Fidel
Castro, in full Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz
(born August 13, 1926, near Birán, Cuba), political leader of Cuba
(1959–2008) who transformed his country into the first
communist state in the Western Hemisphere. Castro became a symbol of communist
revolution in Latin America. He held the title of premier until 1976 and then
began a long tenure as president of the Council of State and the Council of
Ministers. He handed over provisional power in July 2006 because of health
problems and formally relinquished the presidency in February 2008.
Castro was born in southeastern Cuba. His
father, Ángel Castro y Argiz, an immigrant from Spain, was a fairly prosperous
sugarcane farmer in a locality that had long been dominated by estates of the
U.S.-owned United Fruit Company. While married to his first wife, Ángel Castro
began an affair with one of his servants, Lina Ruz González, whom he later also
married. Together they had seven children; Fidel was one of them, and Raúl, who
later became his brother’s chief associate in Cuban affairs, was another.
Fidel Castro attended Roman Catholic boarding
schools in Santiago de Cuba and then the Catholic high school Belén in Havana,
where he proved an outstanding athlete. In 1945 he entered the School of Law of
the University of Havana, where organized violent gangs sought to advance a
mixture of romantic goals, political aims, and personal careers. Castro’s main
activity at the university was politics, and in 1947 he joined an abortive
attempt by Dominican exiles and Cubans to invade the Dominican Republic and
overthrow Gen. Rafael Trujillo. He then took part in urban riots that broke out
in Bogotá, Colombia, in April 1948.
After his graduation in 1950,
Castro began to practice law and became a member of the reformist Cuban People’s
Party (called Ortodoxos). He became their candidate for a seat in the House of
Representatives from a Havana district in the elections scheduled for June
1952. In March of that year, however, the former Cuban president, Gen.
Fulgencio Batista, overthrew the government of Pres. Carlos Prío Socarrás and
canceled the elections.
After legal means failed to
dislodge Batista’s new dictatorship, Castro began to organize a rebel force for
the task in 1953. On July 26, 1953, he led about 160 men in a suicidal attack
on the Moncada military barracks in Santiago de Cuba in hopes of sparking a
popular uprising. Most of the men were killed, and Castro himself was arrested.
After a trial in which he conducted an impassioned defense, he was sentenced by
the government to 15 years’ imprisonment. He and his brother Raúl were released
in a political amnesty in 1955, and they went to Mexico to continue their
campaign against the Batista regime. There Fidel Castro organized Cuban exiles
into a revolutionary group called the 26th of July Movement.
On December 2, 1956, Castro
and an armed expedition of 81 men landed on the eastern coast of Cuba from the
yacht Granma. All of them were killed or captured except Fidel and Raúl Castro,
Ernesto (“Che”) Guevara, and nine others, who retreated into the Sierra Maestra
to wage guerrilla warfare against the Batista forces. With the help of growing
numbers of revolutionary volunteers throughout the island, Fidel Castro’s
forces won a string of victories over the Batista government’s demoralized and
poorly led armed forces. Castro’s propaganda efforts proved particularly
effective, and as internal political support waned and military defeats
multiplied, Batista fled the country on January 1, 1959. Castro’s force of 800
guerrillas had defeated the Cuban government’s 30,000-man professional army.
As the undisputed
revolutionary leader, Castro became commander in chief of the armed forces in
Cuba’s new provisional government, which had Manuel Urrutia, a moderate
liberal, as its president. In February 1959 Castro became premier and thus head
of the government. By the time Urrutia was forced to resign in July 1959,
Castro had taken effective political power into his own hands.
Castro had come to power with
the support of most Cuban city dwellers on the basis of his promises to restore
the 1940 constitution, create an honest administration, reinstate full civil
and political liberties, and undertake moderate reforms. But once established
as Cuba’s leader he began to pursue more radical policies: Cuba’s private
commerce and industry were nationalized; sweeping land reforms were instituted;
and American businesses and agricultural estates were expropriated. The United
States was alienated by these policies and offended by Castro’s fiery new
anti-American rhetoric. His trade agreement with the Soviet Union in February
1960 further deepened American distrust. In 1960 most economic ties between
Cuba and the United States were severed, and the United States broke diplomatic
relations with the island country in January 1961. In April of that year the
U.S. government secretly equipped thousands of Cuban exiles to overthrow
Castro’s government; their landing at the Bay of Pigs in April 1961, however,
was crushed by Castro’s armed forces.
Cuba also began acquiring
weapons from the Soviet Union, which soon became the country’s chief supporter
and trade partner. In 1962 the Soviet Union secretly stationed ballistic
missiles in Cuba that could deliver nuclear warheads to American cities, and in
the ensuing confrontation with the United States, the world came close to a
nuclear war. The Cuban Missile Crisis ended when the Soviet Union agreed to
withdraw its nuclear weapons from Cuba in exchange for a pledge that the United
States would withdraw the nuclear-armed missiles it had stationed in Turkey and
no longer seek to overthrow Castro’s regime.
In the meantime Castro created
a one-party government to exercise dictatorial control over all aspects of
Cuba’s political, economic, and cultural life. All political dissent and
opposition were ruthlessly suppressed. Many members of the Cuban upper and
middle classes felt betrayed by these measures and chose to immigrate to the
United States. At the same time, Castro vastly expanded the country’s social
services, extending them to all classes of society on an equal basis.
Educational and health services were made available to Cubans free of charge,
and every citizen was guaranteed employment. The Cuban economy, however, failed
to achieve significant growth or to reduce its dependence on the country’s
chief export, cane sugar. Economic decision-making power was concentrated in a
centralized bureaucracy headed by Castro, who proved to be an inept economic
manager. With inefficient industries and a stagnant agriculture, Cuba became
increasingly dependent on favourable Soviet trade policies to maintain its
modest standard of living in the face of the United States’ continuing trade
embargo.
Castro remained premier until
1976, when a new constitution created a National Assembly and Castro became
president of that body’s State Council. He retained the posts of commander in
chief of the armed forces and secretary-general of the Communist Party of
Cuba—the only legal political party—and he continued to exercise unquestioned
and total control over the government. Castro’s brother Raúl, minister of the
armed forces, ranked second to him in all government and party posts.
Fidel Castro’s early attempts
to foment Marxist revolutions elsewhere in Latin America foundered, but Cuban
troops did eventually serve as proxies for the Soviet Union in various
conflicts in less-developed countries. From 1975 to 1989 Cuban expeditionary
forces fought in the Angolan civil war on the side of the communistic Popular
Movement for the Liberation of Angola. In 1978 Cuban troops assisted Ethiopia
in repelling an invasion by Somalia. In the 1980s Castro emerged as one of the
leaders of the less-developed world and the nonaligned countries, despite his
obvious ties to the Soviet Union. He continued to signify his willingness to
renew diplomatic relations with the United States, provided that it end its
trade embargo against Cuba. In 1980 Castro released a flood of immigrants to
the United States when he opened the port of Mariel for five months. The
125,000 immigrants, including some criminals, strained the capacity of U.S.
immigration and resettlement facilities.
In the late 1980s, when the
Soviet Union under Mikhail Gorbachev began to undertake democratic reforms and
eastern European countries were allowed to slip out of the Soviet orbit, Castro
retained a hard-line stance, espousing the discipline of communism. The
collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 took him by surprise and meant the end of
generous Soviet subsidies to Cuba. Castro countered the resulting economic
decline and shortages of consumer goods by allowing some economic
liberalization and free-market activities while retaining tight controls over
the country’s political life.
In late 1993 Castro’s daughter
sought asylum in the United States, where she openly criticized her father’s
rule. The following year, economic and social unrest led to antigovernment
demonstrations, the size of which had not been seen in Cuba in some 35 years.
Shortly thereafter Castro lifted restrictions on those wanting to leave the
country, and thousands headed for the United States in the largest exodus since
the 1980 Mariel “freedom flotilla.” In 1998 Castro allowed Pope John Paul II to
visit Cuba for the first time.
In 2003 the National Assembly
confirmed Castro as president for another five-year term. During that year the
Cuban government arrested dozens of independent journalists and activists in a
renewed government crackdown on dissidents, and some 75 activists were
convicted for conspiring with the United States to subvert the revolution. The
following year Castro strengthened his alliance with Venezuelan Pres. Hugo
Chávez by helping him bring to fruition the Bolivarian Alternative for the
Americas (Alternativa Bolivariana para las Américas [ALBA]; Alternativa later
changed to Alianza (“Alliance”)]), a socialist initiative to promote regional
commerce, through which Cuba provided health care professionals to Venezuela in
exchange for discounted oil.
On July 31, 2006, Fidel Castro
passed power on a provisional basis to his brother Raúl in order to recover
from surgery for a serious intestinal illness. It was the first time since the
1959 revolution that he ceded control. In February 2008, just days before the
National Assembly was to vote for the country’s leader, Fidel Castro (who had
not appeared in public for 19 months) officially declared that he would not
accept another term as president. His announcement that he was stepping down was
made through a letter that was addressed to the country and posted on the Web
site of the official Communist Party newspaper, Granma. In part it read, “I do
not bid you farewell. My only wish is to fight as a soldier of ideas.”
In the succeeding months, official
photos were released of Fidel Castro in private meetings, and in July 2010 he
made a public visit to the National Centre for Scientific Research in Havana.
In September, on the eve of the release of the first volume of his memoirs, The
Strategic Victory, he remarked to a reporter from the United States that “the
Cuban model doesn’t even work for us anymore.” Many took his comment as an
admission of the failure of communism. However, Fidel Castro was quick to
qualify his remarks in a speech that followed a few days later. Most analysts
saw his remarks as offering support for Raúl’s introduction of economic reforms
that included a massive layoff of government employees as well as increased
toleration of private enterprise. In 2011 Fidel stepped down as
secretary-general of the Communist Party of Cuba and was succeeded by Raúl.
by Taboola More from
Britannica
638
WAYS TO KILL CASTRO:
SOME OF THE MOST BIZARRE ATTEMPTS
Exploding cigar: This idea was
thought up by a New York police officer and would have contained enough
explosives to blow Castro's head clean off.
Hair removal: Yes, really. The
plan was that Castro might seem weak if all his facial hair were to fall out,
so the Americans thought about trying to slip chemicals into his cigar or
shoes.
Poisoned milkshake: This was
apparently the closest to taking Castro's life, but the poisoned poll destined
for the drink stuck to the freezer and ripped open when the waiter-cum-assassin
tried to rip it off
Femme fatale: Marita Lorenz,
one of Castro's many mistresses, is alleged to have made a deal with the CIA to
feed him capsules of poison. She hid them in her face cream, but they
dissolved.
Poisoned wetsuit: There was a
plan to offer Castro a wetsuit filled with deadly spores and bacteria during
the Bay of Pigs invasion, but the CIA's plot was again foiled.
Exploding shell: This attempt
tried to take advantage of Castro's love of scuba diving by putting an
explosive device in a conch shell in the sea. They made it especially
attractive in the hope the Cuban leader would be drawn to it.
Another deathly cigar: The CIA
tried to slip Castro a cigar filled with a poisonous toxin called Botulin. They
hired a double agent who chickened out of the attempt.
Deadly pen: The plan was to
rig a pen with a hypodermic needle so fine that someone could prick him with it
and he would never notice until he died.
LSD: This was more an effort
to bring him down in from of his people, but the plan was to spray an LSD-like
substance into a studio during a radio interview, which would make him act
strangely and worry the Cuban people.
Read more:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2724039/Cuba-celebrates-Fidel-Castro-s-88th-birthday-did-survive-638-assassination-attempts.html#ixzz3IqmVPuNI
Farewell letter from Che to
Fidel Castro
« Year of Agriculture »
Havana, April 1, 1965.
Fidel:
At this moment I remember many
things: when I met you in Maria Antonia's house, when you proposed I come
along, all the tensions involved in the preparations. One day they came by and
asked who should be notified in case of death, and the real possibility of it
struck us all. Later we knew it was true, that in a revolution one wins or dies
(if it is a real one). Many comrades fell along the way to victory.
Today everything has a less
dramatic tone, because we are more mature, but the event repeats itself. I feel
that I have fulfilled the part of my duty that tied me to the Cuban revolution
in its territory, and I say farewell to you, to the comrades, to your people,
who now are mine.
I formally resign my positions
in the leadership of the party, my post as minister, my rank of commander, and
my Cuban citizenship. Nothing legal binds me to Cuba. The only ties are of
another nature — those that cannot be broken as can appointments to posts.
Reviewing my past life, I
believe I have worked with sufficient integrity and dedication to consolidate
the revolutionary triumph. My only serious failing was not having had more
confidence in you from the first moments in the Sierra Maestra, and not having
understood quickly enough your qualities as a leader and a revolutionary.
I have lived magnificent days,
and at your side I felt the pride of belonging to our people in the brilliant
yet sad days of the Caribbean [Missile] crisis. Seldom has a statesman been
more brilliant as you were in those days. I am also proud of having followed
you without hesitation, of having identified with your way of thinking and of
seeing and appraising dangers and principles.
Other nations of the world
summon my modest efforts of assistance. I can do that which is denied you due
to your responsibility as the head of Cuba, and the time has come for us to
part.
You should know that I do so
with a mixture of joy and sorrow. I leave here the purest of my hopes as a
builder and the dearest of those I hold dear. And I leave a people who received
me as a son. That wounds a part of my spirit. I carry to new battlefronts the
faith that you taught me, the revolutionary spirit of my people, the feeling of
fulfilling the most sacred of duties: to fight against imperialism wherever it
may be. This is a source of strength, and more than heals the deepest of
wounds.
I state once more that I free
Cuba from all responsibility, except that which stems from its example. If my
final hour finds me under other skies, my last thought will be of this people
and especially of you. I am grateful for your teaching and your example, to
which I shall try to be faithful up to the final consequences of my acts.
I have always been identified
with the foreign policy of our revolution, and I continue to be. Wherever I am,
I will feel the responsibility of being a Cuban revolutionary, and I shall
behave as such. I am not sorry that I leave nothing material to my wife and
children; I am happy it is that way. I ask nothing for them, as the state will
provide them with enough to live on and receive an education.
I would have many things to
say to you and to our people, but I feel they are unnecessary. Words cannot
express what I would like them to, and there is no point in scribbling pages.
Written: April 1, 1965
Online Version: Ernesto Che
Guevara Internet Archive (marxists.org) 2002
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