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Fidel Castro
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Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz (Spanish: [fiˈðel
Fidel Castro
ˈkastro]; born August 13, 1926) is a Cuban
political leader and former communist
revolutionary.[1] As the primary leader of the
Cuban Revolution, Castro served as the Prime
Minister of Cuba from February 1959 to
December 1976, and then as the President of the
Council of State of Cuba and the President of
Council of Ministers of Cuba until his resignation
from the office in February 2008. He served as
First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba
from the party's foundation in 1961. His younger
brother Raúl Castro is currently Second Secretary
of the Communist Party and President of the
Councils of State and Ministers and previously
served under Fidel as Minister of Defence in
1959-2008.
While studying law at the University of Havana,
he began his political career and became a
recognized figure in Cuban politics.[2] His
political career continued with nationalist
critiques of the president, Fulgencio Batista, and
of the United States' political and corporate
influence in Cuba. He gained an ardent, but
limited, following and also drew the attention of
the authorities.[3] He eventually led the failed
1953 attack on the Moncada Barracks, after which
he was captured, tried, incarcerated, and later
released. He then traveled to Mexico[4][5] to
organize and train for an invasion of Cuba to
overthrow Batista's government, which began in
December 1956.
Castro subsequently came to power as a result of
the Cuban Revolution, which overthrew the USbacked[6] dictatorship of Batista,[7] and shortly
thereafter became Prime Minister of Cuba.[8] In
1965 he became First Secretary of the Communist
Party of Cuba, and led the transformation of Cuba
into a one-party socialist republic. In 1976 he
became President of the Council of State as well
as of the Council of Ministers. He also held the
supreme military rank of Comandante en Jefe
("Commander in Chief") of the Cuban armed
forces.
Following intestinal surgery from an undisclosed
digestive illness believed to have been
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Castro in 1974.
First Secretary of the Communist Party of
Cuba
In office
3 October 1965 – 31 July 2006
(40 years, 301 days)
Deputy
Raúl Castro
Preceded by
Position established
Succeeded by Raúl Castro
President of Cuba
In office
2 December 1976 – 24 February 2008
Deputy
Raúl Castro
Preceded by
Osvaldo Dorticós Torrado
Succeeded by Raúl Castro
Prime Minister of Cuba
In office
16 February 1959 – 2 December 1976
President
Manuel Urrutia Lleó
Osvaldo Dorticós Torrado
Preceded by
José Miró Cardona
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diverticulitis,[9] Castro transferred his
responsibilities to the First Vice-President, his
younger brother Raúl Castro, on July 31, 2006.
On February 19, 2008, five days before his
mandate was to expire, he announced he would
neither seek nor accept a new term as either
president or commander-in-chief.[10][11] On
February 24, 2008, the National Assembly elected
Raúl Castro to succeed him as the President of
Cuba.[12] Castro is currently most active in
commenting on world affairs, commonly in the
form of his regularly published Reflections,
articles offering his view on world events from
US foreign policy to global warming.[13]
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Succeeded by Position abolished
7th and 23rd Secretary-General of the NonAligned Movement
In office
16 September 2006 – 24 February 2008
Preceded by
Abdullah Ahmad Badawi
Succeeded by Raúl Castro
In office
10 September 1979 – 6 March 1983
Preceded by
Junius Richard Jayawardene
Succeeded by Neelam Sanjiva Reddy
Contents
Born
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
1 Childhood and education
2 Political beginnings
n 2.1 Decision for revolution
3 Cuban Revolution
n 3.1 Attack on Moncada Barracks
n 3.2 July 26 Movement
n 3.3 Operation Verano
n 3.4 Battle of Yaguajay
n 3.5 Collapse of the Batista regime
n 3.6 New government
n 3.7 Castro consolidates power
4 Years in power
n 4.1 Bay of Pigs Invasion
n 4.2 Reaction: the socialist state
n 4.3 Cuban Missile Crisis
n 4.4 Assassination attempts
n 4.5 United States embargo
n 4.6 Foreign relations
n 4.6.1 Soviet Union
n 4.6.2 Other countries
5 Religious beliefs
6 Succession issues
n 6.1 Speculation on illness 1998–
2005
n 6.2 Transfer of duties, speculation
on illness 2006–2007
n 6.3 Retirement
13 August 1926
Birán, Cuba
Political party Communist Party of Cuba
Spouse(s)
Mirta Diaz-Balart (1948–1955)
Dalia Soto del Valle (1980–present)
Children
Fidel Ángel Castro Diaz-Balart
Alina Fernandez-Revuelta
Alexis Castro-Soto
Alejandro Castro-Soto
Antonio Castro-Soto
Angel Castro-Soto
Alex Castro-Soto
Jorge Angel Castro
Francisca Pupo
Alma mater
University of Havana
Profession
Lawyer
Religion
None (Self-described as Secular;
formerly Atheist)
Signature
7 Public image
8 Family
9 Controversy and criticism
n 9.1 Human rights record
n 9.2 Allegations of mismanagement
n 9.3 Allegations of wealth
10 Ancestry
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n
n
n
n
n
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11 Authored works
12 See also
13 References
14 Further reading
15 External links
Childhood and education
Fidel Alejandro Vittore Castro Ruz was born on a sugar
plantation in Birán, near Mayarí, in the modern-day province
of Holguín – then a part of the now-defunct Oriente Province.
He was the third child born to Ángel Castro y Argiz, a
Galician immigrant from the impoverished northwest of Spain
who became relatively prosperous through work in the sugar
industry and successful investing.[14]
A letter written by the 14-year-old
Castro, learning English, to U.S.
President Franklin D. Roosevelt —
"My good friend Roosevelt." In the
letter Castro expresses his joy at
Roosevelt's re-election, states his age
as "twelve years old" and writes, "If
you like, give me a ten dollar bill
green American, because never, I
have not seen a ten dollar bill,"
signing the letter, "Thank you very
much. Good by [sic]. Your friend,
Fidel Castro."
His mother, Lina Ruz González (September 23, 1903 – August
6, 1963.[15]), was a household servant. Ángel Castro was
married to another woman, Maria Luisa Argota,[16] until Fidel
was 15, and thus Fidel as a child had to deal both with his
illegitimacy and the challenge of being raised in various foster
homes away from his father's house.
Castro has two brothers, Ramón and Raúl, and four sisters,
Angelita, Juanita, Enma, and Agustina, all of whom were born
out of wedlock. He also has two half siblings, Lidia and Pedro
Emilio who were raised by Ángel Castro's first wife. His
maternal grandparents were canarian people.[17][18] Fidel was
not baptized until he was 8, also very uncommon, bringing
embarrassment and ridicule from other children.[19][20] Ángel
Castro finally dissolved his first marriage when Fidel was 15
and married Fidel’s mother. Castro was formally recognized by his father when he was 17, when his
surname was legally changed to Castro from Ruz, his mother’s name.[19][20]
Although accounts of his education differ, most sources agree that he was an intellectually gifted
student, more interested in sports than in academics, and spent many years in private Catholic
boarding schools, finishing high school at El Colegio de Belén, a Jesuit school in Havana in 1945.[21]
While at Belén, Castro pitched on the school's baseball team. There are persistent rumors that Castro
was scouted for various U.S. baseball teams,[22] but there is no evidence that this ever actually
happened.[23]
Political beginnings
In late 1945, Castro entered law school at the University of Havana. He became immediately
embroiled in the political culture at the University, which was a reflection of the volatile politics in
Cuba during that era. Since the fall of president Gerardo Machado in the 1930s, student politics had
degenerated into a form of gangsterismo dominated by fractious action groups, and Castro, believing
that the gangs posed a physical threat to his university aspirations, experienced what he later
described as "a great moment of decision."[24]
He returned to the university from a brief hiatus to involve himself fully in the various violent battles
and disputes which surrounded university elections, and was to be implicated in a number of
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shootings linked to Rolando Masferrer's MSR action group. "To not return", said Castro later, "would
be to give in to bullies, to abandon my beliefs".[24] Rivalries were so intense that Castro apparently
collaborated in an attempt on Masferrer's life during this period,[24] while Masferrer, whose
paramilitary group Les Tigres later became an instrument of state violence under Batista,[25]
perennially hunted the younger student seeking violent retribution.[26]
In 1947, Castro joined the Partido Ortodoxo which had been newly formed by Eduardo Chibás. A
charismatic figure, Chibás attracted many Cubans with his message of social justice, honest
government, and political freedom.[27] Chibás was running for president against the incumbent
Ramón Grau San Martín who had allowed rampant corruption to flourish during his term.
[citation needed] The Partido Ortodoxo publicly exposed corruption and demanded government and
social reform. It aimed to instill a strong sense of national identity among Cubans, establish Cuban
economic independence and freedom from the United States, and dismantle the power of the elite
over Cuban politics.[citation needed] Though Chibás lost the election, Castro, considering Chibás his
mentor, remained committed to his cause, working fervently on his behalf. In 1951, while running for
president again, Chibás shot himself in the stomach during a radio broadcast. Castro was present and
accompanied him to the hospital where he died.[21]
During 1948, Castro was twice linked to political assassinations.[2] He was suspected of Manolo
Castro's assassination that took place on February 22.[2] This was soon followed on June 6 by the
assassination of the university policeman Oscar Fernandez, who was killed in front of his home; as he
lay dying, he allegedly identified Castro as his killer, as did several other witnesses, although Castro
himself was never put on trial for the incident.[2] In 1948, Castro joined an anti-American
demonstration trip to Bogotá, Colombia, paid by Argentine army colonel and President Juan Perón.[2]
Castro joined mob violence and property destruction, and later sought refuge in the Argentine
embassy.[2]
Decision for revolution
In 1948, Castro married Mirta Díaz Balart, a student from a wealthy Cuban family through which he
was exposed to the lifestyle of the Cuban elite. Mirta's father gave them tens of thousands to spend in
a three-month honeymoon in New York.[28] Castro also received a $1,000 wedding gift from
Fulgencio Batista, the ex-President who was a friend of both families.[2][28] Although Castro
considered enrolling at Columbia University, a private university in Manhattan, he returned to Cuba
to complete his degree.[2]
Castro started to have money problems. He refused to find work and others had to pay the family's
bills.[2][28] The relationship with his wife was also strained. In 1950 he graduated from law school
with a Doctor of Laws degree and began practicing law in a small partnership in Havana.[28] By now
he had become well known for his passionately nationalist views and his intense opposition to the
United States. Castro spoke publicly against the United States involvement in defending South Korea
in the Korean War.[2]
In 1951, Fidel Castro said to Batista "I don't see an important book here". When Batista asked which,
Castro replied "Curzio Malaparte's The Technique of the Coup d'état".[28] According to Rafael DiazBallart, Fidel Castro realized that Batista was not a "revolutionary" leader anymore, even though both
looked at each other with admiration.[28]
Increasingly interested in a career in politics, Castro had become a candidate for a seat in the Cuban
parliament in the 1952 elections when former president, General Fulgencio Batista, ousted President
Carlos Prío Socarrás in a coup d'état, cancelled the elections and assumed government as "provisional
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president". Batista was supported by establishment elements of Cuban society, powerful Cuban
agencies, and labor unions.
Cuban Revolution
Main article: Cuban Revolution
Attack on Moncada Barracks
Main article: Moncada Barracks
As discontent over the Batista coup grew, Castro abandoned his law practice and formed an
underground organization of supporters, including his brother, Raúl, and Mario Chanes de Armas.
Together they actively plotted to overthrow Batista. They collected guns and ammunition and
finalized their plans for an armed attack on Moncada Barracks, Batista's largest garrison outside
Santiago de Cuba. On July 26, 1953, they attacked Moncada Barracks. The Céspedes garrison in
Bayamo was also attacked as a diversion.[4] The attack proved disastrous and more than sixty of the
one-hundred and thirty-five militants involved were killed.
Castro and other surviving members of his group managed to escape to a part of the rugged Sierra
Maestra[29] mountains east of Santiago where they were eventually discovered and captured.
Although there is disagreement over why Castro and his brother, Raúl, were not executed on capture
as many of their fellow militants were, there is evidence that an officer recognized Castro from his
university days and treated the captured rebels compassionately, despite the 'illegal' unofficial order to
have the leader executed.[4] Others, such as Angel Prado, military commander of July 26 Movement,
say that on the morning of the attack Castro's driver got lost and he never reached the barracks. In his
spoken autobiography[30] Castro maintains that his car, which was second in the convoy of 'ten or
twelve' cars, encountered a foot patrol near to the Moncada Barracks. When he stopped the car to deal
with them, the rest of the convoy also stopped and so the momentum of the operation was lost. He
gives this as the sole reason for the failure of the operation.
Castro was tried in the fall of 1953 and sentenced to up to fifteen years in prison. During his trial
Castro delivered his famous defense speech History Will Absolve Me,[31] upholding his rebellious
actions and boldly declaring his political views:
I warn you, I am just beginning! If there is in your hearts a vestige of love for your
country, love for humanity, love for justice, listen carefully... I know that the regime
will try to suppress the truth by all possible means; I know that there will be a
conspiracy to bury me in oblivion. But my voice will not be stifled – it will rise from
my breast even when I feel most alone, and my heart will give it all the fire that
callous cowards deny it... Condemn me. It does not matter. History will absolve me.
While he was being held at the prison for political activists on Isla de Pinos, he continued to plot
Batista's overthrow, planning upon release to reorganize and train in Mexico.[4] After having served
less than two years, he was released in May 1955 due to a general amnesty from Batista who was
under political pressure, and went as planned to Mexico.[5]
July 26 Movement
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Main article: July 26 Movement
Once in Mexico, Castro reunited with other Cuban exiles and founded the July 26 Movement, named
after the date of the failed attack on the Moncada Barracks. The goal remained the overthrow of
Fulgencio Batista. Castro had learned from the Moncada experience that new tactics were needed if
Batista's forces were to be defeated. This time, the plan was to use underground guerrilla tactics,
which were used by the Cubans the last time they attempted a populist overthrow of what they
considered an imperialistic regime. The Cuban war of Independence against the Spanish was Cuba's
introduction to guerrilla warfare, about which they read once the Cuban campaign ended but was
taken up by Emilio Aguinaldo in the Philippines. Once again, it would be guerrilla warfare to bring
down a government.
In Mexico Castro met Ernesto "Che" Guevara, a proponent of guerrilla warfare. Guevara joined the
group of rebels and became an important force in shaping Castro's evolving political beliefs.
Guevara's observations of the misery of the poor in Latin America had already convinced him that the
only solution lay in violent revolution.
Since regular contacts with a KGB agent named Nikolai Sergeevich Leonov in Mexico City had not
resulted in the hoped for weapon supply,[32] they decided to go to the United States to gather
personnel and funds from Cubans living there, including Carlos Prío Socarrás, the elected Cuban
president deposed by Batista in 1952. Back in Mexico, the group trained under a Spanish Civil War
Veteran, Cuban-born Alberto Bayo[31] who had fled to Mexico after Francisco Franco's victory in
Spain. On November 26, 1956, Castro and his group of 81 followers, mostly Cuban exiles, set out
from Tuxpan, Veracruz, aboard the yacht Granma for the purpose of starting a rebellion in Cuba.[33]
The rebels landed at Playa Las Coloradas close to Los Cayuelos near the eastern city of Manzanillo
on December 2, 1956. In short order, most of Castro's men were killed, dispersed, or taken prisoner
by Batista's forces.[33] While the exact number is in dispute, it is agreed that no more than twenty of
the original eighty-two men survived the bloody encounters with the Cuban army and succeeded in
fleeing to the Sierra Maestra mountains.[34] The group of survivors included Fidel Castro, Che
Guevara, Raúl Castro, and Camilo Cienfuegos. Those who survived were aided by people in the
countryside. They regrouped in the Sierra Maestra in Oriente province and organized a column under
Fidel Castro's command.
From their encampment in the Sierra Maestra mountains, July 26 Movement waged a guerrilla war
against the Batista government. In the cities and major towns also, resistance groups were organizing
until underground groups were everywhere. The strongest was in Santiago formed by Frank País.[35]
[36]
In the summer of 1957, País’s organization merged with July 26 Movement of Castro. As Castro's
movement gained popular support in the cities and countryside, it grew to over eight hundred men. In
mid-1957 Castro gave Che Guevara command of a second column. A journalist, Herbert Matthews
from the New York Times, came to interview him in the Sierra Maestra, attracting interest to Castro's
cause in the United States. The New York Times front page stories by Matthews presented Castro as a
romantic and appealing revolutionary, bearded and dressed in rumpled fatigues.[37][38] Castro and
Matthews were followed by the TV crew of Andrew Saint George, said to be a CIA contact person.
[39] Through television, Castro's rudimentary command of the English language and charismatic
presence enabled him to appeal directly to a U.S. audience.
In 1957, Castro also signed the Manifesto of the Sierra Maestra[40] in which he agreed to call
elections under the Electoral Code of 1943 within the first 18 months of his time in power and to
restore all of the provisions of the 1940 Constitution of Cuba that had been suspended under Batista.
While he took steps to implement some of the measures in the Manifesto upon coming into power,
Cuba failed to have elections, the most important part of the program, within the allotted time.
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In February 1958, Castro published in Coronet Magazine a famous statement of the goals of the
movement.[41] He stated that "we are fighting to do away with dictatorship in Cuba and to establish
the foundations of genuine representative government" and promised to "prepare and conduct truly
honest general elections within twelve months" after success. He also stated, "we have no plans for
the expropriation or nationalization of foreign investments here". He also justified his attacks on
Cuba's economy as the only way to bring down the Batista dictatorship. Despite his denouncement of
dictatorships, Castro himself has been described as a dictator.[42][43][44]
Operation Verano
Main article: Operation Verano
In May 1958, Batista launched Operation Verano aiming to crush Castro and other anti-government
groups. It was called La Ofensiva ("The Offensive") by the rebels (Alarcón Ramírez,1997). Although
on paper heavily outnumbered, Castro's guerrilla forces scored a series of victories, largely aided by
mass desertions from Batista's army of poorly trained and uncommitted young conscripts. During the
Battle of La Plata, Castro's forces defeated an entire battalion. While pro-Castro Cuban sources later
emphasized the role of Castro's guerrilla forces in these battles, other groups and leaders were also
involved, such as escopeteros (poorly armed irregulars). During the Battle of Las Mercedes, Castro's
small army came close to defeat but he managed to pull his troops out by opening up negotiations
with General Cantillo while secretly slipping his soldiers out of a trap.
When Operation Verano ended, Castro ordered three columns commanded by Guevara, Jaime Vega
and Camilo Cienfuegos to invade central Cuba where they were strongly supported by rebellious
elements who had long been operating in the area. One of Castro's columns moved out onto the Cauto
Plains. Here, they were supported by Huber Matos, Raúl Castro and others who were operating in the
eastern-most part of the province. On the plains, Castro's forces first surrounded the town of Guisa in
Granma Province and drove out their enemies, then proceeded to take most of the towns that had been
taken by Calixto García in the 1895–1898 Cuban War of Independence.
Battle of Yaguajay
Main article: Battle of Yaguajay
In December 1958, the columns of Che Guevara and Camilo Cienfuegos continued their advance
through Las Villas province. They succeeded in occupying several towns, and then began
preparations for an attack on Santa Clara, the provincial capital. Guevara's fighters launched a fierce
assault on the Cuban army surrounding Santa Clara, and a vicious house-to-house battle ensued. They
also derailed an armored train which Batista had sent to aid his troops in the city while Cienfuegos
won the Battle of Yaguajay. Defeated on all sides, Batista's forces crumbled. The provincial capital
was captured after less than a day of fighting on December 31, 1958.
Collapse of the Batista regime
Main article: Fulgencio Batista
After the loss at the Battle of Santa Clara, expecting betrayal by his own army and having lost all
backup from the previously supportive US government, Batista (accompanied by president-elect
Andrés Rivero Agüero) boarded a plane and fled to the Dominican Republic in the early hours of
January 1, 1959. Accompanying Batista into exile was an amassed fortune of more than $300,000,000
that he acquired through "graft and payoffs."[45]
Batista left behind a junta headed by Gen. Eulogio Cantillo, recently the commander in Oriente
province, the center of the Castro revolt. The junta immediately selected Dr. Carlos Piedra, the oldest
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judge of the Supreme Court, as provisional President of Cuba as specified in the Constitution of 1940.
Castro refused to accept the selection of Justice Piedra as provisional President and the Supreme
Court refused to administer the oath of office to the Justice.[46]
The rebel forces of Fidel Castro moved swiftly to seize power throughout the island.[46] At the age of
32, Castro had successfully masterminded a classic guerrilla campaign from his headquarters in the
Sierra Maestra and ousted Batista.
New government
On January 8, 1959, Castro's army rolled victoriously into Havana[47] and would shortly thereafter
declare that "power does not interest me, and I will not take it."[48] As news of the fall of Batista's
government spread through Havana, The New York Times described the scene as one of jubilant
crowds pouring into the streets and automobile horns honking. The black and red flag of July 26
Movement waved on automobiles and buildings. The atmosphere was chaotic.[46] Castro called a
general strike in protest of the Piedra government. He demanded that Dr. Urrutia, former judge of the
Urgency Court of Santiago de Cuba, be installed as the provisional President instead. The Cane
Planters Association of Cuba, speaking on behalf of the island's crucial sugar industry, issued a
statement of support for Castro and his movement.[citation needed]
Law professor José Miró Cardona created a new government with himself as prime minister and
Manuel Urrutia Lleó as president on January 5. The United States officially recognized the new
government two days later.[49] Castro himself arrived in Havana to cheering crowds and assumed the
post of Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces on January 8.
Castro consolidates power
"Until Castro, the U.S. was so overwhelmingly influential in Cuba that the American
ambassador was the second most important man, sometimes even more important
than the Cuban president."
– Earl T. Smith, former American Ambassador to Cuba, during 1960 testimony to
the U.S. Senate[50]
Fidel Castro sought to oust liberals and democrats, such as José Miró Cardona and Manuel Urrutia
Lleó.[28] In February professor José Miró Cardona had to resign because of Castro's attacks. On
February 16, 1959, Castro was sworn in as Prime Minister of Cuba.[8] Professor Miró soon went into
exile in the United States, and would later participate in the Bay of Pigs Invasion against Castro's
form of government. President Manuel Urrutia Lleó wanted to restore elections, but Castro opposed
free elections.[51] Castro's slogan was "Revolution first, elections later".[52]
The new government began expropriating property and announced plans to base the compensation on
the artificially low property valuations that the companies themselves had kept to a fraction of their
true value so that their taxes would be negligible.[citation needed] During this period Castro repeatedly
denied being a communist.[53][54][55][56][57] For example in New York on April 25 he said, "...
[communist] influence is nothing. I don't agree with communism. We are democracy. We are against
all kinds of dictators... That is why we oppose communism."[58]
Between April 15 and April 26, Castro and a delegation of industrial and international representatives
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visited the U.S. as guests of the Press Club. Castro hired one of the best public relations firms in the
United States for a charm offensive visit by Castro and his recently initiated government. Castro
answered impertinent questions jokingly and ate hot dogs and hamburgers. His rumpled fatigues and
scruffy beard cut a popular figure easily promoted as an authentic hero.[59] He was refused a meeting
with President Eisenhower. After his visit to the United States, he would go on to join forces with the
Soviet leader, Nikita Khrushchev.[47]
On May 17, 1959, Castro signed into law the First Agrarian Reform, which limited landholdings to
993 acres (4 km²) per owner and forbade foreign land ownership.[60][61]
Castro started to organize attacks on President Manuel Urrutia Lleó. Castro himself resigned as Prime
Minister of Cuba and later that day appeared on television to deliver a lengthy denouncement of
Urrutia, claiming that Urrutia "complicated" government, and that his "fevered anti-Communism"
was having a detrimental effect. Castro's sentiments received widespread support as organized crowds
surrounded the presidential palace demanding Urrutia's resignation, which was duly received. On July
23, Castro resumed his position as premier and appointed Osvaldo Dorticós as the new president.[62]
Years in power
As early as July 1959, Castro's intelligence chief Ramiro Valdés contacted the KGB in Mexico City.
[32] Subsequently, the USSR sent over one hundred mostly Spanish speaking advisors, including
Enrique Líster Forján, to organize the Committees for the Defense of the Revolution.
In February 1960, Cuba signed an agreement to buy oil from the USSR. When the U.S.-owned
refineries in Cuba refused to process the oil, they were expropriated, and the United States broke off
diplomatic relations with the Castro government soon afterward. To the concern of the Eisenhower
administration, Cuba began to establish closer ties with the Soviet Union. A variety of pacts were
signed between Castro and Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev, allowing Cuba to receive large
amounts of economic and military aid from the USSR.
In June 1960, Eisenhower reduced Cuba's sugar import quota by 7,000,000 tons, and in response,
Cuba nationalized some $850 million worth of U.S. property and businesses. Health care[63] and
education[citation needed] were socialized. The new government took control of the country by
nationalizing industry, redistributing property, collectivizing agriculture and creating policies that
would benefit the poor. While popular among the poor, these policies alienated many former
supporters of the revolution among the Cuban middle and upper-classes.
By the early autumn of 1960, the U.S.
government was engaged in a semi-secret
campaign to remove Castro from power.[64]
In September 1960, Castro created Committees
for the Defense of the Revolution, which
implemented neighborhood spying in an effort to
weed out "counter-revolutionary" activities.[65]
By the end of 1960, all opposition newspapers
had been closed down and all radio and television
stations were in state control, run under the
Leninist principle of Democratic Centralism.[65]
Moderates, teachers and professors were purged.
[65] He was accused of keeping about 20,000
dissidents held captive and tortured under
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inhuman prison conditions every year.[65]
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Fidel Castro and members of the East German
Politburo in 1972.
Groups such as homosexuals were locked up in
concentration camps in the 1960s, where they
were subject to medical-political "re-education".
[66] Castro's admiring description of rural life in Cuba ("in the country, there are no homosexuals"[67])
reflected the idea of homosexuality as bourgeois decadence, and he denounced "maricones" (faggots)
as "agents of imperialism".[68] Castro stated that "homosexuals should not be allowed in positions
where they are able to exert influence upon young people".[69] However, in August 2010, Castro
called the sending of openly gay men to labor camps without charge or trial "moments of great
injustice, great injustice!" saying that "if someone is responsible, it's me."[70]
Loyalty to Castro became the primary criteria for all appointments on the island.[71] The Communist
Party strengthened its one-party rule, with Castro as the Prime Minister.[65]
In the 1961 New Year's Day parade, Castro exhibited Soviet tanks and other weapons.[71] The Soviet
Union awarded him the Lenin Peace Prize later that year.
Bay of Pigs Invasion
Main article: Bay of Pigs Invasion
The Bay of Pigs Invasion (known as La Batalla de Girón, or Playa Girón in Cuba), was an
unsuccessful attempt by a US-trained force of Cuban exiles to invade southern Cuba with support
from US government armed forces, to overthrow the Cuban government of Fidel Castro.
The plan was launched in April 1961, less than three months after John F. Kennedy assumed the
presidency in the United States. The Cuban armed forces, trained and equipped by Eastern Bloc
nations, defeated the exile combatants in three days.
Reaction: the socialist state
On May 1, 1961, Castro declared Cuba a socialist state and officially abolished multiparty elections.
[2] Critics noted that Castro feared elections would eject him from power.[2] On the same day Castro
announced to the hundreds of thousands in his audience that:
The revolution has no time for elections. There is no more democratic government in
Latin America than the revolutionary government. ... If Mr. Kennedy does not like
Socialism, we do not like imperialism. We do not like capitalism.[72]
In a nationally broadcast speech on December 2, 1961, Castro declared that he was a Marxist-Leninist
and that Cuba was adopting Communism. On February 7, 1962, the US imposed an embargo against
Cuba. This embargo was broadened during 1962 and 1963, including a general travel ban for
American tourists.[73]
Cuban Missile Crisis
Main article: Cuban Missile Crisis
Tensions between Cuba and the U.S. heightened during the 1962 missile crisis, which nearly brought
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the U.S. and the USSR into nuclear conflict. Khrushchev conceived the idea of placing missiles in
Cuba as a deterrent to a possible U.S. invasion and justified the move in response to U.S. missile
deployment in Turkey. After consultations with his military advisors, he met with a Cuban delegation
led by Raúl Castro in July in order to work out the specifics. It was agreed to deploy Soviet R-12
MRBMs on Cuban soil; however, American Lockheed U-2 reconnaissance discovered the
construction of the missile installations on October 15, 1962 before the weapons had actually been
deployed.
The U.S. government viewed the installation of Soviet nuclear weapons 90 miles (145 km) south of
Key West as an aggressive act and a threat to U.S. security. As a result, the U.S. publicly announced
its discovery on October 22, 1962, and implemented a quarantine around Cuba that would actively
intercept and search any vessels heading for the island. Nikolai Sergevich Leonov, who would
become a General in the KGB Intelligence Directorate[74] and the Soviet KGB deputy station chief in
Warsaw, was the translator Castro used for contact with the Russians during this period.
In a personal letter to Khrushchev dated October 27, 1962, Castro urged him to launch a nuclear first
strike against the United States if Cuba were invaded, but Khrushchev rejected any first strike
response.[75] Soviet field commanders in Cuba were, however, authorized to use tactical nuclear
weapons if attacked by the United States. Khrushchev agreed to remove the missiles in exchange for a
U.S. commitment not to invade Cuba and an understanding that the US would secretly remove
American MRBMs targeting the Soviet Union from Turkey and Italy, a measure that the U.S.
implemented a few months later. The missile swap was never publicized because the Kennedy
Administration demanded secrecy in order to preserve NATO relations and protect Democratic Party
candidates in the upcoming U.S. elections.[citation needed]
Assassination attempts
Fabian Escalante, who was long tasked with protecting the life of Castro, estimated the number of
assassination schemes or attempts by the CIA to be 638. Some such attempts allegedly included an
exploding cigar, a fungal-infected scuba-diving suit, and a mafia-style shooting. Some of these plots
are depicted in a documentary entitled 638 Ways to Kill Castro.[76] One of these attempts was by his
ex-lover Marita Lorenz whom he met in 1959. She allegedly agreed to aid the CIA and attempted to
smuggle a jar of cold cream containing poison pills into his room. When Castro realized, he
reportedly gave her a gun and told her to kill him but her nerve failed.[77] Castro once said, in regards
to the numerous attempts on his life he believes have been made, "If surviving assassination attempts
were an Olympic event, I would win the gold medal."
According to the Family Jewels documents declassified by the CIA in 2007, one such assassination
attempt before the Bay of Pigs invasion involved Johnny Roselli and Al Capone's successor in the
Chicago Outfit, Salvatore Giancana and his right-hand man Santos Trafficante. It was personally
authorized by the then US attorney general Robert Kennedy.[78]
Giancana and Miami Syndicate leader Santos Trafficante were contacted in September 1960 about the
possibility of an assassination attempt by a go-between from the CIA, Robert Maheu, after Maheu had
contacted Johnny Roselli, a member of the Las Vegas Syndicate and Giancana's number-two man.
Maheu had presented himself as a representative of numerous international business firms in Cuba
that were being expropriated by Castro. He offered $150,000 for the "removal" of Castro through this
operation (the documents suggest that neither Roselli nor Giancana and Trafficante accepted any sort
of payments for the job). According to the files, it was Giancana who suggested using a series of
poison pills that could be used to doctor Castro's food and drink. These pills were given by the CIA to
Giancana's nominee Juan Orta, whom Giancana presented as being an official in the Cuban
government who was also in the pay of gambling interests, and who did have access to Castro.[79][80]
[81]
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After a series of six attempts to introduce the poison into Castro's food, Orta abruptly demanded to be
let out of the mission, handing over the job to another, unnamed participant. Later, a second attempt
was mounted through Giancana and Trafficante using Dr. Anthony Verona, the leader of the Cuban
Exile Junta, who had, according to Trafficante, become "disaffected with the apparent ineffectual
progress of the Junta". Verona requested $10,000 in expenses and $1,000 worth of communications
equipment. However, it is unknown how far the second attempt went, as the entire program was
cancelled shortly thereafter due to the launching of the Bay of Pigs Invasion.[79][80][81]
United States embargo
Main article: United States embargo against Cuba
José María Aznar, former Spanish Prime Minister, wrote
that the embargo was Castro's greatest ally, and that
Castro would lose his presidency within three months if
the embargo was lifted.[82] Castro retained control after
Cuba became bankrupt and isolated following the
dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. The synergic
contraction of Cuban economy resulted in eighty-five
percent of its markets disappearing, along with subsidies
and trade agreements that had supported it, causing
extended gas and water outages, severe power shortages,
and dwindling food supplies.[83]
In 1994, the island's economy plunged into what was
called the "Special Period"; teetering on the brink of
collapse. Cuba legalized the US dollar, turned to tourism,
and encouraged the transfer of remittances in US dollars
from Cubans living in the USA to their relatives on the
Island. After massive damage caused by Hurricane
Michelle in 2001, Castro proposed a one-time cash
purchase of food from the U.S. while declining a U.S.
offer of humanitarian aid.[84]
Castro arriving at the MATS Terminal in
Washington D.C in 1959
The U.S. authorized the shipment of food in 2001, the first since the embargo was imposed.[85]
During 2004, Castro shut down 118 factories, including steel plants, sugar mills and paper processors
to compensate for the crisis due to fuel shortages.,[86] and in 2005 directed thousands of Cuban
doctors to Venezuela in exchange for oil imports.[87]
Foreign relations
Main article: Foreign relations of Cuba
Soviet Union
Following the establishment of diplomatic ties to the Soviet Union, and after the Cuban Missile
Crisis, Cuba became increasingly dependent on Soviet markets and military and economic aid. Castro
was able to build a formidable military force with the help of Soviet equipment and military advisors.
The KGB kept in close touch with Havana, and Castro tightened Communist Party control over all
levels of government, the media, and the educational system, while developing a Soviet-style internal
police force.
Castro's alliance with the Soviet Union caused something of a split between him and Guevara. In
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1966, Guevara left for Bolivia in an ill-fated attempt to stir up revolution against the country's
government.
On August 23, 1968, Castro made a public gesture to the USSR that caused the Soviet leadership to
reaffirm their support for him. Two days after the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia to repress the
Prague Spring, Castro took to the airwaves and publicly denounced the Czech rebellion. Castro
warned the Cuban people about the Czechoslovakian 'counterrevolutionaries', who "were moving
Czechoslovakia towards capitalism and into the arms of imperialists". He called the leaders of the
rebellion "the agents of West Germany and fascist reactionary rabble."[88] In return for his public
backing of the invasion, at a time when many Soviet allies were deeming the invasion an infringement
of Czechoslovakia's sovereignty, the Soviets bailed out the Cuban economy with extra loans and an
immediate increase in oil exports.
In 1971, despite an Organization of American States convention that no nation in the Western
Hemisphere would have a relationship with Cuba (the only exception being Mexico, which had
refused to adopt that convention), Castro took a month-long visit to Chile, following the reestablishment of diplomatic relations with Cuba. The visit, in which Castro participated actively in the
internal politics of the country, holding massive rallies and giving public advice to Salvador Allende,
was seen by those on the political right as proof to support their view that "The Chilean Way to
Socialism" was an effort to put Chile on the same path as Cuba.[89]
When Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev visited Cuba in 1989, the camaraderie between Havana and
Moscow was strained by Gorbachev's implementation of economic and political reforms in the USSR.
"We are witnessing sad things in other socialist countries, very sad things," lamented Castro in
November 1989, in reference to the changes that were sweeping such communist allies as the Soviet
Union, East Germany, Hungary, and Poland.[90] The subsequent dissolution of the Soviet Union in
1991 had an immediate and devastating effect on Cuba.
Other countries
"As I have said before, the ever more
sophisticated weapons piling up in the
arsenals of the wealthiest and the mightiest
can kill the illiterate, the ill, the poor and the
hungry, but they cannot kill ignorance,
illness, poverty or hunger."
– Fidel Castro, 2002[92]
Nelson Mandela with Castro after his release
On November 4, 1975, Castro ordered the
from prison on July 27, 1991, in Matanzas,
deployment of Cuban troops to Angola in order to
Cuba. Their combined anti-apartheid speeches
aid the Marxist MPLA-ruled government against the
from the event were published as the book How
South African-backed UNITA opposition forces.
Far We Slaves Have Come![91]
Moscow aided the Cuban initiative with the USSR
engaging in a massive airlift of Cuban forces into
Angola. On Cuba's role in Angola, Nelson Mandela is said to have remarked "Cuban internationalists
have done so much for African independence, freedom, and justice."[93]
Cuban troops were also sent to Marxist Ethiopia to assist Ethiopian forces in the Ogaden War with
Somalia in 1977. In addition, Castro extended support to Marxist Revolutionary movements
throughout Latin America, such as aiding the Sandinistas in overthrowing the Somoza government in
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Nicaragua in 1979. It has been claimed by the Carthage Foundation-funded Center for a Free Cuba[94]
that an estimated 14,000 Cubans were killed in Cuban military actions abroad.[95] Castro never
disclosed the amount of casualties in Soviet African wars, but one estimate is 14,000, a high number
for the small country.[96]
Juan Antonio Rodríguez Mernier, a former Cuban Intelligence Major who defected in 1987, says the
regime made large amounts of money from drug trafficking operations in the 1970s. The cash was to
be deposited in Fidel's Swiss bank accounts "in order to finance liberation movements".[97] Norberto
Fuentes, a defected member of the Castro brothers' inner circle, has provided details about these
operations. According to him, an operation conducted in cooperation with the Democratic Front for
the Liberation of Palestine helped Cuban intelligence to steal one billion by robbing banks in Lebanon
during the 1975–76 civil war. Gold bars, jewelry, gems, and museum pieces were carried in
diplomatic pouches via air route Beirut-Moscow-Havana. Castro personally greeted the robbers as
heroes.[97]
Cuba and Panama restored diplomatic ties in 2005 after breaking them off a year prior when Panama's
former president pardoned four Cuban exiles accused of attempting to assassinate Cuban President
Fidel Castro in 2000. The foreign minister of each country re-established official diplomatic relations
in Havana by signing a document describing a spirit of fraternity that has long linked both nations.[98]
Cuba, once shunned by many of its Latin American neighbours, now has full diplomatic relations
with all but Costa Rica and El Salvador.[98]
Although the relationship between Cuba and Mexico remains strained, each side appears to make
attempts to improve it. In 1998, Fidel Castro apologized for remarks he made about Mickey Mouse
which led Mexico to recall its ambassador from Havana. He said he intended no offense when he said
earlier that Mexican children would find it easier to name Disney characters than to recount key
figures in Mexican history. Rather, he said, his words were meant to underscore the cultural
dominance of the US.[99] Mexican president Vicente Fox apologized to Fidel Castro in 2002 over
statements by Castro, who had taped their telephone conversation, to the effect that Fox forced him to
leave a United Nations summit in Mexico so that he would not be in the presence of President Bush,
who also attended.[100]
At a summit meeting of sixteen Caribbean countries in 1998, Castro called for regional unity, saying
that only strengthened cooperation between Caribbean countries would prevent their domination by
rich nations in a global economy.[101] Caribbean nations have embraced Cuba's Fidel Castro while
accusing the US of breaking trade promises. Castro, until recently a regional outcast, has been
increasing grants and scholarships to the Caribbean countries, while US aid has dropped 25% over the
past five years.[102] Cuba has opened four additional embassies in the Caribbean Community
including: Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Suriname, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. This
development makes Cuba the only country to have embassies in all independent countries of the
Caribbean Community.[103]
North Korea has granted Castro "the Golden Medal (Hammer and Sickle) and the First Class Order of
the National Flag".[104]
Libyan de facto leader Muammar al-Gaddafi has granted Castro a "Libyan human rights prize".[105]
On a visit to South Africa in 1998 he was warmly received by President Nelson Mandela.[106]
President Mandela gave Castro South Africa's highest civilian award for foreigners, the Order of
Good Hope.[107] Last December Castro fulfilled his promise of sending 100 medical aid workers to
Botswana, according to the Botswana presidency. These workers play an important role in Botswana's
war against HIV/AIDS. According to Anna Vallejera, Cuba's first-ever Ambassador to Botswana, the
health workers are part of her country's ongoing commitment to proactively assist in the global war
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against HIV/AIDS,[108]
In Harlem, Castro is seen as an icon because of his historic visit with Malcolm X in 1960 at the Hotel
Theresa.[109]
Castro was known to be a friend of former Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau and was an
honorary pall bearer at Trudeau's funeral in October 2000. They had continued their friendship after
Trudeau left office until his death. Canada became one of the first American allies openly to trade
with Cuba. Cuba still has a good relationship with Canada. In 1998, Canadian Prime Minister Jean
Chrétien arrived in Cuba to meet President Castro and highlight their close ties. He is the first
Canadian government leader to visit the island since Pierre Trudeau was in Havana in 1976.[110]
The European Union accuses the Castro regime of "continuing flagrant violation of human rights and
fundamental freedoms".[111] In December 2001, European Union representatives described their
political dialogue with Cuba as back on track after a weekend of talks in Havana. The EU praised
Cuba's willingness to discuss questions of human rights. Cuba is the only Latin American country
without an economic co-operation agreement with the EU. However, trade with individual European
countries remains strong since the US trade embargo on Cuba leaves the market free from American
rivals.[112]
In 2005, EU Development Commissioner Louis Michel ended his visit to Cuba optimistic that
relations with the communist state will become stronger. The EU is Cuba's largest trading partner.
Cuba's imprisonment of 75 dissidents and the execution of three hijackers have strained diplomatic
relations. However, the EU commissioner was impressed with Fidel Castro's willingness to discuss
these concerns, although he received no commitments from Castro. Cuba does not admit to holding
political prisoners, seeing them rather as mercenaries in the pay of the United States.[113]
Castro is seen as an icon by leaders of recent socialist governments in Latin America. Hugo Chávez
of Venezuela is a long-time admirer and reached agreements with Cuba to provide subsidized
petroleum in exchange for Cuban medical assistance. Evo Morales of Bolivia has described him as
"the grandfather of all Latin American revolutionaries".[114]
Religious beliefs
Castro was baptized and raised a Roman Catholic as a child but did not practice as one. In Oliver
Stone's documentary Comandante, Castro states "I have never been a believer", and has total
conviction that there is only one life.[115] Pope John XXIII excommunicated Castro in 1962 after
Castro suppressed Catholic institutions in Cuba.[116]
In 1992, Castro agreed to loosen restrictions on religion and even permitted church-going Catholics to
join the Cuban Communist Party. He began describing his country as "secular" rather than "atheist".
[117] Pope John Paul II visited Cuba in 1998, the first visit by a reigning pontiff to the island. Castro
and the Pope appeared side by side in public on several occasions during the visit. Castro wore a dark
blue business suit rather than fatigues in his public meetings with the Pope and treated him with
reverence and respect.[118] In December 1998, Castro formally re-instated Christmas Day as the
official celebration for the first time since its abolition by the Communist Party in 1969.[119] Cubans
were again allowed to mark Christmas as a holiday and to openly hold religious processions. The
Pope sent a telegram to Castro thanking him for restoring Christmas as a public holiday.[120]
Castro attended a Roman Catholic convent blessing in 2003. The purpose of this unprecedented event
was to help bless the newly restored convent in Old Havana and to mark the fifth anniversary of the
Pope's visit to Cuba.[121]
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The senior spiritual leader of the Orthodox Christian faith arrived in Cuba in 2004, the first time any
Orthodox Patriarch has visited Latin America in the Church's history: Ecumenical Patriarch
Bartholomew I consecrated a cathedral in Havana and bestowed an honor on Fidel Castro.[122] His
aides said that he was responding to the decision of the Cuban Government to build and donate to the
Orthodox Christians a tiny Orthodox cathedral in the heart of old Havana.[123]
After Pope John Paul II's death in April 2005, an emotional Castro attended a mass in his honor in
Havana's cathedral and signed the Pope's condolence book at the Vatican Embassy.[124] He had last
visited the cathedral in 1959, 46 years earlier, for the wedding of one of his sisters. Cardinal Jaime
Lucas Ortega y Alamino led the mass and welcomed Castro, who was dressed in a black suit,
expressing his gratitude for the "heartfelt way the death of our Holy Father John Paul II was received
(in Cuba)."[125]
Succession issues
According to Article 94 of the Cuban Constitution, the First Vice President of the Council of State
assumes presidential duties upon the illness or death of the president. Raúl Castro was the person in
that position for the last 32 years of Fidel Castro's presidency.
Speculation on illness 1998–2005
Due to the issue of presidential succession and Castro's longevity, there have long been rumors,
speculation and hoaxing about Castro's health and demise. In 1998 there were reports that he had a
serious brain disease, later discredited.[126] In June 2001, he apparently fainted during a seven-hour
speech under the Caribbean sun.[127] Later that day he finished the speech, walking buoyantly into the
television studios in his military fatigues, joking with journalists.[128]
In January 2004, Luis Eduardo Garzón, the mayor of Bogotá, said that Castro "seemed very sick to
me" following a meeting with him during a vacation in Cuba.[129] In May 2004, Castro's physician
denied that his health was failing, and speculated that he would live to be 140 years old. Dr. Eugenio
Selman Housein said that the "press is always speculating about something, that he had a heart attack
once, that he had cancer, some neurological problem", but maintained that Castro was in good health.
[130]
On October 20, 2004, Castro tripped and fell following a speech he gave at a rally, breaking his
kneecap and fracturing his right arm.[131] He was able to recover his ability to walk and publicly
demonstrated this two months later.[132]
In 2005, the CIA said it thought Castro had Parkinson's disease.[133][134] Castro denied such
allegations, while also citing the example of Pope John Paul II in saying that he would not fear the
disease.[135]
Transfer of duties, speculation on illness 2006–2007
See also: 2006 Cuban transfer of presidential duties
On July 31, 2006, Castro delegated his duties as President of the Council of state, President of the
Council of Ministers, First Secretary of the Cuban Communist Party and the post of commander in
chief of the armed forces to his brother Raúl Castro. This transfer of duties was described at the time
as temporary while Fidel recovered from surgery he underwent due to an "acute intestinal crisis with
sustained bleeding".[136] Fidel Castro was too ill to attend the nationwide commemoration of the 50th
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anniversary of the Granma boat landing on December 2, 2006, which also became his belated 80th
birthday celebrations. Castro's non-appearance fueled reports that he had terminal pancreatic cancer
and was refusing treatment,[137] but on December 17, 2006 Cuban officials stated that Castro had no
terminal illness and would eventually return to his public duties.[138][139]
However, on December 24, 2006, Spanish newspaper El
Periódico de Catalunya reported that Spanish surgeon José
Luis García Sabrido had been flown to Cuba on a plane
chartered by the Cuban government. Dr. García Sabrido is an
intestinal expert who further specializes in the treatment of
cancer. The plane that Dr. García Sabrido's traveled in also
was reported to be carrying a large quantity of advanced
medical equipment.[140][141] On December 26, 2006, shortly
after returning to Madrid, Dr. García Sabrido held a news
conference in which he answered questions about Castro's
health. He stated that "He does not have cancer, he has a
problem with his digestive system," and added, "His condition
is stable. He is recovering from a very serious operation. It is
not planned that he will undergo another operation for the
moment."[142] Although most Cubans acknowledge that they
are aware Castro is seriously ill, most also seem worried about
a future without Castro.[143]
Castro in 2003.
On January 16, 2007, the Spanish newspaper, El País, citing
two unnamed sources from the Gregorio Marañón hospital —
who employs Dr. García Sabrido— in Madrid, reported Castro was in "very grave" condition, having
trouble cicatrizing, after three failed operations and complications from an intestinal infection caused
by a severe case of diverticulitis. However, Dr. García Sibrido told CNN that he was not the source of
the report and that "any statement that doesn't come directly from [Castro's] medical team is without
foundation."[144] Also, a Cuban diplomat in Madrid said the reports were lies and declined to
comment, while White House press secretary Tony Snow said the report appeared to be "just sort of a
roundup of previous health reports. We've got nothing new."[145][146][147] On January 30, 2007,
Cuban television and the paper Juventud Rebelde showed fresh video and photos from a meeting
between Castro and Hugo Chávez said to have taken place the previous day.[148][149]
In mid-February 2007, it was reported by the Associated Press that Acting President Raúl Castro had
said that Fidel Castro's health was improving and he was taking part in all important issues facing the
government. "He's consulted on the most important questions," Raúl Castro said of Fidel. "He doesn't
interfere, but he knows about everything."[150] On February 27, 2007, Reuters reported that Fidel
Castro had called into Aló Presidente, a live radio talk show hosted by Hugo Chávez, and chatted with
him for thirty minutes during which time he sounded "much healthier and more lucid" than he had on
any of the audio and video tapes released since his surgery in July. Castro reportedly told Chávez, "I
am gaining ground. I feel I have more energy, more strength, more time to study," adding with a
chuckle, "I have become a student again." Later in the conversation (transcript in Spanish; audio) , he
made reference to the fall of the world stock markets that had occurred earlier in the day and
remarked that it was proof of his contention that the world capitalist system is in crisis.[151]
Reports of improvements in his condition continued to circulate throughout March and early April.
On April 13, 2007, Chávez was quoted by the Associated Press as saying that Castro has "almost
totally recovered" from his illness. That same day, Cuban Foreign Minister Felipe Roque confirmed
during a press conference in Vietnam that Castro had improved steadily and had resumed some of his
leadership responsibilities.[152] On April 21, 2007, the official newspaper Granma reported that
Castro had met for over an hour with Wu Guanzheng, a member of the Politburo of the Chinese
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Communist Party who was visiting Havana. Photographs of their meeting showed the Cuban
president looking healthier than he had in any previously released since his surgery.[153]
As a comment on Castro’s recovery, U.S. President George W. Bush said: "One day the good Lord
will take Fidel Castro away," Hearing about this, Castro, who is an atheist, ironically 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."[154]
In January 2009 Castro asked Cubans not to worry about his lack of recent news columns, his failing
health, and not to be disturbed by his future death.[155] At the same time pictures were released of
Castro's meeting with the Argentine president Cristina Fernandez on January 21, 2009.[156]
Retirement
"I'm really happy to reach 80. I never expected it, not least having a neighbor – the
greatest power in the world – trying to kill me every day."
— Fidel Castro, July 21, 2006[157]
In a letter dated February 18, 2008, Castro announced that he would not accept the positions of
president and commander in chief at the February 24, 2008 National Assembly meetings, saying "I
will not aspire nor accept—I repeat I will not aspire or accept—the post of President of the Council of
State and Commander in Chief,"[158] effectively announcing his retirement from official public life.
[159][160][161] The letter was published online by the official Communist Party newspaper Granma. In
it, Castro stated that his health was a primary reason for his decision, stating that "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".[162]
On February 24, 2008, the National Assembly of
People's Power unanimously chose his brother,
Raúl Castro, as Fidel's successor as President of
Cuba.[12] In his first speech as Fidel’s successor,
he proposed to the National Assembly of People's
Power that Fidel continue to be consulted on
matters of great importance, such as defence,
foreign policy and "the socioeconomic
development of the country". The proposal was
immediately and unanimously approved by the
597 members of the National Assembly. Raúl
described Fidel as "not substitutable".[163] Castro
also remains the First Secretary of the Communist
Party.[164]
Fidel Castro's brother Raúl Castro and Dmitry
Medvedev.
Since his retirement, Castro has written a regular
column in Granma called "Reflections", in which he writes on world affairs, and has occasionally
made pre-taped appearances on television greeting visitors such as Hugo Chávez in his room. In July
2010, he made his first public appearance greeting workers at a science centre and gave his most
prominent television interview since falling ill, on the Cuban program Mesa Redonda speaking for an
extended period about tensions between the United States, Iran and North Korea.[165]
On August 7, 2010, Castro gave his first speech to the Cuban National Assembly in four years. He
addressed the body for ten minutes on international affairs and then remained to listen and respond to
questions for a further 70 minutes. In his comments he urged the United States not to go to war with
Iran or North Korea and warning about the dangers of a nuclear holocaust. When asked whether
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Castro may be re-entering government, Culture minister Abel Prieto told the BBC, "I think that he has
always been in Cuba's political life but he is not in the government...He has been very careful about
that. His big battle is international affairs."[166][167][168][169]
In September 2010, The Atlantic began publishing a series of articles by Jeffrey Goldberg based on
extensive and wide-ranging interviews by Goldberg and Julia E. Sweig with Castro, the first of which
lasted five hours. Goldberg was contacted by Castro after he read one of Goldberg's articles on
whether Israel would launch an pre-emptive air strike on Iran should it come close to acquiring
nuclear weapons. While warning against the dangers of Western confrontation with Iran in which
inadvertently, "a gradual escalation could become a nuclear war," Castro "unequivocally" defended
Israel's right to exist and condemned antisemitism, criticizing also some of the rhetoric on Israel by
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the President of Iran, under whom Iran–Israel relations have become
increasingly hostile:
"I don't think anyone has been slandered more than the Jews. I would say much more
than the Muslims. They have been slandered much more than the Muslims because they
are blamed and slandered for everything. [Iran must understand] Jews were expelled from
their land, persecuted and mistreated all over the world, as the ones who killed God. The
Jews have lived an existence that is much harder than ours. There is nothing that
compares to the Holocaust"
Asked by Goldberg if he would tell Ahmadinejad the same things, Castro responded, "I am saying
this so you can communicate it". Castro "criticized Ahmadinejad for denying the Holocaust and
explained why the Iranian government would better serve the cause of peace by acknowledging the
'unique' history of anti-Semitism and trying to understand why Israelis fear for their existence."[170]
Public image
By wearing military-style uniforms and leading mass demonstrations, Castro projected an image of a
perpetual revolutionary. He was mostly seen in military attire, but his personal tailor, Merel Van 't
Wout, convinced him to occasionally change to a business suit.[171] Castro is often referred to as
"Comandante", but is also nicknamed "El Caballo", meaning "The Horse", a label that was first
attributed to Cuban entertainer Benny Moré, who on hearing Castro passing in the Havana night with
his entourage, shouted out "Here comes the horse!"[172]
During the revolutionary campaign, fellow rebels knew Castro as "The Giant".[173] Large throngs of
people gathered to cheer at Castro's fiery speeches, which typically lasted for hours. Many details of
Castro's private life, particularly involving his family members, are scarce as the media is forbidden to
mention them.[174] Castro's image appears frequently in Cuban stores, classrooms, taxicabs, and
national television.[175] Despite this, Castro has stated that he does not promote a cult of personality.
[176]
Family
By his first wife Mirta Díaz-Balart, whom he married on October 11, 1948, Castro has a son named
Fidel Ángel "Fidelito" Castro Díaz-Balart, born on September 1, 1949. Díaz-Balart and Castro were
divorced in 1955, and she remarried Emilio Núñez Blanco. After a spell in Madrid, Díaz-Balart
reportedly returned to Havana to live with Fidelito and his family.[177] Fidelito grew up in Cuba; for a
time, he ran Cuba's atomic-energy commission before being removed from the post by his father.[178]
Díaz-Balart's nephews are Republican U.S. Congressmen Lincoln Diaz-Balart and Mario Diaz-Balart,
vocal critics of the Castro government.
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Fidel has five other sons by his second wife, Dalia Soto del Valle: Antonio, Alejandro, Alexis,
Alexander "Alex" and Ángel Castro Soto del Valle.[178]
While Fidel was married to Mirta, he had an affair with Natalia "Naty" Revuelta Clews, born in
Havana in 1925 and married to Orlando Fernández, resulting in a daughter named Alina FernándezRevuelta.[178] Alina left Cuba in 1993, disguised as a Spanish tourist,[179] and sought asylum in the
United States. She has been a vocal critic of her father's policies. Alina was assisted by Elena DiazVerson Amos, wife of AFLAC founder John Amos. Alina lived with Elena in Columbus, GA for
several years.
By an unnamed woman he had another son, Jorge Ángel Castro. Fidel has another daughter, Francisca
Pupo (born 1953) the result of a one night affair. Pupo and her husband now live in Miami.[180][181]
His sister Juanita Castro has been living in the United States since the early 1960s. When she went
into exile, she said "I cannot longer remain indifferent to what is happening in my country. My
brothers Fidel and Raúl have made it an enormous prison surrounded by water. The people are nailed
to a cross of torment imposed by international Communism."[182]
Controversy and criticism
Human rights record
Main articles: Human rights in Cuba and Censorship in Cuba
Many observers refer to Castro as a dictator[183][184][185][186]
[187][188] and his rule was the longest to-date in modern Latin
American history.[185][186][187][188]
The Human Rights Watch organization has suggested that
Castro constructed a "repressive machinery" which "continues
to deprive Cubans of their basic rights".[189]
Castro's 49-year regime remains one of the most controversial
in the history of Latin America. Scholar R J Rummel estimates
the casualties of his regime to 73,000, with one study
estimating over 119,000 and several others suggesting
significantly lower figures.[190]
Allegations of mismanagement
Signs of protest in the 2010 Cuban
Day Parade in Union City, New
Jersey, a heavily Cuban-American
community.
In their book, Corruption in Cuba, Sergio Diaz-Briquets and
Jorge F. Pérez-López Servando state that Castro
"institutionalized" corruption and that "Castro's state-run
monopolies, cronyism, and lack of accountability have made Cuba one of the world's most corrupt
states".[191] Servando Gonzalez, in The Secret Fidel Castro, calls Castro a "corrupt tyrant".[192]
In 1959, according to Gonzalez, Castro established "Fidel's checking account", from which he could
draw funds as he pleased. The "Comandante's reserves" were created in 1970, from which Castro
allegedly "provided gifts to many of his cronies, both home and abroad". Gonzalez asserts that
Comandante's reserves have been linked to counterfeiting business empires and money laundering.
[192]
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As early as 1968, a once-close friend of Castro's wrote that Castro had huge accounts in Swiss banks.
Castro's secretary was allegedly seen using Zurich banks. Gonzalez believes that Cuba's paucity of
trade with Switzerland contrasts oddly with the National Office of Cuba's relatively large office in
Zurich.[192] Castro has denied having a bank account abroad with even a dollar in it.[193]
Anti-Castro activist and poet Jorge Valls was on record stating that Castro never knew how to love,
and that "Fidel tried a respectable marriage, which failed; he tried respectable politics, which failed".
[28]
Allegations of wealth
A KGB officer, Alexei Novikov, stated that Castro's personal life, like the lives of the rest of the
Communist elite, is "shrouded under an impenetrable veil of secrecy". Among other things, he
asserted that Castro has a personal guard of more than 9,700 men and three luxurious yachts.[192]
In 2005, American business and financial magazine Forbes listed Castro among the world's richest
people, with an estimated net worth of $550 million. The estimates, which the magazine admitted
were "more art than science",[194] claimed that the Cuban leader's personal wealth was nearly double
that of Britain's Queen Elizabeth II, despite anecdotal evidence from diplomats and businessmen that
the Cuban leader's personal life was notably austere.[193] This assessment was drawn by making
economic estimates of the net worth of Cuba's state-owned companies, and used the assumption that
Castro had personal economic control.[195] Forbes Magazine later increased the estimates to
$900 million, adding rumors of large cash stashes in Switzerland.[193] The magazine offered no proof
of this information,[194] and according to CBS news, Castro's entry on the rich list was notably brief
compared to the amount of information provided on other figures.[194] Castro, who had considered
suing the magazine, responded that the claims were "lies and slander", and that they were part of a US
campaign to discredit him.[193] He declared: "If they can prove that I have a bank account abroad,
with $900m, with $1m, $500,000, $100,000 or $1 in it, I will resign."[193] President of Cuba's Central
Bank, Francisco Soberón, called the claims a "grotesque slander", asserting that money made from
various state owned companies is pumped back into the island's economy, "in sectors including
health, education, science, internal security, national defense and solidarity projects with other
countries."[195]
Ancestry
Authored works
Fully or partially by Fidel Castro
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
Capitalism in Crisis: Globalization and World Politics Today, Ocean Press, 2000, ISBN
1876175184
Che: A Memoir, Ocean Press, 2005, ISBN 192088825X
Cuba at the Crossroads, Ocean Press, 1997, ISBN 187528494X
Fidel Castro: My Life: A Spoken Autobiography, Scribner, 2008, ISBN 1416553282
Fidel Castro Reader, Ocean Press, 2007, ISBN 1920888888
Fidel My Early Years, Ocean Press, 2004, ISBN 1920888098
Fidel & Religion: Conversations with Frei Betto on Marxism & Liberation Theology, Ocean
Press, 2006, ISBN 1920888454
How Far We Slaves Have Come! South Africa and Cuba in Today's World, by Nelson Mandela
& Fidel Castro, Pathfinder Press, 1991, ISBN 087348729X
Playa Giron: Bay of Pigs : Washington's First Military Defeat in the Americas, Pathfinder
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fidel_castro
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n
n
n
n
Page 22 of 31
Press, 2001, ISBN 087348925X
Political Portraits: Fidel Castro reflects on famous figures in history, Ocean Press, 2008, ISBN
1920888942
The Declarations of Havana, Verso, 2008, ISBN 1844671569
The Prison Letters of Fidel Castro, Nation Books, 2007, ISBN 1560259833
War, Racism and Economic Justice: The Global Ravages of Capitalism, Ocean Press, 2002,
ISBN 1876175478
See also
n
n
n
n
n
n
2006–2008 Cuban transfer of presidential
duties
26th of July Movement
Agrarian Reform Laws of Cuba
Left-wing nationalism
Opposition to Fidel Castro
Politics of Cuba
In other media:
n
n
n
n
n
638 Ways to Kill Castro
Comandante
Fidel (2001 documentary)
Fidel (film)
My Life (Fidel Castro autobiography)
References
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
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12.
13.
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16.
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17. ^ "yo sé – habla Fidel de sus bisabuelos- que eran canarios. De Pinar del Río, en Cuba, se fueron a
Santiago. Eran isleños...Yo oía decír en casa que mis abuelos, descendían, por parte de madre, de isleños
de Pinar del Río. Pero no sé la isla (de Canarias) ni el año en que llegaron a Cuba. ¿El apellido Ruz está en
Canarias? González por la parte de la abuela sí es de Canarias. Ruz es por parte del abuelo, pero no sé de
donde salió ese apellido. A lo mejor era un Ruíz al que le quitaron una i...Más económico" ("I know –
Fidel speaks of his great grandparents -that they were canaries. They left Pinar del Rio in Cuba, went to
Santiago. ... they were Isleños. I heard say home that my grandparents, descended, through of my mother,
of Isleños of Pinar del Rio. I do not know the island (of Canary Islands) and I nor do I know the year in
that they arrived in Cuba. "The subname Ruz is in the Canaries? Gonzalez, by my grandmother yes is of
the Canaries. Ruz is by my grandfather, but I do not know where it came from the subname. Maybe this
was a Ruíz to that someone removed him a i... more economical). Extract of an interview with Fidel
Castro by journalists canaries Carmelo and Martin, August 27, 1986. The interview was found in the book
"Canarias-América: El orgullo de ser canario en América" (Canary – America: The pride of being a
canary in America), by Julio Hernández García, first edition, 1989. Historia Popular de Canarias (Popular
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3A//www.cubacenter.org/media/news_articles/countingcastrosvictims.php. Retrieved May 11, 2006.
^ Return to Havana by Maurice Halperin
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Further reading
by Castro
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Castro, Fidel; Deborah Shnookal, Pedro Alvarez Tabío (2005). Fidel: my early years. Ocean Press.
ISBN 1920888098. http://books.google.ca/books?id=8RVaBPGRcUcC&lpg=PP1&dq=Fidel%
20Castro&pg=PP1#v=onepage&q&f=true
Castro, Fidel; Ignacio Ramonet (2008). Fidel Castro: my life : a spoken autobiography. Scribner Book
Company. ISBN 1416553282. http://books.google.ca/books?id=Z4H45OczqPYC&lpg=PP1&dq=Fidel%
20Castro&pg=PP1#v=onepage&q&f=true
by others
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Fuentes, Norberto; Anna Kushner (2010). The Autobiography of Fidel Castro. Norton & Co.
ISBN 9780393068993. http://books.google.ca/books?id=Fazd9dOLUmUC&lpg=PP1&dq=Fidel%
20Castro&pg=PP1#v=onepage&q&f=true
Geyer, Georgie Anne (2001). Guerrilla Prince: The Untold Story of Fidel Castro. Andrews McMeel.
ISBN 0740720643. http://books.google.ca/books?id=dRhJGLnJjugC&lpg=PP1&dq=Fidel%
20Castro&pg=PP1#v=onepage&q&f=true
Halperin, Maurice (1972). The rise and decline of Fidel Castro: an essay in contemporary history.
University of California Press. ISBN 0520021827. http://books.google.ca/books?
id=_B9LOCZuDnQC&lpg=PP1&dq=Fidel%20Castro&pg=PP1#v=onepage&q&f=true
Leonard, Thomas M (2004). Fidel Castro: a biography. Greenwood Press. ISBN 0313323011.
http://books.google.ca/books?id=63sFubdrEVcC&lpg=PP1&dq=Fidel%
20Castro&pg=PP1#v=onepage&q&f=true
Marsico, Katie (2009). Fidel Castro: Cuban President & Revolutionary. ABDO Pub. Co.
ISBN 9781604535228. http://books.google.ca/books?id=XgP9n-E7oTwC&lpg=PP1&dq=Fidel%
20Castro&pg=PP1#v=onepage&q&f=true
Skierka, Volker (2006). Fidel Castro: a biography. Polity. ISBN 0745630065.
http://books.google.ca/books?id=x9-U3FWiW_UC&lpg=PP1&dq=Fidel%
20Castro&pg=PP1#v=onepage&q&f=true
External links
By Fidel Castro
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Archive of Fidel Castro's speeches in 6 languages
Fidel Castro History Archive at Marxists Internet Archive.
Collection of Castro's speeches
"We Don't Hope for Favors from the Worst of Empires"
"Where Have All the Bees Gone?"
"In Spite of Everything: Reflections on the Pan-American Games"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fidel_castro
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"Time for an Alliance of Civlizations Against Empire"
СССР TV: "Fidel Castro meets L.Brezhnev (USSR) (1974)" on Soviet TV portal (in Russian)
Fidel Castro in His Own Words
Images
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Castro: Early Years (1953–1961) – slideshow by Life magazine
Fidel Castro: A Revolutionary Life – slideshow by Life magazine
Fidel Castro: A Life in Pictures – slideshow by BBC News
Fidel Castro's Five Decades in Power – slideshow by The Washington Post
Fidel Castro Resigns as President – slideshow by New York Times
About Fidel Castro
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Fidel Castro: From Rebel to El Presidente – timeline by NPR
Arthur Miller: A Visit With Castro by The Nation, December 24, 2003
BBC Video: Fidel Castro Visits Boyhood Home of Che Guevara
New York Times –- Interactive Feature: Three Days With Fidel
PBS American Experience Interactive site on Fidel Castro with a teacher's guide
Guide to the Cuban Revolution Collection, Manuscripts and Archives, Yale University Library
Deena Stryker Photographs of Cuba, 1963–1964, Duke University Libraries Digital Collections
NPR Audio: Cuba's Castro an Inspiration, Not a Role Model by Tom Gjelten, September 15,
2006
The Guardian: "The Fidel I Think I Know" by Gabriel García Márquez, August 12, 2006
Washington Post: Fidel Castro Will Always Lead Cuba, Locals Say February 22, 2008
Political offices
Preceded by
José Miró Cardona
Prime Minister of Cuba
1959–1976
Preceded by
Osvaldo Dorticós Torrado
Incapacitated in 2006
President of Cuba
1976–2008
Position abolished
Succeeded by
Raúl Castro
Military offices
New office
Commander-in-Chief of the
Revolutionary Armed Forces
Incapacitated in 2006
Succeeded by
Raúl Castro
1959–2008
Party political offices
New office
First Secretary of the Communist
Party of Cuba
1961–present
Incumbent
Diplomatic posts
Preceded by
Junius Richard Jayewardene
Secretary-General of the Non-Aligned
Movement
1979–1983
Succeeded by
Abdullah Ahmad Badawi
Preceded by
Neelam Sanjiva Reddy
Secretary-General of the Non-Aligned
Movement
2005–2008
Succeeded by
Raúl Castro
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fidel_Castro"
Categories: 1926 births | Anti-fascists | Attempted assassination survivors | Cold War leaders |
Communist rulers | Communist Party of Cuba politicians | Cuba – United States relations | Cuban
atheists | Cuban guerrillas | Cuban lawyers | Cuban people of Spanish descent | Cuban revolutionaries
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fidel_castro
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Fidel Castro - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Page 31 of 31
| Cuban soldiers | Cuban people of Canarian descent | Government ministers of Cuba | Living people |
Fidel Castro | Fidel Castro family members | Galician people | Leaders who took power by coup |
Lenin Peace Prize recipients | International opponents of apartheid in South Africa | People
excommunicated by the Roman Catholic Church | People from Holguín Province | Presidents of Cuba
| Recipients of the Order of the White Lion | Socialists
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n
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