Ramón Castro, brother of Fidel and Raúl, dies in Havana at 91

HAVANA, Feb. 24 (UPI) -- Ramón Castro Ruz, the older brother of Raúl and Fidel Castro, died in Havana, Cuba, at the age of 91.

A lifelong farmer like his father Angel, Ramon did not play an active role in managing the communist Cuba established by his brothers in the 1959 revolution. He was cremated and his remains will be taken to his birthplace, the village of Birán in Cuba's Holguín province. No cause of death was revealed.

Granma, Cuba's official state news agency, in a short obituary, wrote Ramón was imprisoned by Fulgencio Batista's regime in 1953. After his brother Fidel's ascension to power, Ramón spent most of his life harvesting mainly sugarcane and tending livestock.

Granma credits Ramón for aiding Cuban Revolution efforts to some degree, writing he "cooperated with the 26th of July Movement and organized several networks of supplies that aided the Frank País Second Eastern Front."

He received multiple awards from the Communist Party of Cuba, including the title "Hero of Labor of the Republic of Cuba."