Minders

After an absence of a couple of weeks, Raul Castro has reappeared in public.

The man who is supposed to be "temporarily" in charge in Cuba attended the opening of an international sport conference being held in Havana.

The photograph above, taken by AP photographer Javier Galeano, shows the younger Castro talking to the head of the International Olympic Committee, the unflappable Jacques Roggue, and Cuban vice-president Carlos Lage.

But the intriguing detail is the tall, younger man in the background.

Who is this guy? He appears right behind Raul Castro in almost every photograph published of the acting president in recent weeks. In fact, almost every photograph since the day Fidel Castro handed over the day to day running of the regime to his brother.

In earlier captions, he has been identified by wire agencies variously as a bodyguard, an adviser and even as a grandson of Raul Castro.