Juanita Castro, sister of Fidel and Raul who fled Cuba and worked with CIA, dies aged 90
Juanita Castro, the younger sister of Cuban rulers Fidel and Raul Castro, who was a CIA informer and outspoken critic against their communist government, has died in Miami aged 90.
Florida had been her home since fleeing her homeland nearly 60 years ago.
Journalist Maria Antonieta Collins, who co-wrote Juanita Castro’s 2009 book Fidel And Raul, My Brothers. The Secret History, wrote on Instagram that she died on Monday.
“Juanita Castro was ahead of us on the path of life and death, exceptional woman, tireless fighter for the cause of her Cuba that I love so much,” Ms Collins wrote.
She said her funeral would be held in private. The cause of her death has not been made public.
A staunch anti-communist, Juanita Castro was so opposed to her brothers’ policies she became a CIA double agent under the codename “Donna”.
Raul (L) and Fidel Castro in 1996. The two brothers ruled Cuba for about 60 years
She wrote in her book she began collaborating with the CIA shortly after the United States botched the Bay of Pigs invasion in 1961. The wife of Brazil’s ambassador to Cuba persuaded her to meet an officer during a trip to Mexico City.
She told the CIA agent she did not want any money, and would not support any violence against her brothers or others.
She smuggled messages, documents and money back into Cuba hidden inside tinned goods.
The CIA communicated with her via shortwave radio, playing a waltz and a song from the opera Madame Butterfly as signals that her handlers had a message for her.
She had initially been supportive of her brothers’ efforts to overthrow dictator Fulgencio Batista, playing an active role in the Cuban revolution by raising money and buying weapons.
But she became disillusioned when Fidel Castro became a hard-line communist after taking power in 1959 and pushed those who disagreed out of his government.
Fidel Castro (R) in Havana in 1959 celebrating Batista fleeing Cuba
She remained in Cuba while their mother was alive, but fled the island after she died.
“Everything was becoming more dangerously complicated,” she wrote.
Raul Castro helped her get a visa to Mexico where she spent several months before going into exile in the US.
She never saw her brothers again.
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She helped found a CIA-backed non-profit organisation that worked against the Castro government before settling into a quiet life in Little Havana where she ran a pharmacy among her peers living in exile, who feared she was a communist spy.
She became a US citizen in 1984.
Fidel Castro ruled Cuba until 2008 – when he handed power over to Raul, who spent a decade as Cuba’s leader.
Fidel died in 2016 aged 90, while Raul, 92, is living in retirement. The eldest brother, Ramon, died in 2016 aged 91.
“Super high-IQ revolutionaries” who are willing to work 80+ hours a week are being urged to join Elon Musk’s new cost-cutting department in Donald Trump’s incoming US government.
The X and Tesla owner will co-lead the Department Of Government Efficiency (DOGE) with former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy.
And in a post on X, the official DOGE account put out a call to arms for people to sign up and help “dismantle government bureaucracy”.
The post said: “We are very grateful to the thousands of Americans who have expressed interest in helping us at DOGE.
“We don’t need more part-time idea generators.
“We need super high-IQ small-government revolutionaries willing to work 80+ hours per week on unglamorous cost-cutting.
“If that’s you, DM this account with your CV. Elon & Vivek will review the top 1% of applicants.”
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Elon Musk speaking at an event held at Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate. Pic: AP Photo/Alex Brandon
In a reply to an interested party, Mr Musk suggested the lucky applicants would be working for free.
“Indeed, this will be tedious work, make lost of enemies & compensation is zero,” the world’s richest man wrote.
“What a great deal!”
When announcing the new department, President-elect Donald Trump said Mr Musk and Mr Ramaswamy “will pave the way for my administration to dismantle government bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures, and restructure federal agencies”.
Mr Musk has previously made clear his desire to see cuts to “government waste” and in a post on his X platform suggested he could axe as many as three-quarters of the more than 400 federal departments in the US, writing: “99 is enough.”
At least 10 people have been killed after a fire broke out at a retirement home in northern Spain in the early hours of this morning, officials have said.
A further two people were seriously injured in the blaze at the residence in the town of Villafranca de Ebro in Zaragoza, according to the Spanish news website Diario Sur.
Two people remain in a critical condition following the blaze. Pic: AP
They remain in a critical condition, while several others received treatment for smoke inhalation.
Firefighters were alerted to the blaze at the residence – the Jardines de Villafranca – at 5am (4am UK time) on Friday.
Several residents were treated for smoke inhalation. Pic: AP
Those who were killed in the fire died from smoke inhalation, Spanish newspaper Heraldo reported.
The residence is home to 82 elderly residents.
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The blaze started in one of the rooms, Fernando Beltran, the national government’s top official in the region, told reporters.
All of the victims were elderly residents, he added.
Relatives wait for news outside the care home. Pic: AP
Fire crews, paramedics and police officers remain on site, said a spokesperson for the regional government of Aragon who confirmed the fatalities.
It took firefighters several hours to extinguish the blaze, they said.
The cause of the fire is unknown and is being investigated.
At least 10 people have been killed after a fire broke out at a retirement home in northern Spain in the early hours of this morning, officials have said.
A further two people were seriously injured in the blaze at the residence in the town of Villafranca de Ebro in Zaragoza, according to the Spanish news website Diario Sur.
Two people remain in a critical condition following the blaze. Pic: AP
They remain in a critical condition, while several others received treatment for smoke inhalation.
Firefighters were alerted to the blaze at the residence – the Jardines de Villafranca – at 5am (4am UK time) on Friday.
Several residents were treated for smoke inhalation. Pic: AP
Those who were killed in the fire died from smoke inhalation, Spanish newspaper Heraldo reported.
The residence is home to 82 elderly residents.
Read more from Sky News:
Mass displacement in Gaza – people unsure where to go
Donald Trump picks vaccine sceptic as health secretary
Keep up with all the latest news from the UK and around the world by following Sky News
The blaze started in one of the rooms, Fernando Beltran, the national government’s top official in the region, told reporters.
All of the victims were elderly residents, he added.
Relatives wait for news outside the care home. Pic: AP
Fire crews, paramedics and police officers remain on site, said a spokesperson for the regional government of Aragon who confirmed the fatalities.
It took firefighters several hours to extinguish the blaze, they said.
The cause of the fire is unknown and is being investigated.
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