Fidel Castro (Born August 13, 1926, in Biran (in the province of Holguin) and died on November 25, 2016, in Havana), is a revolutionary and Cuban statesman. He ruled the Republic of Cuba for 49 years as Prime Minister from 1959 to 1976 and then as President of the Council of State and President of the Council of Ministers from 1976 to 2008. His brother Raul Castro succeeded him.
He is one of the main leaders of the Cuban Revolution which overthrew the dictatorial regime of Fulgencio Batista. Fidel Castro, Raul Castro, and Ernesto Guevara (known as “Che”) gave the revolution, which was officially nationalist at the start, a Marxist-Leninist orientation in the early 1960s when it clashed with the American administrations of the time.
The country then approaches the USSR. Following the revolution, the Cuban regime gradually established a republic socialist to a single party. Fidel Castro was also a deputy for Santiago from 1976 and the first secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba from its re-founding in 1965.
Considered quite differently around the world, he is perceived by some socialist and communist movements as an icon while others see him as a man who has established an authoritarian regime. Today he is generally considered a dictator by Western historians and democratic countries.
Quick Facts: Fidel Castro
- Known for: President of Cuba, 1959-2008
- Born: August 13, 1926, in the province of Orient, Cuba
- Parents: Angel Maria Bautista Castro y Argiz and Lina Ruz Gonzalez
- Died: November 25, 2016, in Havana, Cuba
- Education: Colegio de Dolores in Santiago de Cuba, Belen Jesuit Preparatory School, University of Havana
- Spouse (s) : Mirta Diaz-Balart (m 1948-1955.), Dalia Soto del Valle (1980-2016); Partners: Naty Revuelta (1955-1956), Celia Sanchez, others.
- Children : A son Fidel Castro Diaz-Balart (known as Fidelito, 1949-2018) with Diaz-Balart; five sons (Alexis, Alexander, Alejandro, Antonio and Angel) with Soto del Valle; a daughter (Alina Fernandez) with Naty Revuelta
The Early Life of Fidel Castro
Fidel Castro was born in 1926 on the farm belonging to his father in Biran (at that time in the municipality of Mayarí and the former province of Oriente and now respectively the municipality of Cueto and the province of Holguin).
He was the natural son of a Spanish emigrated, Angel Castro Argiz, married in second nuptials years later with Lina Ruz Gonzalez, also a descendant of Spanish. Fidel was eight and a half years old when he was baptized, and until after 1940 his father did not obtain a divorce from his first wife, Maria Luisa Argota Reyes, and was able to contract new nuptials with Lina Ruz.
Both parents were illiterate, although they both learned to read as they matured. Her father, of humble origin, would finally achieve a solid economic position. At the age of four, Fidel began studying at a small school in Birán.
His parents decided to send him to Santiago de Cuba at the age of six, along with his sister Angelita (1923-2012), the care of who had been his teacher in Birán. Despite the economic situation of his family in 1932, the governess who took care of him used his allowance to support his family, in a period of special economic hardship in the country.
In 1934 he entered the Lasallian College of Santiago. In September 1939 he would enroll at the College of Dolores, of Jesuit, also in Santiago de Cuba. 20 In 1942 he entered the Colegio de Belén de La Habana, where he was selected as the best athlete in the 1943-1944 academic year.
He finished high school in June 1945, along with his brother-in-law, Rafael Diaz-Balart, his best friend at the time, and then a staunch enemy.
Becoming a revolutionary
In 1945, Fidel Castro began studying law at the University of Havana, where he was honored in the oratorio and quickly became involved in politics. In 1947, Castro joined the Caribbean Legion, a group of political prisoners from Caribbean countries who planned to liberate the Caribbean from dictator-led governments.
When Castro stepped in, the planning of the Legion Generalissimo Rafael Trujillo in the Dominican Republic was toppled, but the plan was later canceled due to international pressure. In 1948, Castro traveled to Bogota, Colombia with plans to disrupt the Pan-American Union Conference when nationwide riots broke out in response to the murder of Jorge Eliecer Gaitan.
Castro took a rifle and joined the rioter. While anti-US pamphlets are circulating to the masses, Castro gained the first-hand experience of popular uprisings. After returning to Cuba, Castro fellow student Mirta Diaz-Balart married in October 1948. Castro and Mirta had a child together, Fidel Castro Diaz-Balart (known as Fidelito, 1949-2018).
Fidel Castro vs. Batista
In 1950, Castro graduated from law school and started practicing law. Holding a keen interest in politics, Castro became a candidate for a seat in Cuba’s House of Representatives during the June 1952 elections. But before the elections could be held, a successful coup led by General Fulgencio Batista toppled the former Cuban government, canceling the elections.
From the beginning of Batista’s reign, Castro fought against him. First, Castro took legal action to try to overthrow Batista. However, when that failed, Castro started organizing an underground group of rebels.
Attack on the Moncada Barracks
On the morning of July 26, 1953, Castro, his brother Raul, and a group of about 160 gunmen attacked the second-largest military base in Cuba – the Moncada – barracks in Santiago de Cuba. Faced with hundreds of trained soldiers at the base, there is little chance that the attack could succeed. Sixty of Castro rebels were killed; Castro and Raul were captured and then tried.
After delivering a speech in his process that ended with, “I damn it. It does not matter. The story will release me, ”Castro was sentenced to 15 years in prison. It was released two years later, in May 1955.
The movement of July 26th
After his release, Castro went to Mexico, where he spent the “Movement of July 26” organization next year (based on the day the Moncada barracks did not attack). There he got involved with Naty Revuelta, a Cuban campaigner against Batista. Although the matter did not last long, Naty and Fidel had a daughter, Alina Fernandez.
The affair also ended Fidel’s first marriage: Mirta and Fidel were divorced in 1955.
On December 2, 1956, Castro and the rest of the July 26th movement rebels landed on Cuban soil with the intent to start a revolution. Met by heavy Batista defenses, almost everyone in the movement was escaped with just a handful, including Castro, Raul, and Che Guevara.
Castro guerrilla attacks continued over the next two years and he managed to win in a large number of volunteers. Using guerrilla warfare tactics, Castro and his followers attacked Batista’s forces, overtaking the city after. Batista quickly lost popular support and suffered numerous defeats. On January 1, 1959, Batista Cuba fled.
Fidel Castro Becomes Cuba Leader
In January, Manuel Urrutia was selected as president of the new government, and Castro was put in charge of the military. However, in July 1959, Castro had effectively taken over as the leader of Cuba, which he remained for the next five decades.
During 1959 and 1960, Castro made radical changes in Cuba, including nationalizing industry, agricultural collectivization, and seizure of American-owned businesses and farms. During these two years, Castro alienated from the United States and established close ties with the Soviet Union. Castro turned Cuba into a communist country.
The United States wanted Castro in power. In an attempt to overthrow Castro, the US supported the failed invasion of Cuban exiles in Cuba in April 1961 (the Bay of Pigs invasion). Over the years, the US has made hundreds of attempts to assassinate Castro, all to no avail.
Fidel was rumored to have had many partners and illegitimate children throughout his life. In the 1950s, Fidel began a relationship with the Cuban revolutionary Celia Sanchez Manduley (1920-1980) that lasted until her death. In 1961, Castro Cuban met teacher, Dalia Soto del Valle.
Castro and Dalia had five children together (Alexis, Alexander, Alejandro, Antonio, and Angel) and married in 1980 after Sanchez’s death. During his presidency, Vilma Espin de Castro, a revolutionary guy and the wife of Raul Castro acted as a first lady.
Cuban Missile Crisis
In 1962, Cuba was the center of the world focus when the US discovered the construction sites of the Soviet nuclear missiles. The struggle that ensued between the United States and the Soviet Union, the Cuban Missile Crisis, brought the world nearby, it has ever come to a nuclear war.
Castro ruled as a dictator for the next four decades. While some Cubans benefited from Castro’s educational and land reforms, others suffered from food shortages and a lack of personal freedom. Hundreds of thousands of Cubans fled Cuba to live in the United States.
relying heavily on Soviet aid and trade, Castro suddenly found himself alone even after the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991; many speculated that Castro would also fall. Even though the US embargo against Cuba was still in place and Cuba damaged the economic situation in the 1990s, Castro remained in power.
Fidel Castro Death
Fidel Castro died in Havana on the late evening of November 25, 2016, according to official information, at the age of 90. His brother Raul then read a short statement on television in which he mentioned that the body was cremated the following day at his own request. Castro’s ashes were brought to Santiago de Cuba over several days.
Castro’s last trip took the reverse route of the “Caravan of Freedom” with which the revolutionaries moved to Havana in 1959 after the fall of the US-backed dictator Fulgencio Batista. The funeral took place after a nine-day state mourning on December 4 at the Cementerio Santa Ifigenia in Santiago de Cuba.