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Fidel Castro

Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz (/ˈkæstr/ KASS-troh,[1] Latin American Spanish: [fiˈðel aleˈxandɾo ˈkastɾo ˈrus]; 13 August 1926 – 25 November 2016) was a Cuban revolutionary and politician who was the leader of Cuba from 1959 to 2008, serving as the prime minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976 and president from 1976 to 2008. Ideologically a Marxist–Leninist and Cuban nationalist, he also served as the first secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba from 1965 until 2011. Under his administration, Cuba became a one-party communist state; industry and business were nationalized, and socialist reforms were implemented throughout society.

"El Comandante" redirects here. For the TV series, see El Comandante (TV series). For other uses, see Fidel Castro (disambiguation).

El Comandante
Fidel Castro

Raúl Castro

Raúl Castro

Raúl Castro

Raúl Castro

Himself (as prime minister)

Raúl Castro

Himself (as president of the Council of Ministers)

Raúl Castro

Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz

(1926-08-13)13 August 1926
Birán, Oriente, Cuba

25 November 2016(2016-11-25) (aged 90)
Havana, Cuba

Santa Ifigenia Cemetery, Santiago de Cuba

PCC (from 1965)

(m. 1948; div. 1955)
(m. 1980)

11, including Alina and Fidelito

  • Lawyer
  • politician

  • Bola de Churre
  • El Caballo
  • El Comandante
  • El guajiro
  • El loco
  • Fifo
  • Pistolita

1953–2016

Comandante en Jefe

Born in Birán, the son of a wealthy Spanish farmer, Castro adopted leftist and anti-imperialist ideas while studying law at the University of Havana. After participating in rebellions against right-wing governments in the Dominican Republic and Colombia, he planned the overthrow of Cuban president Fulgencio Batista, launching a failed attack on the Moncada Barracks in 1953. After a year's imprisonment, Castro travelled to Mexico where he formed a revolutionary group, the 26th of July Movement, with his brother Raúl Castro and Ernesto "Che" Guevara. Returning to Cuba, Castro took a key role in the Cuban Revolution by leading the Movement in a guerrilla war against Batista's forces from the Sierra Maestra. After Batista's overthrow in 1959, Castro assumed military and political power as Cuba's prime minister. The United States came to oppose Castro's government and unsuccessfully attempted to remove him by assassination, economic embargo, and counter-revolution, including the Bay of Pigs Invasion of 1961. Countering these threats, Castro aligned with the Soviet Union and allowed the Soviets to place nuclear weapons in Cuba, resulting in the Cuban Missile Crisis—a defining incident of the Cold War—in 1962.


Adopting a Marxist–Leninist model of development, Castro converted Cuba into a one-party, socialist state under Communist Party rule, the first in the Western Hemisphere. Policies introducing central economic planning and expanding healthcare and education were accompanied by state control of the press and the suppression of internal dissent. Abroad, Castro supported anti-imperialist revolutionary groups, backing the establishment of Marxist governments in Chile, Nicaragua, and Grenada, as well as sending troops to aid allies in the Yom Kippur, Ogaden, and Angolan Civil War. These actions, coupled with Castro's leadership of the Non-Aligned Movement from 1979 to 1983 and Cuban medical internationalism, increased Cuba's profile on the world stage. Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, Castro led Cuba through the economic downturn of the "Special Period", embracing environmentalist and anti-globalization ideas. In the 2000s, Castro forged alliances in the Latin American "pink tide"—namely with Hugo Chávez's Venezuela—and formed the Bolivarian Alliance for the Americas. In 2006, Castro transferred his responsibilities to Vice President Raúl Castro, who was elected to the presidency by the National Assembly in 2008.


The longest-serving non-royal head of state in the 20th and 21st centuries, Castro polarized world opinion. His supporters view him as a champion of socialism and anti-imperialism whose revolutionary government advanced economic and social justice while securing Cuba's independence from American hegemony. His critics view him as a dictator whose administration oversaw human rights abuses, the exodus of many Cubans, and the impoverishment of the country's economy.

Final years

Stepping down: 2006–2008

Castro underwent surgery for intestinal bleeding, and on 31 July 2006, delegated his presidential duties to Raúl Castro.[344] In February 2007, Raúl announced that Fidel's health was improving and that he was taking part in important issues of government.[345] Later that month, Fidel called into Hugo Chávez's radio show Aló Presidente.[346] On 21 April, Castro met Wu Guanzheng of the Chinese Communist Party's Politburo Standing Committee,[347] with Chávez visiting in August,[348] and Morales in September.[349] That month, the Non-Aligned Movement held its 14th Summit in Havana, there agreeing to appoint Castro as the organization's president for a year's term.[350]


Commenting on Castro's recovery, US president George W. Bush said: "One day the good Lord will take Fidel Castro away." Hearing about this, the atheist Castro replied: "Now I understand why I survived Bush's plans and the plans of other presidents who ordered my assassination: the good Lord protected me." The quote was picked up on by the world's media.[351]


In a February 2008 letter, Castro announced that he would not accept the positions of President of the Council of State and Commander in Chief at that month's National Assembly meetings,[352] remarking, "It would betray my conscience to take up a responsibility that requires mobility and total devotion, that I am not in a physical condition to offer".[353] On 24 February 2008, the National Assembly of People's Power unanimously voted Raúl as president.[354] Describing his brother as "not substitutable", Raúl proposed that Fidel continue to be consulted on matters of great importance, a motion unanimously approved by the 597 National Assembly members.[355]

Retirement and final years: 2008–2016

Following his retirement, Castro's health deteriorated; international press speculated that he had diverticulitis, but Cuba's government refused to corroborate this.[356] He continued to interact with the Cuban people, published an opinion column titled "Reflections" in Granma, used a Twitter account, and gave occasional public lectures.[356] In January 2009 Castro asked Cubans not to worry about his lack of recent news columns and failing health, and not to be disturbed by his future death.[357] He continued meeting foreign leaders and dignitaries, and that month photographs were released of Castro's meeting with Argentine president Cristina Fernández.[358]

Fidel Ángel "Fidelito" Castro Díaz-Balart

[476]

[479]

[483]

After the 1970s, Castro began a long relationship with Juanita Vera, a Colonel in the foreign intelligence service who joined his escort unit as his English interpreter. She often appeared in public with Castro, in particular in Oliver Stone's as his translator and interpreter. She and Castro had one son, Abel Castro Vera, born in 1983.[487]

Comandante

Benjamin, Jules R. (1992). . Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press. ISBN 978-0-691-02536-0.

The United States and the Origins of the Cuban Revolution: An Empire of Liberty in an Age of National Liberation

Bohning, Don (2005). . Washington, D.C.: Potomac Books, Inc. ISBN 978-1-57488-676-4.

The Castro Obsession: U.S. Covert Operations Against Cuba, 1959–1965

Roman, Peter (2003). . Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 978-0742525658.

People's Power: Cuba's Experience with Representative Government

on C-SPAN

Appearances

Fidel Castro's speeches

at Marxists Internet Archive

Fidel Castro History Archive

at IMDb

Fidel Castro

on IMDb

Fidel Castro (Character)

at FBI Records: The Vault

Fidel Castro Records

– slideshow by BBC News

Fidel Castro: A Life in Pictures

– timeline by NPR

Fidel Castro: From Rebel to El Presidente

– extended biography by Barcelona Centre for International Affairs (in Spanish)

Fidel Castro

Date N/A, National Records and Archives Administration, American Archive of Public Broadcasting

Say Brother; 914; Invitation From Cuba