Ted Cruz’s Father Rafael Supported Fidel Castro

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Like most young people Senator Cruz’s father, Rafael, was a passionate teenager and sought to overthrow those oppressing his countrymen. Rafael’s conflicts with the Cuban government began when he was teenager. During the regime of Fulgencio Batista, Rafael became a revolutionary, supporting Fidel Castro.

Ted Cruz’s father, Rafael Bienvenido Cruz was born in 1939 in Cuba. Rafael’s father, Rafael Cruz, was a salesman for Radio Corporation of America (RCA) at the height of the era of radio. Rafael’s father was originally from the Canary Islands in Spain. And, Rafael B. Cruz’s mother, Laudelina Diaz, who was also from the Canary Island, was a school teacher.

Fulgencio Batista Zaldívar was a native of Cuba, with mixed Spanish, African, Indian and Chinese blood. He initially came to power as part of the 1933 “Revolt of the Sergeants” which overthrew the authoritarian ruler Gerardo Machado.

Following the revolution, Batista appointed himself Chief of the Armed Forces. Batista was able to maintain his control through puppet presidents until 1940. In an attempt to legitimize his control, Batista was elected President of Cuba on a so-called populist platform. He served until 1944.

After his Presidency, he moved to the United States, splitting his time between the Waldorf-Astoria in New York City and his home in Daytona Beach, Florida. During this time he clearly made in-roads in American political circles. Connections he would come to draw upon to stifle young revolutionaries such as Rafael Cruz.

When Batista returned to Cuba to run for president in 1952, faced with obvious defeat, he chose to lead a military coup. The coup was a success and he reigned as Dictator of Cuba from 1952 to 1959 and Rafael Cruz, along with others from his school, would often clash with Batista’s officials.

Suffering torture at the hands of Batista’s men, Rafael Cruz decided to join forces with Fidel Castro’s guerrilla group. Rafael’s main desire was to see the overthrow of Batista, and like so many people, it blinded him to Castro’s Communist politics.

However, by the age of 18, Rafael realized his future was not going to end well in Cuba. So, his family bribed a Batista official to get him out of the country. Sadly, Ted Cruz’s aunt, Rafael’s younger sister, joined the counter-revolution and for this was tortured by Fidel Castro when he became Dictator of Cuba.

By 1960, on a trip back to Cuba, Rafael Cruz realized how mistaken he had been about Fidel Castro. Earlier, the young revolutionary Rafael Cruz had gone around his new home of Austin, Texas and raised money to send to Castro for his revolution.

An able fundraiser, he had huge checks written by numerous Kiwanis and Rotary Clubs members in Texas. But, following his 1960 trip to Cuba, he returned to Austin and spent a great deal of time going to each group, where he had solicited funds, and personally apologized for misleading the people. He publicly told everyone how wrong he had been about Castro.

His father’s public act of apology would have a profound effect on Ted Cruz. He would grow up knowing the perils of naively placed political ideology. Senator Ted Cruz learned from his father’s mistakes and his courage to take responsibility for those mistakes.