerging as a force in his own right. As the regime teeters on the brink of collapse amid a US stranglehold on oil imports, US President Donald Trump’s administration has opened talks with him.

“They’re looking for the next Delcy in Cuba,” one source said, referring to Delcy Rodriguez, the Trump-approved leader of Venezuela who took over after Nicolás Maduro was detained.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has reportedly opened back-channel communications with Rodríguez Castro. US officials are also said to have met him on the sidelines of the Caribbean Community conference in St Kitts and Nevis in late February.

The Cuban media now calls him “the Crab who moves forward”.

This third-generation Castro is shaping up to be the man who could end his family’s decades-long stalemate with the US – and perhaps the Castro dynasty altogether.

Unfinished business: Why Trump is squeezing Cuba

Rodríguez Castro is the son of Raúl Castro’s eldest daughter, Débora Castro Espín, and Luis Alberto Rodríguez López-Calleja, head of the Cuban military conglomerate Gaesa.

According to a cousin, he attended military school before........

© The Age