Raul Hector Castro, a great Democrat, Arizona's only Hispanic governor, and an American ambassador to three countries, died Friday in his sleep in San Diego, where he was in hospice care. He was 98.
Castro battled discrimination his whole life. Born in Cananea, Sonora, Castro lived in his native Mexico until 1926, when he moved to Arizona and became a United States citizen. He applied to Born in Cananea, Sonora, Castro lived in his native Mexico until 1926, when he moved to the U.S. state of Arizona and later became a United States citizen. He graduated from Arizona State Teachers College (now Northern Arizona University) in 1939 but no school was willing to hire a teacher of Mexican descent.
After working in the U.S. Consulate to Mexico for a time, he was told that he had no future in diplomatic work because of his Hispanic last name. He then applied to the law school at the University of Arizona only to be told by the dean that "Hispanic students don't do well in law school". Castro appealed to the University President who convinced the dean to give Castro a chance. He earned his JD and was admitted to the Arizona bar in 1949.
In 1954 he was elected Pima county attorney and served in that capacity until 1958, when he became a Pima County Superior Court Judge. President Lyndon Johnson appointed Castro as U.S. Ambassador to El Salvador in 1964 and later to Boliva where he continued to serve under Richard Nixon.
Returning to Arizona, Castro won the Democratic nomination for governor in 1970, but lost to Republican incumbent Jack Williams by 1.5%. Four years later, Castro defeated Republican Russ Williams by less than 1 percentage point and became Arizona's first (and only) Hispanic governor. In 1977, after two years as governor, he was selected by President Jimmy Carter to be ambassador to Argentina, a post he held until 1980.
Over his remaining years, Castro retired to Nogales, Arizona and served as a mentor to many of Arizona's Hispanic youth. He was in the news two years ago when, on his way to his annual birthday lunch in Tucson, he was detained by the rocket scientists in the US Border patrol when they detected his pacemaker and because they suspected that he was actually Fidel Castro's brother.