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| Fidel Castro’s Eldest Son Commits Suicide, Cuban Media Says | Fidel Castro’s Eldest Son Commits Suicide, Cuban Media Says |
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| MEXICO CITY — Fidel Ángel Castro Díaz-Balart, a nuclear physicist who was the oldest son of former Cuban President Fidel Castro, died on Thursday, Cuban state media reported. He was 68. | |
| Mr. Castro Díaz-Balart, who had been treated for a deep depression for several months, committed suicide, according to a report in the newspaper Granma. He had been undergoing outpatient treatment after being hospitalized. | Mr. Castro Díaz-Balart, who had been treated for a deep depression for several months, committed suicide, according to a report in the newspaper Granma. He had been undergoing outpatient treatment after being hospitalized. |
| Bearing a close resemblance to his father, Mr. Castro Díaz-Balart, known as Fidelito, was the only son of the president and his first wife, Mirta Díaz-Balart. | Bearing a close resemblance to his father, Mr. Castro Díaz-Balart, known as Fidelito, was the only son of the president and his first wife, Mirta Díaz-Balart. |
| At the time of his death, he was a science adviser to Cuba’s Council of State and vice president of the Academy of Sciences of Cuba. | At the time of his death, he was a science adviser to Cuba’s Council of State and vice president of the Academy of Sciences of Cuba. |
| Mr. Castro Díaz-Balart played a prominent role in efforts to develop nuclear energy on the island. He was the executive secretary of Cuba’s Atomic Energy Commission from 1980 to 1992 and was in charge of a project to build a nuclear power plant at Juraguá. | Mr. Castro Díaz-Balart played a prominent role in efforts to develop nuclear energy on the island. He was the executive secretary of Cuba’s Atomic Energy Commission from 1980 to 1992 and was in charge of a project to build a nuclear power plant at Juraguá. |
| Construction on the plant was suspended in 1992, though, as funding dried up with the collapse of the Soviet Union. By 2000, the project was abandoned. | Construction on the plant was suspended in 1992, though, as funding dried up with the collapse of the Soviet Union. By 2000, the project was abandoned. |
| Mr. Castro Díaz-Balart remained a champion of nuclear energy, making the case for its growth in developing countries in a 2002 essay in the International Atomic Energy Agency Bulletin. “Widespread understanding is the key to popular acceptance,” he wrote. | Mr. Castro Díaz-Balart remained a champion of nuclear energy, making the case for its growth in developing countries in a 2002 essay in the International Atomic Energy Agency Bulletin. “Widespread understanding is the key to popular acceptance,” he wrote. |
| Mr. Castro Díaz-Balart once told an interviewer that he never had political ambitions. “All my career has been as a scientist,” he said in a 2013 television interview with the Russian government-funded station RT. | |
| But Mr. Castro Díaz-Balart said his generation of the family was not pushed into politics, either. “The Castro family, as all families, is not one body, one person. It is a conglomerate of different people with different visions and different pasts,” he said in the interview. | |
| Mr. Castro Díaz-Balart led Cuban delegations at conferences around the world, including the March 2016 meeting of the American Physical Society, where he spoke on physics in Cuba. Mr. Castro Díaz-Balart held a doctorate in physical-mathematical sciences, according to the Academy of Sciences. | Mr. Castro Díaz-Balart led Cuban delegations at conferences around the world, including the March 2016 meeting of the American Physical Society, where he spoke on physics in Cuba. Mr. Castro Díaz-Balart held a doctorate in physical-mathematical sciences, according to the Academy of Sciences. |
| His father, Fidel, died over a year ago, in November 2016, at age 90. Cousins on his mother’s side include Representative Mario Díaz-Balart and former Representative Lincoln Díaz-Balart, Florida Republicans and staunch anti-communists. | His father, Fidel, died over a year ago, in November 2016, at age 90. Cousins on his mother’s side include Representative Mario Díaz-Balart and former Representative Lincoln Díaz-Balart, Florida Republicans and staunch anti-communists. |
| His father’s role on the world stage was an important factor throughout Mr. Castro Díaz-Balart’s life, even as he stayed out of the spotlight himself. In a second interview with RT, also in 2013, Mr. Castro Díaz-Balart said he had once studied in the Soviet Union under an assumed name and that few people knew who he was. | |
| As an adolescent, he said, he had little contact with his father. “It is no secret that in the years of my adolescence and youth, Cuba was going through a very difficult situation,” he said, referring to the era that included the American-backed Bay of Pigs invasion and the Cuban missile crisis. |