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Rafael Cruz

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Rafael Cruz
Rafael Cruz at 2013 FreedomWorks Youth Summit in Washington, D.C.
Personal details
BornRafael Bienvenido Cruz
(1939-03-22) March 22, 1939 (age 85)
Matanzas, Cuba
Spouse(s)Julia Garza (m.1959)
Eleanor E. Darragh Cruz (div. 1997)
Children3 (including Rafael Edward "Ted")
Parent(s)Rafael Cruz, Laudelina Diaz
ResidenceCarrollton, Texas
EducationUniversity of Texas
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Rafael Bienvenido Cruz (born 22 March 1939) is an American Christian minister and the father of US politician Ted Cruz.

Early life

Cruz was born in Matanzas, Cuba, in 1939. His father, Rafael Cruz, was a salesman for RCA, originally from the Canary Islands, Spain. His mother Laudelina Diaz was a teacher.

Although his Cuban contemporary peers dispute his account of his history, Cruz states he joined the Cuban revolution at 14-years-old and he "suffered beatings and imprisonment for protesting the oppressive regime" of dictator Fulgencio Batista. According to Cruz, as a teenager, he "didn't know Castro was a Communist." Cruz has stated in interviews that he fled Cuba at age 18 in 1957, after an attorney for the family bribed a Batista official to grant an exit permit. According to Cruz, he left with $100 sewn into his underwear, before the Battle of Santa Clara, in which the revolution toppled Batista on January 1, 1959. A Cuban émigré, he knew little or no English, when he arrived in Austin, to study at the University of Texas. During interviews and on the campaign trail, Cruz' son Ted recalls his father telling him he worked his way through college as a dishwasher, making 50 cents an hour. Cruz graduated from the university with a degree in mathematics. A few years later he became a staunch critic of Castro after "the rebel leader took control and began seizing private property and suppressing dissent." Cruz recounts that his younger sister fought against the new regime in the counter-revolution and was consequently tortured. He remained regretful for his early support of Castro, and expressed his remorse to his son on numerous occasions.

Religious and political beliefs

Cruz speaking at the Southern Republican Leadership Conference in Oklahoma City - 2015

Cruz left the Roman Catholic Church in 1975 after attending a Bible study with a work colleague and became a born-again Christian. Explaining his conversion, Cruz stated in an interview with The National Review, “The people at the Bible study had a peace that I could not understand, this peace in the midst of trouble. I knew I needed to find that peace by finding Jesus Christ.” Following his conversion, his son and wife also became born-again Christians. In the Cruz home, talk at dinner time was frequently about the Bible.

Cruz works from his home in Carrollton, Texas, a suburb of Dallas, as a traveling preacher. In a 2014 Associated Press story, Cruz was quoted as saying, "I have a burden for this country and I feel that we cannot sit silent". He went on to say that he feels "It's time we stop being politically correct and start being biblically correct."

About his political involvements in the 1980s, Cruz reflected, "I was on the state board of the Religious Roundtable, a Christian and Jewish religious organization that worked to elect Ronald Reagan. At the time, he told his son, "God has destined you for greatness." At the New Beginnings church in Irving, Texas in August 2012, Cruz delivered a sermon where he described his son's senatorial campaign as taking place within a context where Christian "kings" were anointed to preside over an "end-time transfer of wealth" from wicked people to the righteous. Cruz urged the congregation to "tithe mightily" to achieve that result. During an interview conducted by the Christian Post in 2014, Cruz stated "I think we cannot separate politics and religion; they are interrelated. They've always been interrelated." Salon described Cruz as a "Dominionist, devoted to a movement that finds in Genesis a mandate that 'men of faith' seize control of public institutions and govern by biblical principle."

Personal life

In 1959, Cruz married Julia Ann Garza (1939-2013), but divorced after a few years. She later became a professor at California State University, Stanislaus. They had two daughters, Miriam Ceferina Cruz (11/22/61-2011) and Roxana Lourdes Cruz (b. 1962), a Greenville, Texas physician. He has one grandson.

In his twenties, Cruz moved to New Orleans. In 1969, at his new oil company job, he met his second wife, Eleanor Elizabeth Darragh Wilson, a computer programmer from Delaware. Cruz and Wilson lived in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, where their only child, Rafael Eduardo "Ted" Cruz, was born. While in Calgary, the couple owned a seismic-data processing firm for oil drillers.

After Cruz graduated from the University of Texas in 1961, he was granted political asylum in the United States following the expiration of his student visa. He became a Canadian citizen during his residence in Canada, returning to the United States with his family in the mid-'70s. He renounced his Canadian citizenship and in 2005 became a naturalized U.S. citizen .

References

  1. "The Rise of Rafael Cruz". National Review Online.
  2. A Time for Truth: Reigniting the Promise of America By Ted Cruz.
  3. 4 Rising stars from the Democratic, Republican conventions, Christian Post, Napp Nazworth, September 10, 2012. Retrieved 10 November 2015.
  4. Cuban peers dispute Ted Cruz's father's story of fighting for Castro, New York Times, Jason Horowitz, November 9, 2015. Retrieved 10 November 2015.
  5. ^ Costa, Robert (August 28, 2013). "The Rise of Rafael Cruz". National Review. Retrieved August 28, 2013.
  6. ^ Garrett, Robert T. (April 28, 2013). "Senate candidate Ted Cruz aims to pick up mantle of Reagan". The Dallas Morning News. Retrieved August 22, 2013. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |newspaper= (help)
  7. Nelson, Steven (November 1, 2011). "Texas GOP Senate candidate says he's no Rubio, his father fought for Castro". The Daily Caller. Retrieved March 30, 2012. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  8. ^ Lizza, Ryan (November 19, 2012). "The Party Next Time". The New Yorker. Condé Nast: 50–57. Retrieved July 20, 2013. {{cite journal}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |journal= (help)
  9. Garrett, Robert T. (25 October 2011). "Ted Cruz says he hasn't misled about his father's exodus from Cuba". Dallas News. Retrieved 10 November 2014.
    Liptak, Kevin (12 August 2013). "Sen. Ted Cruz's dad makes fiery anti-Obama speech". CNN. Retrieved 10 November 2014.
    Morgenstern, Madeleine (26 March 2013). "Who's the GOP Sen. Being Called 'The New Standard-Bearer for Constitutional Conservatism'?". The Blaze. Retrieved 10 November 2014.
  10. ^ "How Ted Cruz's Father Shaped His Views On Immigration". NPR.org. 20 June 2013.
  11. "Ted Cruz for US Senate - Bio". Archived from the original on July 6, 2011. Retrieved July 6, 2011.
  12. How Ted Cruz's dad, Rafael, became a GOP rock star, D Magazine, Michael J. Mooney, January 2014. Retrieved 22 November 2015.
  13. David Welna (June 20, 2013). "How Ted Cruz's Father Shaped His Views On Immigration". National Public Radio. Retrieved November 27, 2015.
  14. Breanna Edwards (June 20, 2013). "Cruz's dad: Bribe helped to exit Cuba". Politico. Retrieved November 27, 2015.
  15. Garrett, Robert T. (October 25, 2011). "Senate candidate Ted Cruz says he hasn't misled about father's exodus from Cuba". The Dallas Morning News. Retrieved May 7, 2012. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  16. Robert Costa (August 28, 2013). "The Rise of Rafael Cruz Read more at: http://www.nationalreview.com/article/356934/rise-rafael-cruz-robert-costa". The National Review. Retrieved November 27, 2015. {{cite web}}: External link in |title= (help)
  17. ^ Kroll, Andy (June 26, 2015). "Ted Cruz's Secret Weapon to Win the Right". National Journal. Retrieved December 1, 2015. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  18. Olsen, Lise (October 13, 2012). "Cruz's life defies simplification". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved August 28, 2013.
  19. Will Weissert (February 9, 2014). "Rafael Cruz, Ted Cruz's Father, Emerges As Outspoken Surrogate For His Son". Associated Press via the Huffington Post. Retrieved November 27, 2015.
  20. Brody File Exclusive: Ted Cruz’s Father Tells His Son: 'God Has Destined You for Greatness', Brody File, David Brody, July 22, 2013. Retrieved 11/24/15
  21. Rafael Cruz finds success on speaking circuit as son runs for president, Washington Times, Kelly Riddell, April 27, 2015. Retrieved 24 November 2015.
  22. WATCH: Ted Cruz's Dad Calls US a "Christian Nation," Says Obama Should Go "Back to Kenya" Want to understand where the tea party champion's hardcore views come from? Meet his father, Rafael., Mother Jones, David Corn, Oct. 31, 2013. Retrieved 29 November 2015.
  23. Michael Gryboski (May 23, 2014). "Pastor Rafael Cruz: Religion and Politics 'Interrelated'; US Comparable to Ancient Israel Read more at http://www.christianpost.com/news/pastor-rafael-cruz-religion-and-politics-interrelated-us-comparable-to-ancient-israel-120235/#rTZpbUbH25UsfYJw.99". Christian Post - CP Politics. Retrieved November 27, 2015. {{cite web}}: External link in |title= (help)
  24. Lou Dubose; Hannah Harper (19 October 2015). "Ted Cruz's dad has a very sketchy resume: Rafael Cruz's credentials are exaggerated, at best". Salon. Retrieved 30 November 2015.
  25. Ted Cruz’s family story: Poignant but incomplete, McClatchyDC, Maria Recio, April 1, 2015. Retrieved 25 November 2015.
  26. Dr. Julia G. Cruz, Herald banner, April 20, 2013. Retrieved 25 November 2015.
  27. Ferguson, John Wayne (August 13, 2012). "Texplainer: Could Canadian-Born Ted Cruz Be President?". Texas Tribune. Retrieved August 17, 2013. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |newspaper= (help)
  28. Gillman, Todd J. (August 18, 2013). "Canada-born Ted Cruz became a citizen of that country as well as U.S." The Dallas Morning News. Retrieved August 19, 2013. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |newspaper= (help)

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