In 2018, Miguel Díaz-Canel became the first Cuban without the Castro surname to head the Cuban government. However, this was a mere facade. The dissident writer and friend Rafael Almanza summarized it this way in a conversation we had: “They gave him the television, but not the remote control.”

That’s why many Cubans didn’t take it too seriously when Díaz-Canel categorically denied the existence of political or diplomatic negotiations between Cuba and the United States, after President Donald Trump affirmed that “we are talking with Cuba.” Perhaps the White House wasn’t talking to Díaz-Canel, but rather to those who truly govern the island.

One of the scions of the royal family, the extravagant Sandro Castro, a lover of luxury cars and parties, openly mocks Díaz-Canel on his social media. He is a screen, without real power, behind which the frail body of the nonagenarian gerontocrat Raúl Castro lurks.

From his luxurious, guarded, and remote villa in Cayo Saetía, a hunting reserve with exotic animals such as ostriches and deer, Castro continues to pull the strings of power on the island, even though he is formally far removed from executive functions.

However, the old leftist revolutionary knows that nature sets an expiration date on everything, including his own life. So, although he still holds the reins tightly in any negotiation involving the destiny of Cuba, there are two key men he relies on for this.

These two men, connected to the circles of power, are part of the family (socialism has proven to devolve into an absolute monarchy), and both could be involved in the process of establishing the talks or participating directly in them, where the Trump administration recently proposed a deal to the Castro regime.

Alejandro Castro Espín

Alejandro Castro Espín, Raúl Castro’s son, studied military arts and lost an eye in the Angolan civil war as part of the Castro contingent in that African country. This colonel from the Ministry of the Interior’s rise through the Cuban hierarchy coincided with his father’s term in office, following Fidel Castro’s formal resignation from the presidency in 2008.

During that period, he assumed a leadership position within the Commission for Defense and National Security (CDSN), attached to the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba, which unified the Castro regime’s counterintelligence and intelligence services under a single command. Furthermore, it performed functions more or less similar to those of the U.S. National Security Council.

From this entity, Castro Espín spearheaded the great purge of 2009, which reshuffled Fidel’s trusted men within the political nomenclature and made room for men from Raúl’s inner circle. Among those dismissed were a vice president and a foreign minister.

Since then, Castro Espín proved his loyalty to the family above all else. This catapulted him to his second and most important mission: leading the secret negotiating team on the Cuban side for the so-called “thaw” in diplomatic relations between Cuba and the Barack Obama administration on December 17, 2014.

In his memoirs, Ben Rhodes, the Democratic president’s National Security Advisor and architect of the negotiations for the rapprochement, recounted that Raúl chose Castro Espín to represent him. Ottawa, Toronto, Cancún, Trinidad and Tobago, and the Vatican were some of the places where the two delegations met discreetly.

That experience, and Castro Espín’s media and diplomatic presence, began to position him in the eyes of Cuban and foreign analysts as a possible successor to the patriarch of Cuba’s most powerful family. In 2015, he traveled in his father’s entourage on official visits to countries like Russia and to events such as the Summit of the Americas.

However, starting in 2016, Castro Espín ceased contact with U.S. officials, according to statements made in an article in The New Yorker magazine.

Former diplomat Juan Antonio Blanco has floated the hypothesis that Castro Espín may have been one of the individuals responsible for the so-called “acoustic attacks” on U.S. diplomatic personnel in Havana. Perhaps the syndrome of headaches, loss of balance, and vomiting experienced by the victims put an end to Castro Espín’s rise to power after a reprimand from his father.

However, given his international connections, military training to control state repressive forces, and proven ability to handle high-level negotiations, Castro Espín remains a useful tool for the regime. Oh, and most importantly: he carries the surname and the blue blood of the red royalty.

Oscar Pérez-Oliva Fraga

Although the surname doesn’t appear in the name of Oscar Pérez-Oliva Fraga, this electronics engineer consolidated his position in 2025 as a figure with political potential at the highest level, representing the Castro family. He is the grandson of Ángela Castro, the older sister of Fidel and Raúl Castro.

In just 22 months, he rose from technical positions to the highest echelons of the executive branch on the island and was recently appointed a deputy to the unicameral National Assembly of People’s Power. This last detail is significant: it formally qualifies him for possible access to the presidency of the Republic.

His career included management positions in state-owned import companies and in the Mariel Special Development Zone, where foreign companies are located. He then rose to Deputy Minister and Minister of Foreign Trade and Foreign Investment, and in October 2025, to Deputy Prime Minister and member of the Council of Ministers.

“His profile combines technical training with party discipline, presenting himself as a generational replacement who guarantees the continuity of the current system,” emphasized Diario Las Américas.

The Spanish-language newspaper in Florida added: “Without prior experience in the Communist Party apparatus, his political capital resides in his family background and his management of state finances under the supervision of the old guard.”

A figure who is emerging as important for the future of the regime, he may also be aware of or participating in some way in those conversations that millions of Cubans are hoping for.