Luis Alberto Rodríguez López-Calleja

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In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Rodríguez and the second or maternal family name is López Calleja.

Luis Alberto Rodríguez López-Calleja (19 January 1960[1] – 1 July 2022) was a Cuban military general, businessman and politician.[2] He was the head of Cuba's state-run enterprise GAESA and has been described as one of Cuba's most powerful people.[3] A key member of Cuba's Central Committee of the Communist Party, he was once married to Raúl Castro's daughter Deborah. He died on 1 July 2022, of a heart attack.[4]

Biography[edit]

Luis Alberto Rodríguez López-Calleja was born on 19 January 1960 in Santa Clara.[5] He was the son of the general Guillermo Rodríguez del Pozo (1929–2016), a companion of the Castro brothers during the Cuban Revolution.[6][7] The overall biography of Rodríguez López-Calleja is little known. He is rarely quoted in the Cuban media and rarely photographed.[8][9]

In 2011, Rodríguez López-Calleja, then colonel, joined the central committee of the Communist Party of Cuba.[10]

Rodríguez López-Calleja headed the financial arm of the Cuban Armed Forces, known as GAESA. This conglomerate of public companies controls hotels, factories, stores, an airline, telecommunications companies and even the port area of Mariel.[11][12]

In September 2020, US authorities decided to apply sanctions against Rodríguez López-Calleja as director of the GAESA business conglomerate. According to US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo: “Revenues generated from GASEA's economic activities are used to oppress the Cuban people and to finance Cuba's colonial domination of Venezuela”.[13]

During the VIII Congress of the Cuban Communist Party, which took place from 16 to 19 April 2021, Rodríguez López-Calleja joined the Political Bureau, the highest authority of the Party, composed of 14 members.[14][15]

Rodríguez López-Calleja died on 1 July 2022, officially from cardiovascular failure,[16] unofficially from lung cancer.[17]

In the 1990s, Rodríguez López-Calleja married Deborah Castro Espín, eldest daughter of Raúl Castro. A graduate in chemical engineering, she is the mother of his two children: Vilma Rodríguez Castro and Raúl Guillermo Rodríguez Castro. The latter is in charge of the personal protection cell of his grandfather Raúl Castro. After his divorce from Déborah Castro, Rodríguez López-Calleja maintained good relations with his former father-in-law Raúl Castro.[18][8][19]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Associated Press (1 July 2022). "Chief of Cuba's military businesses, ex-Castro in-law dies". ABC News. Retrieved 1 July 2022.
  2. ^ "Cuban general Lopez-Calleja dead of heart attack, state media says". Reuters. 1 July 2022. Retrieved 1 July 2022.
  3. ^ "Rodriguez Lopez-Calleja, Cuba's Power in the Shadows, Dies at 62". Bloomberg.com. July 2022. Retrieved 28 July 2022.
  4. ^ "Cuban general Lopez-Calleja dead of heart attack, state media says". Reuters.com. 2 July 2022. Retrieved 28 July 2022.
  5. ^ "Luis Alberto Rodríguez López-Calleja" (in Spanish). Assemblée nationale du pouvoir populaire. Archived from the original on 18 May 2022..
  6. ^ (in Spanish) Luis Alberto Rodríguez López-Callejas. Cibercuba.
  7. ^ (in Spanish) Muere el general Guillermo Rodríguez, padre del poderoso yerno de Raúl Castro que dirige GAESA. Diario de Cuba, 24 juillet 2016.
  8. ^ a b (in Spanish) Juan Jesús Aznarez El hombre más buscado de Cuba. El País, 18 octobre 2015.
  9. ^ (in English) Want to Do Business in Cuba? Prepare to Partner with the General. Bloomberg, 30 septembre 2015.
  10. ^ Le fils de Raul Castro VRP de Cuba à la télé russe. Le Monde, 3 novembre 2012.
  11. ^ « US imposes sanctions on Cuba's Raul Castro's son-in-law. », Associated Press, 30 septembre 2020.
  12. ^ Mathieu Castagnet « Donald Trump s’en prend à l’armée cubaine, acteur économique clé de l’île. », La Croix, 18 juin 2017.
  13. ^ AFP Sanctions américaines contre un général cubain. Le Figaro, 1 octobre 2020.
  14. ^ Miguel Diaz-Canel prend la tête du Parti communiste à Cuba. Radio Canada, 19 avril 2021.
  15. ^ (in English) Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez elected as first secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba Central Committee. Granma, 19 April 2021.
  16. ^ "Falleció el general de división Luis Alberto Rodríguez López-Calleja, miembro del Buró Político del PCC". cubadebate.cu (in Spanish). 1 July 2022. Retrieved 2 July 2022.
  17. ^ "Falleció Luis Alberto Rodríguez López-Callejas, presidente ejecutivo de Gaesa". eltoque.com (in Spanish). 1 July 2022. Retrieved 2 July 2022..
  18. ^ (in Spanish) Se reestructura el poder en Cuba y dos militares sancionados por EEUU ascienden al Buró Politico. El Nuevo Herald, 19 avril 2021.
  19. ^ (in Spanish) Retirada de Raúl Castro es un mero "traspaso burocrático", dicen expertos. Swiss Info, 16 avril 2021.
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