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Havana: Every revolution needs its heroic leader, and every heroic leader needs his henchman.
Raul Castro diligently performed the latter function for his older brother Fidel for half a century. So diligently in fact he once had to be told by his more exalted sibling to cut down on the firing squads.
Now, at the age of 76, the man in the shadows is poised to become the president of Cuba. The question is: will Raul, lacking in his brother's charisma and who must by virtue of age be regarded as a transitional figure, be capable of sustaining the communist system?
A convert to Marxist-Leninism before Fidel, he has been regarded as the backbone of the revolution. He also introduced Fidel to Che Guevara in Mexico and established early contact with the KGB.
The younger Castro's bloodiest days followed the overthrow of the Batista regime in January, 1959, when he supervised the executions of political opponents. He never lost his capacity for cold-blooded action.
But he has also been described as a loving family man. His trump card is the military.
As minister of defence he maintained an iron grip on the army, which resembles a state within a state, controlling a large part of the economy. It will be essential to his hopes of remaining in power.
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