Fidel Castro

Who Was Fidel Castro?

Fidel Castro was a pivotal figure in the history of Cuba and the broader global political landscape, particularly during the Cold War. In 1958, Castro, alongside his revolutionary forces, launched a guerrilla warfare campaign that culminated in the overthrow of Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista. Following the victory, Castro assumed leadership of the country, implementing a series of radical communist policies and fostering close ties with the Soviet Union. These actions contributed to a significant deterioration in relations with the United States, ultimately leading to the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis.

During his leadership, Castro made notable improvements in Cuba’s healthcare and education systems, which became key aspects of his legacy. However, his regime was also characterized by dictatorial control, with dissenters often persecuted or imprisoned. Thousands of Cubans lost their lives either at the hands of the government or attempting to flee the oppressive regime.

Castro’s influence extended beyond Cuba’s borders as he supported communist revolutions around the world, particularly in Latin America and Africa. However, the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, and the subsequent economic downturn in Cuba, prompted Castro to ease some of his more rigid policies. In 2008, due to declining health, he formally transferred power to his brother, Raúl Castro, though Fidel maintained a degree of influence both within Cuba and internationally. Castro passed away in 2016 at the age of 90.

Early Life

Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz was born on August 13, 1926, in Birán, a rural area in Cuba’s Oriente Province. He was the third of six children in his family, which included his two brothers, Raúl and Ramón, and three sisters, Angela, Emma, and Agustina. His father, Ángel Castro, was a wealthy Spanish immigrant who owned a large sugar plantation, and he did most of his business with the American-owned United Fruit Company. Fidel’s mother, Lina Ruz González, was a maid who had worked for Ángel’s first wife, Maria Luisa Argota.

Fidel’s early life was marked by a combination of privilege and exposure to the stark social inequalities in Cuba. His family’s wealth allowed him to attend private Jesuit schools, where he was instilled with a sense of Spanish pride. Although intellectually gifted, Castro often showed a rebellious side, preferring sports to academics. He attended Colegio Dolores in Santiago de Cuba before moving to El Colegio de Belén in Havana, where he excelled in sports, particularly baseball, basketball, and track.

After graduating in 1945, Castro enrolled in law school at the University of Havana, where he became deeply involved in the political climate of the time. Influenced by Cuban nationalism, anti-imperialism, and socialism, Castro’s focus shifted towards political activism.

Early Political Insurrections and Arrests

By 1947, Castro became increasingly passionate about social justice. He joined a group of insurgents attempting to overthrow the Dominican Republic’s dictator, Rafael Trujillo, although the coup was unsuccessful. Undeterred, Castro traveled to Bogotá, Colombia, in 1948, where he participated in anti-government riots. That same year, he joined the Partido Ortodoxo, an anti-communist political party led by Eduardo Chibás, who sought to expose corruption within the Cuban government and challenge the growing influence of General Fulgencio Batista.

When Chibás tragically took his own life in 1951, Castro was left without a clear political platform but remained committed to his goal of reform. He married Mirta Díaz Balart, from a politically influential family, and had a son, Fidelito, in 1949. His marriage brought him access to a wealthier lifestyle and important political connections. However, Castro’s deepening interest in Marxism shifted his focus towards revolution.

In March 1952, the Cuban military, led by Batista, staged a coup and overthrew the government, nullifying the upcoming elections and leaving Castro without a legal political avenue. Castro, along with members of the Partido Ortodoxo, organized a movement to oppose Batista’s dictatorship. On July 26, 1953, Castro and approximately 150 supporters launched an attack on the Moncada military barracks in Santiago de Cuba, hoping to spark a national uprising. The attack failed, and Castro was captured, tried, convicted, and sentenced to 15 years in prison. His brother Raúl was also imprisoned for his role in the assault.

Guerrilla War Against Batista

During his imprisonment, Fidel Castro rebranded his group as the “26th of July Movement” and continued organizing its activities through correspondence. Under an amnesty deal with the Batista government, Castro and his fellow revolutionaries were released in 1955. Following their release, Castro and his brother Raúl traveled to Mexico, where they further planned their revolutionary efforts.

In Mexico, Castro met with other Cuban exiles and the Argentine revolutionary Ernesto “Che” Guevara, who shared a vision of liberating Latin America’s impoverished through violent revolution. Guevara joined Castro’s movement, becoming a crucial confidante and influencing Castro’s political philosophy.

On December 2, 1956, Castro, accompanied by approximately 80 insurgents and a small arsenal of weapons, returned to Cuba aboard the Granma. They landed near the city of Manzanillo, but Batista’s forces quickly overpowered them, killing or capturing most of the group. However, Castro, Raúl, Guevara, and a handful of survivors managed to retreat into the Sierra Maestra mountains in southeastern Cuba. Over the next two years, Castro’s guerrilla forces gradually expanded, waging a sustained campaign against Batista’s regime. Castro’s efforts also included organizing resistance movements in cities and towns, establishing a parallel government, implementing agrarian reforms, and gaining control of provinces responsible for much of Cuba’s agricultural and manufacturing output.

By 1958, Castro and his forces initiated a series of successful military offensives to capture strategic areas across the island. As Batista’s military lost popular support and saw widespread desertions, the government began to unravel. On January 1, 1959, Batista fled to the Dominican Republic, and at 32 years old, Castro had successfully overthrown the Cuban government.

A provisional government was swiftly established, with Manuel Urrutia as president and José Miró Cardona as prime minister. The United States promptly recognized the new government, and Castro returned to Havana to an outpouring of support. He assumed the role of commander-in-chief of the Cuban military. In February 1959, Miró resigned unexpectedly, and Castro was appointed prime minister. In the meantime, hundreds of Batista’s officials were tried and executed.

Turn to Communism

Upon taking power, Castro implemented sweeping reforms, including the nationalization of factories and plantations, with the aim of curbing U.S. economic influence on the island. The government also sought to adjust compensation for foreign-owned companies based on artificially low property values negotiated by previous Cuban administrations. These measures strained relations between Cuba and the United States.

Despite his early denials, Castro’s policies increasingly resembled Soviet-style control over both Cuba’s economy and its government. In April 1959, Castro and a delegation visited the United States as guests of the National Press Club. While Castro sought to improve his image with the help of a public relations firm, President Dwight D. Eisenhower refused to meet with him.

In May 1959, Castro enacted the first Agrarian Reform Act, which imposed limits on land ownership and prohibited foreign ownership of land. While presented as an initiative to foster independent farming, the reform effectively resulted in state control of land, turning farmers into government employees. By the end of 1959, Castro’s revolution had become more radical, with purges of government and military leaders, including President Urrutia, and the suppression of media critical of the regime.

Castro’s government began forging ties with the Soviet Union, which provided over 100 Spanish-speaking advisers to help bolster Cuba’s defense capabilities. In February 1960, Cuba signed a trade agreement with the USSR, committing to purchase oil from the Soviet Union and establishing formal diplomatic relations. When U.S.-owned refineries in Cuba refused to process Soviet oil, Castro expropriated them. The United States retaliated by reducing Cuba’s sugar import quota, thus marking the beginning of a prolonged and contentious relationship between the two countries

The Bay of Pigs and the Cuban Missile Crisis

The year 1961 marked a turning point in Fidel Castro’s relationship with the United States. On January 3, 1961, outgoing President Dwight D. Eisenhower severed diplomatic ties with the Cuban government. Less than three months later, on April 14, Castro officially declared Cuba a socialist state. Just three days after this declaration, around 1,400 Cuban exiles launched an invasion at the remote Bay of Pigs, aiming to overthrow Castro’s regime. The invasion was a complete failure, with hundreds of the insurgents killed and more than 1,000 captured. Although the U.S. initially denied involvement, it later emerged that the Cuban exiles had been trained and armed by the CIA. It was also revealed that the planning for the invasion had begun as early as March 1959 under the Eisenhower administration and was carried out during President John F. Kennedy’s term. Kennedy reluctantly approved the invasion but withheld air support, hoping to prevent a direct U.S. involvement from being exposed.

In the wake of the failed invasion, Castro used the event to consolidate his power and further his ideological agenda. On May 1, he announced the cessation of democratic elections in Cuba, denounced American imperialism, and by the end of the year, declared himself a Marxist-Leninist. He also implemented communist economic and political policies. On February 7, 1962, the United States responded by imposing a full economic embargo on Cuba. The Bay of Pigs incident had further strengthened Castro’s relationship with the Soviet Union, which began supplying Cuba with both economic and military aid. In October 1962, Castro’s reliance on Soviet support nearly brought the world to the brink of nuclear war. In an effort to deter another U.S. invasion, Castro and Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev agreed to place nuclear missiles in Cuba, just 90 miles off the coast of Florida. This move was partly in retaliation to the U.S. deploying Jupiter missiles in Turkey. However, the presence of a U.S. U-2 reconnaissance plane led to the discovery of the missile site before they were operational. President Kennedy demanded the removal of the missiles, ordering the U.S. Navy to intercept any ships heading to Cuba.

After 13 tense days of negotiations, Khrushchev agreed to withdraw the missiles in exchange for a U.S. pledge not to invade Cuba. Additionally, the U.S. secretly agreed to remove Jupiter missiles from Turkey. Both leaders were able to claim victory in this high-stakes confrontation, avoiding direct military conflict. However, Castro was humiliated, having been excluded from the negotiations. The United States also succeeded in persuading the Organization of American States to sever diplomatic relations with Cuba, condemning Castro’s actions.

Cuba Under Castro

Despite this diplomatic setback, Castro quickly recovered and solidified his grip on power. In 1965, he merged Cuba’s Communist Party with his revolutionary organizations, installing himself as its leader. He then began supporting armed revolutionary movements across Latin America and Africa. In January 1966, Castro founded the Organization for Solidarity with the Peoples of Asia, Africa, and Latin America, promoting revolution on three continents. He also established the Latin American Solidarity Organization in 1967, which aimed to support revolutions in select Latin American countries.

Throughout the 1970s, Castro continued to position himself as the voice of the Third World, providing military support to Soviet-backed regimes in Angola, Ethiopia, and Yemen. Although Cuba continued to receive significant subsidies from the Soviet Union during this period, these military interventions proved unsuccessful and strained the Cuban economy.

Meanwhile, the United States, while adhering to the non-invasion agreement, continued attempts to overthrow the Castro regime by covert means. Castro became the target of an estimated 638 CIA assassination attempts, which included schemes such as poisoned cigars, a fungus-laced diving suit, and mafia-style hitmen. Castro took considerable pride in surviving these attempts, famously claiming that if avoiding assassination were an Olympic event, he would have won gold.

Despite the international opposition and his strained relationship with the U.S., Castro’s regime had notable successes. He oversaw the establishment of a comprehensive education system, increasing literacy rates to 98%. The Cuban healthcare system, universally accessible, also contributed to a significant decrease in infant mortality, to just 11 deaths per 1,000 live births. However, these successes came at a cost. Civil liberties in Cuba were severely restricted: labor unions were stripped of their right to strike, independent newspapers were shut down, and religious institutions faced ongoing harassment. Castro also eliminated political opposition through executions, imprisonments, and forced emigration. The Cuba Archive estimates that tens of thousands were killed by state forces, with over 5,600 executed by firing squad alone. In addition, many Cubans lost their lives while attempting to flee the country, as seen in the 1980 Canimar River Massacre and the 1994 Tugboat Massacre.

Under Castro’s rule, large numbers of Cubans fled the country, many settling in Miami, just across the Florida Straits. The largest exodus occurred in 1980 when Castro opened the port of Mariel, allowing Cubans living abroad to bring relatives back to Cuba. However, Castro also filled the departing boats with prisoners and mentally ill individuals. In total, nearly 120,000 Cubans left for the United States during the Mariel Boatlift.

Despite the challenges and controversies, Castro’s leadership in Cuba remained a defining aspect of the nation’s political and social landscape for decades.

The Collapse of the Soviet Union and Its Impact on Cuba

The 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union severely disrupted Cuba’s economy, plunging the island nation into a deep crisis. The end of Soviet support, including cheap oil imports and a guaranteed market for Cuban sugar and other exports, led to skyrocketing unemployment and inflation. The Cuban economy contracted significantly, with 85 percent of its markets vanishing overnight.

Despite these dire circumstances, Fidel Castro demonstrated remarkable resilience in maintaining political control. He appealed to the United States to lift the economic embargo, but the U.S. refused. In response, Castro introduced elements of a quasi-free market economy, encouraged international investment, legalized the U.S. dollar, and promoted limited tourism. In 1996, Castro visited the United States, extending an invitation to Cuban exiles to return to Cuba and start businesses.

In 2001, following the devastation of Hurricane Michelle, Castro declined U.S. humanitarian aid but proposed a one-time purchase of food from the U.S., which President George W. Bush’s administration accepted. With fuel supplies dwindling, Castro ordered the closure of 118 factories and sent thousands of Cuban doctors to Venezuela in exchange for oil imports.

Shifting Power to Raúl Castro

As Castro aged, speculation about his health intensified. In 2006, after undergoing surgery for gastrointestinal bleeding, Fidel Castro appointed his brother Raúl as his temporary successor. Raúl had been Fidel’s second-in-command for decades and had been designated as his successor in 1997. Following the surgery, Fidel’s public appearances were limited to photographs and recorded meetings.

On February 19, 2008, due to his declining health, Fidel permanently ceded the presidency to Raúl, who was 76 years old. The Cuban National Assembly formally elected Raúl as the new president, although Fidel reportedly retained his position as the first secretary of the Communist Party. In 2011, Fidel resigned from this role as well, and Raúl was elected first secretary, with José Ramón Machado Ventura appointed as the party’s second-in-command. Fidel claimed he had actually stepped down from the post five years earlier.

During his retirement, Fidel Castro authored a column, Reflections of Fidel, and published his autobiography, My Life, in 2007. However, his sudden silence from November 2011 to January 2012 led to speculation about his health, though he later resumed writing, dispelling concerns. Despite his retirement, Castro continued to wield considerable influence, meeting with foreign leaders like Iran’s Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Pope Benedict XVI. When U.S. President Barack Obama visited Cuba in 2016, Castro chose not to meet with him, expressing skepticism about U.S. motives in his column.

Fidel Castro’s Death

Fidel Castro died on November 25, 2016, at the age of 90. His brother Raúl announced his death on Cuban state television.

Family and Legacy

Castro is believed to have fathered at least nine children. With his first wife, Martina, he had a son, Fidelito, who tragically died by suicide in 2018. From his second wife, Dalia Sota del Valle, he had five more sons, in addition to three children from other relationships.

Following Castro’s death, Cuba declared nine days of mourning. Thousands of Cubans gathered at the Plaza de la Revolución in Havana, where Fidel had delivered many of his most famous speeches. Raúl Castro led a massive rally on November 29, 2016, attended by leaders from countries like Venezuela, Bolivia, South Africa, and Zimbabwe. Meanwhile, Cuban exiles worldwide celebrated the death of the leader they viewed as a tyrant.

A motorcade carrying Castro’s ashes, draped in a Cuban flag, traveled across the island to Santiago de Cuba. Fidel Castro was finally laid to rest on December 4, 2016, at the Santa Ifigenia Cemetery in Santiago, near the tomb of Cuban independence leader José Martí.