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

Raúl Castro Raúl Modesto Castro Ruz ( ; ; born 3 June 1931) is a Cuban retired politician and general who served as the First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba, first secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba, the most senior position in the One-par ...

's daughter Deborah. He died on 1 July 2022, of a heart attack.

Biography

Luis Alberto Rodríguez López-Calleja was born on 19 January 1960 in Santa Clara. He was the son of the general Guillermo Rodríguez del Pozo (1929–2016), a companion of the Castro brothers during the

Cuban Revolution The Cuban Revolution () was the military and political movement that overthrew the dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista, who had ruled Cuba from 1952 to 1959. The revolution began after the 1952 Cuban coup d'état, in which Batista overthrew ...

. The overall biography of Rodríguez López-Calleja is little known. He is rarely quoted in the Cuban media and rarely photographed. In 2011, Rodríguez López-Calleja, then

colonel Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a colon ...

, joined the central committee of the

Communist Party of Cuba The Communist Party of Cuba (, PCC) is the sole ruling party of Cuba. It was founded on 3 October 1965 as the successor to the United Party of the Cuban Socialist Revolution, which was in turn made up of the 26th of July Movement and Popu ...

. Rodríguez López-Calleja headed the financial arm of the

Cuban Armed Forces The Cuban Revolutionary Armed Forces (; FAR) are the military forces of Cuba. They include Revolutionary Army, Revolutionary Navy, Revolutionary Air and Air Defense Force, and other paramilitary bodies including the Territorial Troops Militia ...

, known as GAESA. This conglomerate of public companies controls hotels, factories, stores, an airline, telecommunications companies and even the port area of Mariel. 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 The United States secretary of state (SecState) is a member of the executive branch of the federal government of the United States and the head of the U.S. Department of State. The secretary of state serves as the principal advisor to the p ...

Mike Pompeo Michael Richard Pompeo (; born December 30, 1963) is an American retired politician who served in the First presidency of Donald Trump#Administration, first administration of Donald Trump as director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) fr ...

: “Revenues generated from GASEA's economic activities are used to oppress the Cuban people and to finance Cuba's colonial domination of Venezuela”. 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. Rodríguez López-Calleja died on 1 July 2022, officially from

cardiovascular In vertebrates, the circulatory system is a system of organs that includes the heart, blood vessels, and blood which is circulated throughout the body. It includes the cardiovascular system, or vascular system, that consists of the heart a ...

failure, unofficially from

lung cancer Lung cancer, also known as lung carcinoma, is a malignant tumor that begins in the lung. Lung cancer is caused by genetic damage to the DNA of cells in the airways, often caused by cigarette smoking or inhaling damaging chemicals. Damaged ...

. In the 1990s, Rodríguez López-Calleja married Deborah Castro Espín, eldest daughter of

. 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.Se reestructura el poder en Cuba y dos militares sancionados por EEUU ascienden al Buró Politico.
''

El Nuevo Herald ''El Nuevo Herald'' is a newspaper published daily in Spanish in Southeast Florida, United States. Its headquarters is in Doral. ''El Nuevo Heralds sister paper is the ''Miami Herald'', also produced by the McClatchy Company. About ''el Nuevo ...

'', 19 avril 2021. Juan Jesús Aznare
El hombre más buscado de Cuba.
''

El País (; ) is a Spanish-language daily newspaper in Spain. is based in the capital city of Madrid and it is owned by the Spanish media conglomerate PRISA. It is the second-most circulated daily newspaper in Spain . is the most read newspaper in ...

'', 18 octobre 2015.Retirada de Raúl Castro es un mero "traspaso burocrático", dicen expertos.
''Swiss Info'', 16 avril 2021.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rodríguez López-Calleja, Luis Alberto 1960 births 2022 deaths Cuban military personnel 20th-century Cuban businesspeople Cuban politicians People from Santa Clara, Cuba