Cruz was born in Calgary, Alberta,[1][9] where his parents, Eleanor Elizabeth Wilson Darragh[9][10][11][12][13][14] and Rafael Bienvenido Cruz,[12][13] were working in the oil business.[15][16] His parents owned a seismic-data processing firm for oil drillers.[12][17] Cruzs father, who was born in 1939 in Matanzas, Cuba,[12][13] as Robert T. Garrett of the Dallas Morning News has described, suffered beatings and imprisonment for protesting the oppressive regime[12][17] of dictator Fulgencio Batista. He fought for communist revolutionary Fidel Castro in the Cuban Revolution[18][19] when he was 14 years old, but didnt know Castro was a Communist. A few years later he became a staunch critic of Castro when the rebel leader took control and began seizing private property and suppressing dissent.[12][20] The elder Cruz fled Cuba in 1957 at the age of 18, landing in Austin[17] to study at the University of Texas, knowing no English and with $100 sewn into his underwear.[21][22] His younger sister fought in the counter-revolution and was tortured by the new regime.[19] He remained regretful for his early support of Castro, and emphatically conveyed this remorse to his young son over the following years.[12][19] The elder Cruz worked his way through college as a dishwasher, making 50 cents an hour,[11] earning a degree in mathematics.[17] Cruzs father today is a pastor in Carrollton, Texas,[10] a Dallas suburb, and became a U.S. citizen in 2005.[23] cruz.senate.gov/
Posted on: Sat, 02 Nov 2013 18:22:55 +0000
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