Fidel Castro: Difference between revisions
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{{short description|Leader of Cuba from 1959 to 2008}} |
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[[Image:Fidel-Cohiba.jpg|thumb|250px|Cuban President Fidel Castro smoking a Cohiba]] |
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{{redirect|El Comandante|the TV series|El Comandante (TV series){{!}}''El Comandante'' (TV series)||Fidel Castro (disambiguation)}} |
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'''Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz''' (born [[August 13]], [[1926]]), has led [[Cuba]] since [[1959]], when, leading the [[26th of July Movement]], he overthrew the [[dictatorship]] of [[Fulgencio Batista]], and transformed Cuba into the first socialist nation in the [[Western Hemisphere]]. During his more than 40-year rule, he has emerged as one of the most controversial political figures in the world. His leadership has been marked by the implementation of programs that greatly increased the nation's literacy rate and provided [[Publicly funded medicine|universal healthcare]] to the Cuban populace, tensions with the [[United States]] that peaked in the [[Cuban Missile Crisis]] of [[1962]], and a close partnership with the [[Soviet Union]]. Castro has indicated that his brother [[Raúl Castro]] will assume authority over Cuba should he become ill [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A52578-2004Oct21.html] |
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{{family name hatnote|Castro|Ruz|lang=Spanish}} |
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{{pp-semi-indef|small=yes}} |
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{{Use Canadian English|date=February 2023}} |
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{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2023}} |
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{{very long|date=January 2024|words=18,000}} |
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{{Infobox officeholder |
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| birth_name = Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz |
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| image = Fidel Castro 1950s.jpg |
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| caption = Castro {{c.|1959}} |
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| office1 = [[First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba]] |
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| term_start1 = 3 October 1965 |
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| term_end1 = 19 April 2011 |
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| deputy1 = Raúl Castro |
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| predecessor1 = [[Blas Roca Calderio]] |
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| successor1 = [[Raúl Castro]] |
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| order2 = 15th |
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| office2 = President of the Council of State of Cuba |
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| term_start2 = 2 December 1976 |
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| term_end2 = 24 February 2008{{ref label|aaa|a}} |
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| vicepresident2 = Raúl Castro |
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| predecessor2 = [[Osvaldo Dorticós Torrado]] <!-- (as President) --> |
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| successor2 = Raúl Castro |
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| order3 = 15th |
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| office3 = President of the Council of Ministers of Cuba |
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| term_start3 = 2 December 1976 |
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| term_end3 = 24 February 2008{{ref label|aaa|a}} |
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| vicepresident3 = Raúl Castro |
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| predecessor3 = Himself (as prime minister) |
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| successor3 = Raúl Castro |
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| order4 = 15th |
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| office4 = Prime Minister of Cuba |
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| president4 = {{plainlist| |
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* [[Manuel Urrutia Lleó]] |
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* Osvaldo Dorticós Torrado |
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}} |
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| term_start4 = 16 February 1959 |
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| term_end4 = 2 December 1976 |
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| predecessor4 = [[José Miró Cardona]] |
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| successor4 = Himself (as president of the Council of Ministers) |
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| order5 = 7th and 23rd |
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| office5 = Secretary-General of the Non-Aligned Movement{{!}}Secretary-General of the {{nowrap|Non-Aligned Movement}} |
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| term_start5 = 16 September 2006 |
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| term_end5 = 24 February 2008 |
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| predecessor5 = [[Abdullah Ahmad Badawi]] |
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| successor5 = Raúl Castro |
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| term_start6 = 10 September 1979 |
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| term_end6 = 6 March 1983 |
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| predecessor6 = [[J. R. Jayewardene]] |
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| successor6 = [[Neelam Sanjiva Reddy]] |
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| birth_date = {{Birth date|df=yes|1926|08|13}} |
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| birth_place = [[Birán]], [[Oriente Province|Oriente]], Cuba |
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| death_date = {{nowrap|{{Death date and age|df=yes|2016|11|25|1926|08|13}}}} |
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| death_place = [[Havana]], Cuba |
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| resting_place = [[Santa Ifigenia Cemetery]], Santiago de Cuba |
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| party = [[Communist Party of Cuba|PCC]] (from 1965) |
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| otherparty = {{plainlist| |
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* [[Partido Ortodoxo|PPC-O]] (1947–1952) |
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* [[26th of July Movement|M-26-7]] (1955–1965) |
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}} |
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| father = [[Ángel Castro y Argiz]] |
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| relatives = {{Indented plainlist| |
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* 5 brothers, including [[Raúl Castro|Raúl]] and [[Ramón Castro Ruz|Ramón]] |
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* 7 sisters, including [[Juanita Castro|Juanita]] |
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}} |
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| spouse = {{plainlist| |
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* {{Marriage|[[Mirta Díaz-Balart]]|1948|1955|end=div}} |
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* {{Marriage|[[Dalia Soto del Valle]]|1980|<!--Year omitted per Template:Marriage instructions due to marriage ended with death of article subject-->}} |
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}} |
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| partner = [[Natalia Revuelta Clews]] (1955–1959) |
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| children = 11, including [[Alina Fernández|Alina]] and [[Fidel Castro Díaz-Balart|Fidelito]] |
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| alma_mater = [[University of Havana]] |
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| residence = |
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| occupation = {{hlist|Lawyer|politician}} |
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| awards = [[List of awards and honours bestowed upon Fidel Castro|Full list]] |
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| signature = Fidel Castro Signature.svg |
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| nickname = {{hlist|{{lang|es|Bola de Churre}}|{{lang|es|El Caballo}}|{{lang|es|El Comandante}}|{{lang|es|El guajiro}}|{{lang|es|El loco}}|{{lang|es|Fifo}}|{{lang|es|Pistolita}}}} |
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| allegiance = [[Republic of Cuba (1902–1959)|Republic of Cuba]] |
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| branch = [[Cuban Revolutionary Armed Forces|Revolutionary Armed Forces]] |
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| serviceyears = 1953–2016 |
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| rank = {{lang|es|Comandante en Jefe}} |
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| unit = [[26th of July Movement]] |
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| battles = {{plainlist| |
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* [[Cuban Revolution]] |
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* [[Escambray rebellion]] |
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* [[Bay of Pigs Invasion]] |
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* [[Cuban Missile Crisis]] |
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* [[Machurucuto incident]] |
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* [[Angolan Civil War]] |
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* [[Ogaden War]] |
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* [[US invasion of Grenada]] |
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}} |
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| footnotes = a. {{note|aaa||For medical reasons, presidential powers were [[2006–2008 Cuban transfer of presidential duties|transferred]] to the Vice President from 31 July 2006.}} |
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| honorific_prefix = {{lang|es|El Comandante}} |
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}} |
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'''Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|k|æ|s|t|r|oʊ}} {{respell|KASS|troh}},<ref>[http://www.dictionary.com/browse/castro "Castro"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200805221442/https://www.dictionary.com/browse/castro |date=5 August 2020 }}. ''[[Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary]]''.</ref> {{IPA|es-419|fiˈðel aleˈxandɾo ˈkastɾo ˈrus|lang}}; 13 August 1926 – 25 November 2016) was a Cuban revolutionary and politician who was the leader of [[Cuba]] from 1959 to 2008, serving as the [[prime minister of Cuba]] from 1959 to 1976 and [[President of Cuba|president]] from 1976 to 2008. Ideologically a [[Marxist–Leninist]] and Cuban [[nationalist]], he also served as the [[First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba|first secretary]] of the [[Communist Party of Cuba]] from 1965 until 2011. Under his administration, Cuba became a [[One-party state|one-party]] [[communist state]]; industry and business were [[nationalized]], and [[socialist]] reforms were implemented throughout society. |
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Born in [[Birán]], the son of a wealthy Spanish farmer, Castro adopted [[leftist]] and [[anti-imperialist]] ideas while studying law at the [[University of Havana]]. After participating in rebellions against right-wing governments in the [[Dominican Republic#Trujillo Era (1930–61)|Dominican Republic]] and [[La Violencia|Colombia]], he planned the overthrow of Cuban president [[Fulgencio Batista]], launching a failed [[attack on the Moncada Barracks]] in 1953. After a year's imprisonment, Castro travelled to Mexico where he formed a revolutionary group, the [[26th of July Movement]], with his brother [[Raúl Castro]] and [[Che Guevara|Ernesto "Che" Guevara]]. Returning to Cuba, Castro took a key role in the [[Cuban Revolution]] by leading the Movement in a [[guerrilla war]] against Batista's forces from the [[Sierra Maestra]]. After Batista's overthrow in 1959, Castro assumed military and political power as Cuba's prime minister. The United States came to oppose Castro's government and unsuccessfully attempted to [[CIA assassination attempts on Fidel Castro|remove him by assassination]], [[United States embargo against Cuba|economic embargo]], and counter-revolution, including the [[Bay of Pigs Invasion]] of 1961. Countering these threats, Castro aligned with the [[Soviet Union]] and allowed the Soviets to place nuclear weapons in Cuba, resulting in the [[Cuban Missile Crisis]]—a defining incident of the [[Cold War]]—in 1962. |
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==Early life== |
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[[Image:R2247968516.jpg|thumb|left|250px|University student Fidel Castro (3rd from the left, standing) talking to fellow students during a protest on [[November 11]], [[1947]]]] |
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Adopting a Marxist–Leninist model of development, Castro converted Cuba into a one-party, socialist state under Communist Party rule, the first in the [[Western Hemisphere]]. Policies introducing central [[economic planning]] and expanding [[Healthcare in Cuba|healthcare]] and [[Education in Cuba|education]] were accompanied by state control of the press and the suppression of internal dissent. Abroad, Castro supported anti-imperialist revolutionary groups, backing the establishment of [[Marxist]] governments in [[Presidency of Salvador Allende|Chile]], [[Junta of National Reconstruction|Nicaragua]], and [[People's Revolutionary Government|Grenada]], as well as sending troops to aid allies in the [[Yom Kippur War|Yom Kippur]], [[Ogaden War|Ogaden]], and [[Angolan Civil War]]. These actions, coupled with Castro's leadership of the [[Non-Aligned Movement]] from 1979 to 1983 and [[Cuban medical internationalism]], increased Cuba's profile on the world stage. Following the [[dissolution of the Soviet Union]] in 1991, Castro led Cuba through the economic downturn of the "[[Special Period]]", embracing environmentalist and [[anti-globalization]] ideas. In the 2000s, Castro forged alliances in the Latin American "[[pink tide]]"—namely with [[Hugo Chávez]]'s Venezuela—and formed the [[Bolivarian Alliance for the Americas]]. In 2006, Castro [[2006–2008 Cuban transfer of presidential duties|transferred his responsibilities]] to [[Vice President of Cuba|Vice President]] Raúl Castro, who was elected to the presidency by the [[National Assembly of People's Power|National Assembly]] in 2008. |
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Born in [[Birán]], near [[Mayarí]], in the modern-day province of [[Holguín Province|Holguín]] (then a part of the now-defunct [[Provinces of Cuba|Oriente province]]), Fidel spent his early years with his wealthy farming family. The son of Ángel Castro y Argiz, an immigrant from [[Galicia, Spain]], and his cook Lina Ruz González, Castro was educated at [[Jesuit]] schools, including the preparatory school Colegio Belén in [[Havana]]. In 1945, he went to the [[University of Havana]] to study law, from where he graduated in 1950. |
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The longest-serving non-royal head of state in the 20th and 21st centuries, Castro polarized world opinion. His supporters view him as a champion of socialism and anti-imperialism whose revolutionary government advanced economic and social justice while securing Cuba's independence from [[American imperialism|American hegemony]]. His critics view him as a dictator whose administration oversaw [[Human rights in Cuba|human rights abuses]], [[Cuban exodus|the exodus of many Cubans]], and the impoverishment of the country's economy. |
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Castro practiced law in a small partnership between 1950 and 1952. He intended to stand for [[parliament]] in 1952 for the "Orthodox Party" but a [[coup d'état]] led by [[General]] [[Fulgencio Batista]] overthrew the government of [[Carlos Prío Socarrás]], after which the elections were cancelled. Castro charged Batista with violating the [[constitution]] in court, but his petition was refused. In response, Castro organized an armed attack on the [[Moncada Barracks]] in [[Provinces of Cuba|Oriente province]] on [[July 26]], [[1953]]. Over eighty of the attackers were killed, and Castro was taken prisoner, tried, and sentenced to fifteen years in prison. (Castro used the closing arguments in the case to deliver "History Will Absolve Me" [http://www.marxists.org/history/cuba/archive/castro/1953/10/16.htm], a passionate speech defending his actions and explaining his political views.) He was released in a general amnesty in May 1955 and went into exile in [[Mexico]] and the [[United States]]. |
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==<span id='Biography'>Early life and career</span>== |
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==Rise to power== |
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{{Main|Early life of Fidel Castro}} |
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He returned to Cuba with a number of other exiles, including [[Che Guevara]], who were clandestinely sailing from Mexico to Cuba on the 60-ft pleasure yacht ''[[Granma]]''. They were called the ''[[26th of July Movement]]''. At this point, Castro described himself and his movement as believing in "[[Thomas Jefferson|Jeffersonian]] philosophy" and adhering to the "[[Abraham Lincoln|Lincoln]] formula" of cooperation between [[capital]] and [[labor]]. As late as 1959, Castro told ''[[U.S. News and World Report]]'' that he had "no intention of [[nationalization|nationalizing]] any industries." Some people (both critics and supporters of Castro) contend that the revolution never had anything to do with Jeffersonian philosophy, and that Castro was concealing his true aims. They point to a December 1961 speech given by Castro in which he states very clearly that he had always been a Marxist and concealed this fact to avoid alienating people.<sup>5</sup> |
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===Youth: 1926–1947=== |
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The 26th of July Movement's first action was in Oriente province on [[December 2]], [[1956]]. Only twelve of the original eighty men survived to retreat into the [[Sierra Maestra]] Mountains and from there wage a guerrilla war against the Batista government. The survivors included [[Che Guevara]], [[Raúl Castro]], and [[Camilo Cienfuegos]]. Castro's movement gained popular support and grew to over 800 men. On [[May 24]], [[1958]], Batista launched seventeen battalions against Castro in ''[[Operación Verano]]''. Despite being outnumbered, Castro's forces scored a series of stunning victories, aided by massive desertion and surrenders from Batista's army. On the night of December 31, 1958, Batista and president-elect [[Carlos Rivero Agüero]] fled the country to the [[Dominican Republic]] and then to [[Francisco Franco]]'s [[Spain]]. On January 8, 1959, Castro's forces took [[Havana]]. |
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Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz was born [[out of wedlock]] at his father's farm on 13 August 1926.<ref>{{harvnb|Bourne|1986|p=14}}; {{harvnb|Coltman|2003|p=3}}; {{harvnb|Castro|Ramonet|2009|pp=23–24}}.</ref> His father, [[Ángel Castro y Argiz]], a veteran of the [[Spanish–American War]],<ref>"[http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/castro/peopleevents/p_castro.html Fidel Castro (1926–)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061019214834/http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/castro/peopleevents/p_castro.html |date=19 October 2006 }}". Public Broadcasting Service (PBS). 2014.</ref> was a migrant to [[Captaincy General of Cuba|Cuba]] from [[Galicia (Spain)|Galicia]], in the northwest of [[Restoration (Spain)|Spain]].<ref>{{harvnb|Bourne|1986|pp=14–15}}; {{harvnb|Quirk|1993|pp=7–8}}; {{harvnb|Coltman|2003|pp=1–2}}; {{harvnb|Castro|Ramonet|2009|pp=24–29}}.</ref> He had become financially successful by growing sugarcane at Las Manacas farm in [[Birán]], then in [[Oriente Province]] (now [[Holguín Province]]).<ref>{{harvnb|Bourne|1986|pp=14–15}}; {{harvnb|Quirk|1993|p=4}}; {{harvnb|Coltman|2003|p=3}}; {{harvnb|Castro|Ramonet|2009|pp=24–29}}.</ref> After the collapse of his first marriage he took his household servant, Lina Ruz González (1903–1963)—of [[Canary Islanders|Canarian]] ancestry—as his mistress and later second wife; together they had seven children, among them Fidel.<ref>{{harvnb|Bourne|1986|pp=16–17}}; {{harvnb|Coltman|2003|p=3}}; {{harvnb|Castro|Ramonet|2009|pp=31–32}}.</ref> At age six, Castro was sent to live with his teacher in [[Santiago de Cuba]],<ref>{{harvnb|Quirk|1993|p=6}}; {{harvnb|Coltman|2003|pp=5–6}}; {{harvnb|Castro|Ramonet|2009|pp=45–48, 52–57}}.</ref> before being [[baptism|baptized]] into the Roman Catholic Church at the age of eight.<ref>{{harvnb|Bourne|1986|pp=29–30}}; {{harvnb|Coltman|2003|pp=5–6}}; {{harvnb|Castro|Ramonet|2009|pp=59–60}}.</ref> Being baptized enabled Castro to attend the La Salle boarding school in Santiago, where he regularly misbehaved; he was next sent to the privately funded, [[Society of Jesus|Jesuit]]-run Dolores School in Santiago.<ref>{{harvnb|Quirk|1993|p=13}}; {{harvnb|Coltman|2003|pp=6–7}}; {{harvnb|Castro|Ramonet|2009|pp=64–67}}.</ref> |
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[[File:Fidelcastro colegio de belen 1943. Havana Cuba.jpg|thumb|left|Castro, second from left, at [[Colegio de Belén, Havana]], 1943]] |
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==Economic policy== |
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In 1942, Castro transferred to the Jesuit-run [[Colegio de Belén, Havana|El Colegio de Belén]] in [[Havana]].<ref>{{harvnb|Bourne|1986|pp=14–15}}; {{harvnb|Quirk|1993|p=14}}; {{harvnb|Coltman|2003|pp=8–9}}.</ref> Although Castro took an interest in history, geography, and debate at Belén, he did not excel academically, instead devoting much of his time to playing sports.<ref>{{harvnb|Quirk|1993|pp=12–13, 16–19}}; {{harvnb|Coltman|2003|p=9}}; {{harvnb|Castro|Ramonet|2009|p=68}}.</ref> |
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Castro consolidated control of the nation by nationalizing industry, expropriating property owned by Cubans and non-Cubans alike, collectivizing agriculture, and enacting policies which he claimed would benefit the population. In 1959, following President [[Eisenhower]]'s ban on the importation of Cuban sugar into the U.S., Castro nationalized some $850 million worth of U.S. property and businesses. This alienated some of the Cuban middle-class and previous supporters of the revolution, who left for the U.S. Many other Cubans would later migrate to the U.S. as well, a great deal of them forming a vocal anti-Castro community in [[Miami, Florida]]. Because of the embargo imposed by the United States, Cuba then became increasingly dependent on Soviet and [[Eastern bloc]] subsidies, worth up to one quarter of the island's gross domestic product, to finance improvements to Cuba's economic conditions. The dissolution of the Soviet Union in [[1991]] had severe repercussions on the Cuban economy. |
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In 1945, Castro began studying law at the [[University of Havana]].<ref>{{harvnb|Bourne|1986|p=13}}; {{harvnb|Quirk|1993|p=19}}; {{harvnb|Coltman|2003|p=16}}; {{harvnb|Castro|Ramonet|2009|pp=91–92}}.</ref> Admitting he was "politically illiterate", Castro became embroiled in [[student activism]]<ref>{{harvnb|Bourne|1986|pp=9–10}}; {{harvnb|Quirk|1993|pp=20, 22}}; {{harvnb|Coltman|2003|pp=16–17}}; {{harvnb|Castro|Ramonet|2009|pp=91–93}}.</ref> and the [[Gang#Gang violence|violent ''gangsterismo'' culture]] within the university.<ref>{{harvnb|Bourne|1986|pp=34–35}}; {{harvnb|Quirk|1993|p=23}}; {{harvnb|Coltman|2003|p=18}}.</ref> After becoming passionate about [[anti-imperialism]] and opposing [[Banana Wars|US intervention in the Caribbean]],<ref>{{harvnb|Coltman|2003|p=20}}.</ref> he unsuccessfully campaigned for the presidency of the Federation of University Students on a platform of "honesty, decency and justice".<ref>{{harvnb|Bourne|1986|pp=32–33}}; {{harvnb|Coltman|2003|pp=18–19}}.</ref> Castro became critical of the corruption and violence of President [[Ramón Grau]]'s government, delivering a public speech on the subject in November 1946 that received coverage on the front page of several newspapers.<ref>{{harvnb|Bourne|1986|pp=34–37, 63}}; {{harvnb|Coltman|2003|pp=21–24}}.</ref> |
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In 1947, Castro joined the Party of the Cuban People (or Orthodox Party; ''[[Partido Ortodoxo]]''), founded by veteran politician [[Eduardo Chibás]]. A charismatic figure, Chibás advocated social justice, honest government, and political freedom, while his party exposed corruption and demanded reform. Though Chibás came third in the [[1948 Cuban general election|1948 general election]], Castro remained committed to working on his behalf.<ref>{{harvnb|Bourne|1986|pp=39–40}}; {{harvnb|Quirk|1993|pp=28–29}}; {{harvnb|Coltman|2003|pp=23–27}}; {{harvnb|Castro|Ramonet|2009|pp=83–85}}.</ref> Student violence escalated after Grau employed gang leaders as police officers, and Castro soon received a death threat urging him to leave the university. However, he refused to do so and began to carry a gun and surround himself with armed friends.<ref>{{harvnb|Coltman|2003|pp=27–28}}; {{harvnb|Castro|Ramonet|2009|pp=95–97}}.</ref> In later years, anti-Castro dissidents accused him of committing gang-related assassinations at the time, but these accusations remain unproven.<ref>{{harvnb|Bourne|1986|pp=35–36, 54}}; {{harvnb|Quirk|1993|pp=25, 27}}; {{harvnb|Coltman|2003|pp=23–24, 37–38, 46}}; {{harvnb|Von Tunzelmann|2011|p=39}}.</ref> The American historian John Lewis Gaddis wrote that Castro "began his career as a revolutionary with no ideology at all: he was a student politician turned street fighter turned guerrilla, a voracious reader, an interminable speaker, and a pretty good baseball player".<ref>{{harvnb|Gaddis|1997|p=180}}.</ref> |
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The U.S. [[Embargo|economic sanctions]], which include a general travel ban for American tourists to Cuba, has been cited by Castro supporters as a major factor in Cuba's economic troubles. Supporters of the embargo reply that the United States is the only nation which has an embargo on Cuba, and that Cuba is still free to trade with all other nations. At the same time the United States attempts to forbid foreign subsidiaries of US companies from trading with Cuba, imposes sanctions on foreign companies that would benefit from properties which the United States alleges were taken without compensation, and restricts its own trade with smaller nations that would trade with Cuba. |
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===Rebellion and Marxism: 1947–1950=== |
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Cuba is the second most popular tourist destination in the Caribbean (behind the Dominican Republic), providing it with much needed foreign currency. Cubans also receive large amounts of currency (with an estimated value of $850 million annually) from Cuban-Americans who send money back to their relatives or friends. Cuba also receives most of its energy needs in [[Petroleum|oil]] from [[Venezuela]], partly in exchange for Cuban medical personnel, replacing the previous long supply lines from Eastern Europe over a decade after these subsidies were cut. |
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{{Quote box|width=25em|align=left|quote=I joined the people; I grabbed a rifle in a police station that collapsed when it was rushed by a crowd. I witnessed the spectacle of a totally spontaneous revolution ... [T]hat experience led me to identify myself even more with the cause of the people. My still incipient Marxist ideas had nothing to do with our conduct—it was a spontaneous reaction on our part, as young people with [[Martí-an]], anti-imperialist, anti-colonialist and pro-democratic ideas.|source= – Fidel Castro on the Bogotazo, 2009<ref>{{harvnb|Castro|Ramonet|2009|p=98}}.</ref>}} |
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In June 1947, Castro learned of [[Cayo Confites expedition|a planned expedition]] to overthrow the right-wing government of [[Rafael Trujillo]], a US ally, in the [[Dominican Republic]].<ref>{{harvnb|Coltman|2003|p=30}}; {{harvnb|Von Tunzelmann|2011|pp=30–33}}.</ref> Being President of the University Committee for Democracy in the Dominican Republic, Castro joined the expedition.<ref>{{harvnb|Bourne|1986|pp=40–41}}; {{harvnb|Quirk|1993|p=23}}; {{harvnb|Coltman|2003|p=31}}.</ref> The military force consisted of around 1,200 troops, mostly Cubans and exiled Dominicans, and they intended to sail from Cuba in July 1947. Grau's government stopped the invasion under US pressure, although Castro and many of his comrades evaded arrest.{{sfnm|1a1=Bourne|1y=1986|1pp=41–42|2a1=Quirk|2y=1993|2p=24|3a1=Coltman|3y=2003|3pp=32–34}} Returning to Havana, Castro took a leading role in student protests against the killing of a high school pupil by government bodyguards.{{sfnm|1a1=Bourne|1y=1986|1p=42|2a1=Coltman|2y=2003|2pp=34–35}} The protests, accompanied by a crackdown on those considered communists, led to violent clashes between activists and police in February 1948, in which Castro was badly beaten.{{sfn|Coltman|2003|pp=36–37}} At this point, his public speeches took on a distinctly leftist slant by condemning social and economic inequality in Cuba. In contrast, his former public criticisms had centered on condemning corruption and US imperialism.{{sfn|Coltman|2003|pp=36–37}} |
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In recent years, Castro has invested in [[biotechnology]] to support the Cuban economy and to find substitutes for foreign imports of medical supplies. Cuban developments in this area have stirred concern and fears around the potential for [[biological weapons]]. Thus in 2002 one of the goals of a visit by former US President, [[Jimmy Carter]], was to inspect Cuban [[genetic engineering]] sites. Since then, the Cuban economy has benefited from both the export of medical technology and from "health tourism". |
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In April 1948, Castro travelled to [[Bogotá]], Colombia, leading a Cuban student group sponsored by President [[Juan Perón]]'s Argentine government. There, the assassination of popular leftist leader [[Jorge Eliécer Gaitán Ayala]] led to widespread rioting and clashes between the governing [[Colombian Conservative Party|Conservatives]]—backed by the army—and leftist [[Colombian Liberal Party|Liberals]].<ref name="Bogota"/> Castro joined the Liberal cause by stealing guns from a police station, but subsequent police investigations concluded that he had not been involved in any killings.<ref name="Bogota">{{harvnb|Bourne|1986|pp=46–52}}; {{harvnb|Quirk|1993|pp=25–26}}; {{harvnb|Coltman|2003|pp=40–45}}; {{harvnb|Castro|Ramonet|2009|pp=98–99}}.</ref> In April 1948, the [[Organization of American States]] was founded at a summit in Bogotá, leading to protests, which Castro joined.<ref>{{harvnb|Gaddis|1997|p=177}}.</ref> |
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On [[October 25]], [[2004]], Castro announced that [[USD]] currency in Cuba would be banned in Cuban stores as of November 8, after which US dollars could be exchanged for pesos with a 10% commission. The dollar was legalized in Cuba in 1993 following the fall of the Soviet Union, which had deprived the country of its primary source of economic aid and resulted in a general decline of living standards. Castro announced that the tax on US dollars is a response to economic pressure from the US, which has instituted restrictions on the transfer of US dollars to Cuba. Other foreign currencies, such as [[Canadian dollar]]s and [[euro]]s, are not taxed. |
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Returning to Cuba, Castro became a prominent figure in protests against government attempts to raise bus fares.<ref>{{harvnb|Bourne|1986|pp=54, 56}}; {{harvnb|Coltman|2003|pp=46–49}}.</ref> That year, he married [[Mirta Diaz-Balart|Mirta Díaz Balart]], a student from a wealthy family, through whom he was exposed to the lifestyle of the Cuban elite. The relationship was a love match, disapproved of by both families, but Díaz Balart's father gave them tens of thousands of dollars, along with Batista,<ref>{{harvnb|Quirk|1993|p=27}}.</ref> to spend on a three-month New York City honeymoon.<ref>{{harvnb|Bourne|1986|p=55}}; {{harvnb|Quirk|1993|p=27}}; {{harvnb|Coltman|2003|pp=47–48}}; {{harvnb|Von Tunzelmann|2011|p=41}}.</ref> |
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==Health care== |
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[[Image:Cuba,_Castro_(31).jpg|thumb|left|200px|Fidel Castro and a crowd waving the Cuban flag]] |
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{{Quote box|width=25em|align=right|quote=Marxism taught me what society was. I was like a blindfolded man in a forest, who doesn't even know where north or south is. If you don't eventually come to truly understand the history of the [[class struggle]], or at least have a clear idea that society is divided between the rich and the poor, and that some people subjugate and exploit other people, you're lost in a forest, not knowing anything.|source=– Fidel Castro on discovering Marxism, 2009<ref>{{harvnb|Castro|Ramonet|2009|p=100}}.</ref> }} |
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Education and health care were made available to all in Cuba. [[UNESCO]] statistics confirm that Cuba's rate of basic literacy is now among the highest in Latin America, though it was very high before the revolution as well. |
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That same year, Grau decided not to stand for re-election, which was instead won by his ''[[Partido Auténtico]]''{{'}}s new candidate, [[Carlos Prío Socarrás]].<ref>{{harvnb|Bourne|1986|pp=54–55}}; {{harvnb|Coltman|2003|p=46}}.</ref> Prío faced widespread protests when members of the MSR, now allied to the police force, assassinated Justo Fuentes, a socialist friend of Castro's. In response, Prío agreed to quell the gangs, but found them too powerful to control.<ref>{{harvnb|Coltman|2003|p=49}}.</ref> Castro had moved further to the left, influenced by the [[Marxism|Marxist]] writings of [[Karl Marx]], [[Friedrich Engels]], and [[Vladimir Lenin]]. He came to interpret Cuba's problems as an integral part of capitalist society, or the "dictatorship of the [[bourgeoisie]]", rather than the failings of corrupt politicians, and adopted the Marxist view that meaningful political change could only be brought about by proletariat revolution. Visiting Havana's poorest neighbourhoods, he became active in the student [[anti-racism|anti-racist]] campaign.<ref>{{harvnb|Bourne|1986|p=57}}; {{harvnb|Coltman|2003|p=50}}.</ref> |
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Infant mortality rates are the lowest in the region, even though high risk pregnancies usually lead to abortion. Health care is of very high quality and all Cubans receive free milk until the age of six. Besides entertainment, Cuban television broadcasts college-level courses for the adult population. In a recognition of his efforts, on [[April 12]], [[1988]], Castro became the only head of government to receive the Health for All medal from the [[World Health Organization]]. |
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In September 1949, Mirta gave birth to a son, Fidelito, so the couple moved to a larger Havana flat.<ref>{{harvnb|Quirk|1993|p=29}}; {{harvnb|Coltman|2003|p=50}}.</ref> Castro continued to put himself at risk, staying active in the city's politics and joining the 30 September Movement, which contained within it both communists and members of the ''Partido Ortodoxo''. The group's purpose was to oppose the influence of the violent gangs within the university; despite his promises, Prío had failed to control the situation, instead offering many of their senior members jobs in government ministries.<ref>{{harvnb|Bourne|1986|p=39}}; {{harvnb|Coltman|2003|p=51}}.</ref> Castro volunteered to deliver a speech for the Movement on 13 November, exposing the government's secret deals with the gangs and identifying key members. Attracting the attention of the national press, the speech angered the gangs and Castro fled into hiding, first in the countryside and then in the US.<ref>{{harvnb|Coltman|2003|p=51}}.</ref> Returning to Havana several weeks later, Castro laid low and focused on his university studies, graduating as a Doctor of Law in September 1950.<ref>{{harvnb|Bourne|1986|p=57}}; {{harvnb|Coltman|2003|p=51}}; {{harvnb|Castro|Ramonet|2009|p=89}}.</ref> |
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United States government sources reject the claims of significant achievements by Castro's regime and argue that "Cuba has at best maintained what were already high levels of development in health and education" (reference below). In spite of this, generally accepted UNESCO numbers indicate a higher literacy rate and a lower infant mortality rate in Cuba than most other countries in the world including the United States. |
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===Career in law and politics: 1950–1952=== |
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The Cuban media often highlight the contrast between contented Cuban children and children dealing in drugs, dragged into prostitution, or living in the [[slum|shantytowns]] of [[Bogotá]], [[Los Angeles, California|Los Angeles]], [[Buenos Aires]], the ''[[pueblos jóvenes]]'' of Peru, or the ''[[favela]]s'' of Brazil. In contrast, there is not a sizable population of Cuban children living on the streets. |
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[[File:BatistaDC1938.jpg|thumb|Castro intended to overthrow the presidency of General [[Fulgencio Batista]] (left, with [[Chief of Staff of the United States Army|US Army Chief of Staff]] [[Malin Craig]], in 1938).]] |
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Castro co-founded a legal partnership that primarily catered to poor Cubans, although it proved a financial failure.<ref>{{harvnb|Bourne|1986|pp=57–58}}; {{harvnb|Quirk|1993|p=318}}; {{harvnb|Coltman|2003|pp=51–52}}.</ref> Caring little for money or material goods, Castro failed to pay his bills; his furniture was repossessed and electricity cut off, distressing his wife.<ref>{{harvnb|Quirk|1993|p=31}}; {{harvnb|Coltman|2003|pp=52–53}}.</ref> He took part in a high school protest in [[Cienfuegos]] in November 1950, fighting with police to protest the Education Ministry's ban on student associations; he was arrested and charged for violent conduct, but the magistrate dismissed the charges.<ref name="Coltman 2003. p. 53">{{harvnb|Coltman|2003|p=53}}.</ref> His hopes for Cuba still centered on Chibás and the ''Partido Ortodoxo'', and he was present at Chibás' politically motivated suicide in 1951.<ref>{{harvnb|Bourne|1986|pp=58–59}}; {{harvnb|Coltman|2003|pp=46, 53–55}}; {{harvnb|Castro|Ramonet|2009|pp=85–87}}; {{harvnb|Von Tunzelmann|2011|p=44}}.</ref> Seeing himself as Chibás' heir, Castro wanted to run for Congress in the June 1952 elections, though senior ''Ortodoxo'' members feared his radical reputation and refused to nominate him.{{sfnm|1a1=Bourne|1y=1986|1pp=56–57, 62–63|2a1=Quirk|2y=1993|2p=36|3a1=Coltman|3y=2003|3pp=55–56}} He was instead nominated as a candidate for the House of Representatives by party members in Havana's poorest districts and began campaigning.{{sfnm|1a1=Bourne|1y=1986|1pp=56–57, 62–63|2a1=Quirk|2y=1993|2p=36|3a1=Coltman|3y=2003|3pp=55–56}} The ''Ortodoxo'' had considerable support and was predicted to do well in the election.<ref>{{harvnb|Quirk|1993|pp=33–34}}; {{harvnb|Coltman|2003|p=57}}.</ref> |
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During his campaign, Castro met with General [[Fulgencio Batista]], the former president who had returned to politics with the [[Unitary Action Party]]. Batista offered him a place in his administration if he was successful; although both opposed Prío's administration, their meeting never got beyond polite generalities.<ref>{{harvnb|Quirk|1993|p=29}}; {{harvnb|Coltman|2003|pp=55–56}}.</ref> On 10 March 1952, Batista seized power in a military coup, with Prío fleeing to Mexico. Declaring himself president, Batista cancelled the planned presidential elections, describing his new system as "disciplined democracy"; Castro was deprived of being elected in his run for office by Batista's move, and like many others, considered it a one-man dictatorship.<ref>{{harvnb|Bourne|1986|pp=64–65}}; {{harvnb|Quirk|1993|pp=37–39}}; {{harvnb|Coltman|2003|pp=57–62}}; {{harvnb|Von Tunzelmann|2011|p=44}}.</ref> Batista moved to the right, solidifying ties with both the wealthy elite and the United States, severing diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union, suppressing trade unions and persecuting Cuban socialist groups.<ref>{{harvnb|Coltman|2003|p=64}}; {{harvnb|Von Tunzelmann|2011|p=44}}.</ref> Intent on opposing Batista, Castro brought several legal cases against the government, but these came to nothing, and Castro began thinking of alternate ways to oust the regime.<ref>{{harvnb|Quirk|1993|pp=41, 45}}; {{harvnb|Coltman|2003|p=63}}.</ref> |
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About 20,000 doctors were dispatched by Cuba around the world to provide medical aid to more than 60 Third World countries, despite lacking medical supplies. |
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==Cuban Revolution== |
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Castro's leadership of Cuba has remained largely unchallenged. His supporters claim this is because the population believes Castro is responsible for improved living conditions. Castro's opponents believe his continued leadership is due to coercion and repression and jailing of dissidents. Whatever the reason of his political longevity, it is universally accepted that harsh political repression and a closed, rigid system which doesn't constitutionally allow any opposition have been some of the most fundamental reasons behind the regime's long stay in power, which is independent of how popular Castro may or may not be among regular Cubans. |
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{{Main|Fidel Castro in the Cuban Revolution}} |
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===The Movement and the Moncada Barracks attack: 1952–1953=== |
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Supporters of Fidel Castro's regime point to Cuba's relatively advanced healthcare and medical system as a success of his government since it came to power in 1959. Much of the post-revolutionary rebuilding of the country focused on children. Cuban [[life expectancy]] as of 2002 is only slightly lower than that of the United States, and, according to the [http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/ CIA World Factbook], it is the highest life expectancy in Latin America. |
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Castro formed a group called "The Movement" which operated along a [[clandestine cell system]], publishing underground newspaper ''El Acusador'' (''The Accuser''), while arming and training anti-Batista recruits.<ref>{{harvnb|Bourne|1986|pp=68–69}}; {{harvnb|Quirk|1993|pp=50–52}}; {{harvnb|Coltman|2003|p=65}}.</ref> From July 1952 they went on a recruitment drive, gaining around 1,200 members in a year, the majority from Havana's poorer districts.<ref>{{harvnb|Bourne|1986|p=69}}; {{harvnb|Coltman|2003|p=66}}; {{harvnb|Castro|Ramonet|2009|p=107}}.</ref> Although a [[revolutionary socialism|revolutionary socialist]], Castro avoided an alliance with the communist [[Popular Socialist Party (Cuba)|Popular Socialist Party]] (PSP), fearing it would frighten away political moderates, but kept in contact with PSP members like his brother [[Raúl Castro|Raúl]].<ref>{{harvnb|Bourne|1986|p=73}}; {{harvnb|Coltman|2003|pp=66–67}}.</ref> Castro stockpiled weapons for a planned attack on the [[Moncada Barracks]], a military garrison outside Santiago de Cuba, Oriente. Castro's militants intended to dress in army uniforms and arrive at the base on 25 July, seizing control and raiding the armoury before reinforcements arrived.<ref>{{harvnb|Coltman|2003|pp=69–70, 73}}.</ref> Supplied with new weaponry, Castro intended to spark a revolution among Oriente's impoverished cane cutters and promote further uprisings.<ref>{{harvnb|Coltman|2003|p=74}}.</ref> Castro's plan emulated those of the 19th-century Cuban independence fighters who had raided Spanish barracks; Castro saw himself as the heir to independence leader [[José Martí]].<ref>{{harvnb|Bourne|1986|p=76}}; {{harvnb|Coltman|2003|pp=71, 74}}.</ref> |
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[[File:Fidel Castro under arrest after the Moncada attack.jpg|thumb|left|Castro under arrest after the Moncada attack, 1953]] |
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Critics of Castro's regime allege that although Cuba's infant mortality rate is now the lowest in Latin America (and according to new UN data lower than the United States figure), that was also the case before Castro – when it was also the 13th lowest in the world. Other indicators, however, such as life expectancy that increased from less than 60 years at birth in 1959 to 76.13 years in [[2004]], clearly demonstrate significant quality of life improvements. |
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Castro gathered 165 revolutionaries for the mission,<ref>{{harvnb|Coltman|2003|pp=75–76}}.</ref> ordering his troops not to cause bloodshed unless they met armed resistance.<ref>{{harvnb|Coltman|2003|p=78}}.</ref> The attack took place on 26 July 1953, but ran into trouble; 3 of the 16 cars that had set out from Santiago failed to get there. Reaching the barracks, the alarm was raised, with most of the rebels pinned down by machine gun fire. Four were killed before Castro ordered a retreat.<ref>{{harvnb|Bourne|1986|pp=80–84}}; {{harvnb|Quirk|1993|pp=52–55}}; {{harvnb|Coltman|2003|pp=80–81}}.</ref> The rebels suffered 6 fatalities and 15 other casualties, whilst the army suffered 19 dead and 27 wounded.<ref>{{harvnb|Coltman|2003|p=82}}.</ref> Meanwhile, some rebels took over a civilian hospital; subsequently stormed by government soldiers, the rebels were rounded up, tortured and 22 were executed without trial.<ref>{{harvnb|Quirk|1993|p=55}}; {{harvnb|Coltman|2003|p=82}}.</ref> Accompanied by 19 comrades, Castro set out for Gran Piedra in the rugged [[Sierra Maestra]] mountains several kilometres to the north, where they could establish a guerrilla base.<ref>{{harvnb|Bourne|1986|p=83}}; {{harvnb|Quirk|1993|p=55}}; {{harvnb|Coltman|2003|p=83}}.</ref> Responding to the attack, Batista's government proclaimed [[martial law]], ordering a violent crackdown on dissent, and imposing strict media censorship.<ref name="BatistaResponse"/> The government broadcast misinformation about the event, claiming that the rebels were communists who had killed hospital patients, although news and photographs of the army's use of torture and [[summary execution]]s in Oriente soon spread, causing widespread public and some governmental disapproval.<ref name="BatistaResponse">{{harvnb|Bourne|1986|pp=87–88}}; {{harvnb|Quirk|1993|pp=55–56}}; {{harvnb|Coltman|2003|p=84}}.</ref> |
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Over the following days, the rebels were rounded up; some were executed and others—including Castro—transported to a prison north of Santiago.<ref>{{harvnb|Bourne|1986|p=86}}; {{harvnb|Coltman|2003|p=86}}.</ref> Believing Castro incapable of planning the attack alone, the government accused ''Ortodoxo'' and PSP politicians of involvement, putting 122 defendants on trial on 21 September at the Palace of Justice, Santiago.<ref>{{harvnb|Bourne|1986|p=91}}; {{harvnb|Quirk|1993|p=57}}; {{harvnb|Coltman|2003|p=87}}.</ref> Acting as his own defence counsel, Castro cited Martí as the intellectual author of the attack and convinced the three judges to overrule the army's decision to keep all defendants handcuffed in court, proceeding to argue that the charge with which they were accused—of "organizing an uprising of armed persons against the Constitutional Powers of the State"—was incorrect, for they had risen up against Batista, who had seized power in an unconstitutional manner.<ref>{{harvnb|Bourne|1986|pp=91–92}}; {{harvnb|Quirk|1993|pp=57–59}}; {{harvnb|Coltman|2003|p=88}}.</ref> The trial embarrassed the army by revealing that they had tortured suspects, after which they tried unsuccessfully to prevent Castro from testifying any further, claiming he was too ill.<ref>{{harvnb|Quirk|1993|p=58}}; {{harvnb|Coltman|2003|pp=88–89}}.</ref> The trial ended on 5 October, with the acquittal of most defendants; 55 were sentenced to prison terms of between 7 months and 13 years. Castro was sentenced on 16 October, during which he delivered a speech that would be printed under the title of ''[[History Will Absolve Me]]''.<ref>{{harvnb|Bourne|1986|p=93}}; {{harvnb|Quirk|1993|p=59}}; {{harvnb|Coltman|2003|p=90}}.</ref> Castro was sentenced to 15 years' imprisonment in the hospital wing of the Model Prison (''[[Presidio Modelo]]''), a relatively comfortable and modern institution on the [[Isla de la Juventud|Isla de Pinos]].<ref>{{harvnb|Bourne|1986|p=93}}; {{harvnb|Quirk|1993|pp=58–60}}; {{harvnb|Coltman|2003|pp=91–92}}.</ref> |
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It is generally acknowledged that Cuba has made substantial progress in developing pharmaceuticals. Cuba has its own portfolio of related patents and tries to market its medicine around the world. Despite this, Cuba is severly lacking in medical supplies. Few medications are readily available, and for many, the only way to get medicine is to have relatives abroad send it to them. Most hospitals have equipment that is outdated if not inoperable. |
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===Imprisonment and 26 July Movement: 1953–1955=== |
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==Education and the literacy campaign== |
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Imprisoned with 25 comrades, Castro renamed his group the "[[26th of July Movement]]" (MR-26-7) in memory of the Moncada attack's date, and formed a school for prisoners.<ref>{{harvnb|Bourne|1986|pp=94–95}}; {{harvnb|Quirk|1993|p=61}}; {{harvnb|Coltman|2003|p=93}}.</ref> He read widely, enjoying the works of Marx, Lenin, and Martí but also reading books by [[Sigmund Freud|Freud]], [[Immanuel Kant|Kant]], [[Shakespeare]], [[Axel Munthe|Munthe]], [[Somerset Maugham|Maugham]], and [[Fyodor Dostoyevsky|Dostoyevsky]], analysing them within a Marxist framework.<ref>{{harvnb|Bourne|1986|pp=95–96}}; {{harvnb|Quirk|1993|pp=63–65}}; {{harvnb|Coltman|2003|pp=93–94}}.</ref> Corresponding with supporters, he maintained control over the Movement and organized the publication of ''History Will Absolve Me''.<ref>{{harvnb|Bourne|1986|pp=98–100}}; {{harvnb|Quirk|1993|p=71}}; {{harvnb|Coltman|2003|pp=94–95}}.</ref> Initially permitted a relative amount of freedom within the prison, he was locked up in [[solitary confinement]] after inmates sang anti-Batista songs on a visit by the president in February 1954.<ref>{{harvnb|Bourne|1986|pp=97–98}}; {{harvnb|Quirk|1993|pp=67–71}}; {{harvnb|Coltman|2003|pp=95–96}}.</ref> Meanwhile, Castro's wife Mirta gained employment in the Ministry of the Interior, something he discovered through a radio announcement. Appalled, he raged that he would rather die "a thousand times" than "suffer impotently from such an insult".<ref name="divorce"/> Both Fidel and Mirta initiated divorce proceedings, with Mirta taking custody of their son Fidelito; this angered Castro, who did not want his son growing up in a bourgeois environment.<ref name="divorce">{{harvnb|Bourne|1986|pp=102–103}}; {{harvnb|Quirk|1993|pp=76–79}}; {{harvnb|Coltman|2003|pp=97–99}}.</ref> |
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[[File:Fidel Castro and his men in the Sierra Maestra.jpg|left|thumb|Fidel Castro and his men in the Sierra Maestra, 2 December 1956]] |
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In 1954, Batista's government held [[1954 Cuban general election|presidential elections]], but no politician stood against him; the election was widely considered fraudulent. It had allowed some political opposition to be voiced, and Castro's supporters had agitated for an amnesty for the Moncada incident's perpetrators. Some politicians suggested an amnesty would be good publicity, and the Congress and Batista agreed. Backed by the US and major corporations, Batista believed Castro to be no threat, and on 15 May 1955, the prisoners were released.<ref>{{harvnb|Bourne|1986|pp=103–105}}; {{harvnb|Quirk|1993|pp=80–82}}; {{harvnb|Coltman|2003|pp=99–100}}.</ref> Returning to Havana, Castro gave radio interviews and press conferences; the government closely monitored him, curtailing his activities.<ref>{{harvnb|Bourne|1986|p=105}}; {{harvnb|Quirk|1993|pp=83–85}}; {{harvnb|Coltman|2003|p=100}}.</ref> Now divorced, Castro had sexual affairs with two female supporters, Naty Revuelta and Maria Laborde, each conceiving him a child.<ref>{{harvnb|Bourne|1986|p=110}}; {{harvnb|Coltman|2003|p=100}}.</ref> Setting about strengthening the MR-26-7, he established an 11-person National Directorate but retained autocratic control, with some dissenters labelling him a ''[[caudillo]]'' (dictator); he argued that a successful revolution could not be run by committee and required a strong leader.<ref>{{harvnb|Bourne|1986|pp=106–107}}; {{harvnb|Coltman|2003|pp=100–101}}.</ref> |
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In 1955, bombings and violent demonstrations led to a crackdown on dissent, with Castro and Raúl fleeing the country to evade arrest.<ref>{{harvnb|Bourne|1986|pp=109–111}}; {{harvnb|Quirk|1993|p=85}}; {{harvnb|Coltman|2003|p=101}}.</ref> Castro sent a letter to the press, declaring that he was "leaving Cuba because all doors of peaceful struggle have been closed to me ... As a follower of Martí, I believe the hour has come to take our rights and not beg for them, to fight instead of pleading for them."<ref>{{harvnb|Bourne|1986|p=111}}; {{harvnb|Quirk|1993|p=86}}.</ref> The Castros and several comrades travelled to Mexico,<ref>{{harvnb|Bourne|1986|p=112}}; {{harvnb|Quirk|1993|p=88}}; {{harvnb|Coltman|2003|p=102}}.</ref> where Raúl befriended an Argentine doctor and [[Marxism–Leninism|Marxist–Leninist]] named [[Ernesto "Che" Guevara]], who was working as a journalist and photographer for "''Agencia Latina de Noticias''".<ref>{{cite news |date=11 December 2001 |url=http://www.jornada.unam.mx/2001/12/11/03an1cul.html |title=Por vez primera en México se exhibe el testimonio fotográfico del Che Guevara |work=[[La Jornada]] UNAM |access-date=26 November 2016 |language=es |archive-date=27 November 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161127024501/http://www.jornada.unam.mx/2001/12/11/03an1cul.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Fidel liked him, later describing him as "a more advanced revolutionary than I was".<ref>{{harvnb|Bourne|1986|pp=115–117}}; {{harvnb|Quirk|1993|pp=96–98}}; {{harvnb|Coltman|2003|pp=102–103}}; {{harvnb|Castro|Ramonet|2009|pp=172–173}}.</ref> Castro also associated with the Spaniard [[Alberto Bayo]], who agreed to teach Castro's rebels the necessary skills in [[guerrilla warfare]].<ref>{{harvnb|Bourne|1986|p=114}}; {{harvnb|Quirk|1993|pp=105–106}}; {{harvnb|Coltman|2003|pp=104–105}}.</ref> Requiring funding, Castro toured the US in search of wealthy sympathizers, there being monitored by Batista's agents, who allegedly orchestrated a failed assassination attempt against him.<ref>{{harvnb|Bourne|1986|pp=117–118, 124}}; {{harvnb|Quirk|1993|pp=101–102, 108–114}}; {{harvnb|Coltman|2003|pp=105–110}}.</ref> Castro kept in contact with the MR-26-7 in Cuba, where they had gained a large support base in Oriente.<ref>{{harvnb|Bourne|1986|pp=111–124}};{{harvnb|Coltman|2003|p=104}}.</ref> Other militant anti-Batista groups had sprung up, primarily from the student movement; most notable was the [[Directorio Revolucionario Estudiantil]] (DRE), founded by [[José Antonio Echeverría]]. Antonio met with Castro in [[Mexico City]], but Castro opposed the student's support for indiscriminate assassination.<ref>{{harvnb|Bourne|1986|pp=122, 12–130}}; {{harvnb|Quirk|1993|pp=102–104, 114–116}}; {{harvnb|Coltman|2003|p=109}}.</ref> |
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Cuba also has improved the literacy of its people. Castro's literacy campaign focused on rural areas where literacy was very low. In a fall 1960 speech before the [[United Nations]], Castro announced that, "Cuba will be the first country of America that, after a few months, will be able to say it does not have one illiterate person." Nearly 270,000 teachers and students were sent across the country to teach those who wanted to learn how to read and write. By 1961, Cuba's illiteracy rate had been reduced from 20 percent to 4 percent. People who completed the course were asked to send a letter to Fidel Castro as a test. Cuba's National Literacy Museum archives more than 700,000 such letters. [http://www.bangornews.com/editorialnews/specialreports/cuba/improvement.html] |
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After purchasing the decrepit yacht ''[[Granma (yacht)|Granma]]'', on 25 November 1956, Castro set sail from [[Tuxpan]], Veracruz, with 81 armed revolutionaries.<ref>{{harvnb|Bourne|1986|pp=132–133}}; {{harvnb|Quirk|1993|p=115}}; {{harvnb|Coltman|2003|pp=110–112}}.</ref> The {{convert|1200|mi|km|adj=on|order=flip}} crossing to Cuba was harsh, with food running low and many suffering [[seasickness]]. At some points, they had to bail water caused by a leak, and at another, a man fell overboard, delaying their journey.<ref>{{harvnb|Bourne|1986|p=134}}; {{harvnb|Coltman|2003|p=113}}.</ref> The plan had been for the crossing to take five days, and on the ''Granma''{{'}}s scheduled day of arrival, 30 November, MR-26-7 members under [[Frank País]] led an armed uprising in Santiago and Manzanillo. However, the ''Granma''{{'}}s journey ultimately lasted seven days, and with Castro and his men unable to provide reinforcements, País and his militants dispersed after two days of intermittent attacks.<ref>{{harvnb|Bourne|1986|pp=134–135}}; {{harvnb|Quirk|1993|pp=119–126}}; {{harvnb|Coltman|2003|p=113}}.</ref> |
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The Cuban government restricts the books that are available in the country. Books considered counter-revolutionary (such as ''[[Animal Farm]]'') are neither sold nor available in public libraries. There exists, however, a movement of underground libraries independent of the government. The Cuban goverment alleges it was organized and financed by James Cason (head of the US Interests office in Cuba). In 2003, Cuban undercover intelligence agents exposed the plot and several participants were prosecuted and imprisoned. The story of related events can be found in a Spanish book called Los Disidentes (http://www.ain.cubasi.cu/libro/). The validity of this book is questionable because it was sponsored by the Cuban government. |
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===Guerrilla war: 1956–1959=== |
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==Foreign policy== |
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[[File:2012-02-Sierra Maestra Turquino Nationalpark Kuba 01 anagoria.JPG|thumb|right|The thickly forested mountain range of the [[Sierra Maestra]], from where Castro and his revolutionaries led guerrilla attacks against Batista's forces for two years. Castro biographer [[Robert E. Quirk]] noted that there was "no better place to hide" in all the island.<ref>{{harvnb|Quirk|1993|p=126}}.</ref>]] |
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The ''Granma'' ran aground in a [[mangrove swamp]] at Playa Las Coloradas, close to [[Los Cayuelos]], on 2 December 1956. Fleeing inland, its crew headed for the forested mountain range of Oriente's Sierra Maestra, being repeatedly attacked by Batista's troops.<ref>{{harvnb|Bourne|1986|pp=135–136}}; {{harvnb|Quirk|1993|pp=122–125}}; {{harvnb|Coltman|2003|pp=114–115}}.</ref> Upon arrival, Castro discovered that only 19 rebels had made it to their destination, the rest having been killed or captured.<ref>{{harvnb|Bourne|1986|pp=125–126}}; {{harvnb|Coltman|2003|pp=114–117}}.</ref> Setting up an [[military camp|encampment]], the survivors included the Castros, Che Guevara, and [[Camilo Cienfuegos]].<ref>{{harvnb|Bourne|1986|p=137}}.</ref> They began launching raids on small army posts to obtain weaponry, and in January 1957 they overran the outpost at La Plata, treating any soldiers that they wounded but executing Chicho Osorio, the local ''mayoral'' (land company overseer), who was despised by the local peasants and who boasted of killing one of Castro's rebels.<ref>{{harvnb|Coltman|2003|pp=116–117}}.</ref> Osorio's execution aided the rebels in gaining the trust of locals, although they largely remained unenthusiastic and suspicious of the revolutionaries.<ref>{{harvnb|Bourne|1986|p=139}}; {{harvnb|Quirk|1993|p=127}}; {{harvnb|Coltman|2003|pp=118–119}}.</ref> As trust grew, some locals joined the rebels, although most new recruits came from urban areas.<ref>{{harvnb|Bourne|1986|p=114}}; {{harvnb|Quirk|1993|p=129}}; {{harvnb|Coltman|2003|p=114}}.</ref> With volunteers boosting the rebel forces to over 200, in July 1957 Castro divided his army into three columns, commanded by himself, his brother, and Guevara.<ref>{{harvnb|Coltman|2003|p=122}}.</ref> The MR-26-7 members operating in urban areas continued agitation, sending supplies to Castro, and on 16 February 1957, he met with other senior members to discuss tactics; here he met [[Celia Sánchez]], who would become a close friend.<ref>{{harvnb|Bourne|1986|p=138}}; {{harvnb|Quirk|1993|p=130}}; {{harvnb|Coltman|2003|p=119}}.</ref> |
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[[File:Sierra Maestra -mapa rev cubana-.png|thumb|left|upright=1.4|Map showing key locations in the Sierra Maestra during the 1958 stage of the [[Cuban Revolution]]]] |
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Initially the United States was quick to recognize the new government. Castro became [[Prime Minister]] in February [[1960]], but friction with the US soon developed when the new government began expropriating property owned by major U.S. corporations ([[United Fruit]] in particular), proposing compensation based on property tax valuations that for many years the same companies had managed to keep artificially low. Castro visited the [[White House]] and met with [[Vice President]] [[Richard Nixon]]. Supposedly, [[Dwight D. Eisenhower]] snubbed Castro, giving the excuse that he was playing golf, and he left Nixon to speak to him and discern whether he was a Communist. Castro's economic policies had caused some concerns in [[Washington]] that Castro was a Communist with an allegiance to the [[Soviet Union]]. Following the meeting, Nixon remarked that Castro was "naïve" but not necessarily a Communist. |
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Across Cuba, anti-Batista groups carried out bombings and sabotage; police responded with mass arrests, torture, and extrajudicial executions.<ref name="Killings"/> In March 1957, the DRE launched a failed attack on the presidential palace, during which Antonio was shot dead.<ref name="Killings">{{harvnb|Bourne|1986|pp=142–143}}; {{harvnb|Quirk|1993|pp=128, 134–136}}; {{harvnb|Coltman|2003|pp=121–122}}.</ref> Batista's government often resorted to brutal methods to keep Cuba's cities under control. In the Sierra Maestra mountains, Castro was joined by [[Frank Sturgis]] who offered to train Castro's troops in guerrilla warfare. Castro accepted the offer, but he also had an immediate need for guns and ammunition, so Sturgis became a gunrunner. Sturgis purchased boatloads of weapons and ammunition from [[Central Intelligence Agency]] (CIA) weapons expert Samuel Cummings' International Armament Corporation in Alexandria, Virginia. Sturgis opened a training camp in the Sierra Maestra mountains, where he taught Che Guevara and other 26 July Movement rebel soldiers guerrilla warfare.<ref>{{harvnb|Hunt|Risch|2009|p=35}}.</ref> Frank País was also killed, leaving Castro the MR-26-7's unchallenged leader.<ref>{{harvnb|Quirk|1993|pp=145, 148}}.</ref> Although Guevara and Raúl were well known for their Marxist–Leninist views, Castro hid his, hoping to gain the support of less radical revolutionaries.<ref name="Hiding"/> In 1957 he met with leading members of the ''Partido Ortodoxo'', [[Raúl Chibás]] and [[Felipe Pazos]], authoring the Sierra Maestra Manifesto, in which they demanded that a provisional civilian government be set up to implement moderate agrarian reform, industrialization, and a literacy campaign before holding multiparty elections.<ref name="Hiding">{{harvnb|Bourne|1986|pp=148–150}}; {{harvnb|Quirk|1993|pp=141–143}}; {{harvnb|Coltman|2003|pp=122–123}}. The text of the Sierra Maestra Manifesto can be found online at {{cite web |url=http://www.chibas.org/raul_chibas_manifiesto.php |title=Raul Antonio Chibás: Manifiesto Sierra Maestra |publisher=Chibas.org |access-date=9 August 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130117013342/http://www.chibas.org/raul_chibas_manifiesto.php |archive-date=17 January 2013 }}</ref> As Cuba's press was censored, Castro contacted foreign media to spread his message; he became a celebrity after being interviewed by [[Herbert Matthews]], a journalist from ''[[The New York Times]]''.<ref>{{harvnb|Bourne|1986|pp=140–142}}; {{harvnb|Quirk|1993|pp=131–134}}; {{harvnb|Coltman|2003|p=120}}.</ref> Reporters from [[CBS]] and ''[[Paris Match]]'' soon followed.<ref>{{harvnb|Bourne|1986|p=143}}; {{harvnb|Quirk|1993|p=159}}; {{harvnb|Coltman|2003|pp=127–128}}.</ref> |
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[[File:Luis Korda 02.jpg|thumb|Castro (right) with fellow revolutionary [[Camilo Cienfuegos]] entering Havana on 8 January 1959]] |
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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 after. To the concern of the [[Eisenhower]] administration, Cuba continued to establish closer ties with the Soviet Union. A variety of pacts were signed between Castro and [[Premier of the Soviet Union|Soviet Premier]] [[Khrushchev]], and Cuba began to receive large amounts of economic and military aid from the Soviet Union. |
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Castro's guerrillas increased their attacks on military outposts, forcing the government to withdraw from the Sierra Maestra region, and by spring 1958, the rebels controlled a hospital, schools, a printing press, slaughterhouse, land-mine factory and a cigar-making factory.<ref>{{harvnb|Bourne|1986|p=155}}; {{harvnb|Coltman|2003|pp=122, 129}}.</ref> By 1958, Batista was under increasing pressure, a result of his military failures coupled with increasing domestic and foreign criticism surrounding his administration's press censorship, torture, and extrajudicial executions.<ref name="Batista'sFail"/> Influenced by anti-Batista sentiment among their citizens, the US government ceased supplying him with weaponry.<ref name="Batista'sFail">{{harvnb|Coltman|2003|pp=129–130, 134}}.</ref> The opposition called a [[general strike]], accompanied by armed attacks from the MR-26-7. Beginning on 9 April, it received strong support in central and eastern Cuba, but little elsewhere.<ref>{{harvnb|Bourne|1986|pp=152–154}}; {{harvnb|Coltman|2003|pp=130–131}}.</ref> |
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Batista responded with an all-out-attack, [[Operation Verano]], in which the army aerially bombarded forested areas and villages suspected of aiding the militants, while 10,000 soldiers commanded by General [[Eulogio Cantillo]] surrounded the Sierra Maestra, driving north to the rebel encampments.<ref name="Verano"/> Despite their numerical and technological superiority, the army had no experience with guerrilla warfare, and Castro halted their offensive using land mines and ambushes.<ref name="Verano">{{harvnb|Quirk|1993|pp=181–183}}; {{harvnb|Coltman|2003|pp=131–133}}.</ref> Many of Batista's soldiers defected to Castro's rebels, who also benefited from local popular support.<ref>{{harvnb|Bourne|1986|p=158}}.</ref> In the summer, the MR-26-7 went on the offensive, pushing the army out of the mountains, with Castro using his columns in a pincer movement to surround the main army concentration in Santiago. By November, Castro's forces controlled most of Oriente and Las Villas, and divided Cuba in two by closing major roads and rail lines, severely disadvantaging Batista.<ref>{{harvnb|Bourne|1986|p=158}}; {{harvnb|Quirk|1993|pp=194–196}}; {{harvnb|Coltman|2003|p=135}}.</ref> |
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On [[April 17]], [[1961]], two days after bombardments by [[B-26 Marauder|B-26s]] |
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bearing false Cuban markings, and the day after Castro had described his revolution as a [[socialist]] one, the United States sponsored an unsuccessful attack on Cuba. These bombing runs were part the beginning stages of the [[Bay of Pigs Invasion]]. Brigade 2506, a force of about 1,400 Cuban exiles, financed and trained by the [[Central Intelligence Agency|CIA]], and commanded by CIA operatives [[Grayston Lynch]] and [[William Robertson (CIA)|William Robertson]], landed south of Havana at [[Playa Girón]] on the [[Bay of Pigs]]. The CIA's assumption was that the invasion would spark a popular uprising against Castro. There was, however, no such uprising. What part of the invasion force made it ashore was captured, while President [[John F. Kennedy|Kennedy]] withdrew support at the last minute. Two U.S. supplied support ships, the ''Houston'' and the ''Río Escondido'', were sunk by Cuban propeller driven aircraft. Nine were executed in connection with this action. Castro, who was personally calling the shots on the battlefield, gained even more support from ordinary Cubans due to his actions during the attempted invasion. |
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The US instructed Cantillo to oust Batista due to fears in Washington that Castro was a socialist,<ref name="WarCriminal"/> which were exacerbated by the association between nationalist and communist movements in Latin America and the links between the Cold War and decolonization.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Pettinà |first1=Vanni |date=26 August 2010 |title=The shadows of Cold War over Latin America: the US reaction to Fidel Castro's nationalism, 1956–59 |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14682741003686115 |journal=[[Cold War History (journal)|Cold War History]] |volume=11 |issue=3 |pages=317–339 |doi=10.1080/14682741003686115 |s2cid=153870795 |access-date=12 February 2023 |archive-date=13 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230213064020/https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14682741003686115 |url-status=live | issn=1468-2745}}</ref> By this time the great majority of Cuban people had turned against the Batista regime. Ambassador to Cuba, E. T. Smith, who felt the whole CIA mission had become too close to the MR-26-7 movement,<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://newrepublic.com/article/105062/setting-the-scapegoat-who-will-be-blamed-cuba|title=Setting Up the Scapegoat Who Will Be Blamed for Cuba?|first=Gilbert A.|last=Harrison|date=13 March 1961|access-date=4 March 2019|magazine=The New Republic|archive-date=22 August 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180822045939/https://newrepublic.com/article/105062/setting-the-scapegoat-who-will-be-blamed-cuba|url-status=live}}</ref> personally went to Batista and informed him that the US would no longer support him and felt he no longer could control the situation in Cuba. General Cantillo secretly agreed to a ceasefire with Castro, promising that Batista would be tried as a [[war criminal]];<ref name="WarCriminal">{{harvnb|Bourne|1986|pp=158–159}}; {{harvnb|Quirk|1993|pp=196, 202–207}}; {{harvnb|Coltman|2003|pp=136–137}}.</ref> however, Batista was warned, and fled into exile with over {{US$|300 million}} on 31 December 1958.<ref>{{harvnb|Bourne|1986|pp=158–159}}; {{harvnb|Quirk|1993|pp=203, 207–208}}; {{harvnb|Coltman|2003|p=137}}.</ref> Cantillo entered Havana's [[Museum of the Revolution (Cuba)|Presidential Palace]], proclaimed the [[People's Supreme Court of Cuba|Supreme Court]] judge [[Carlos Piedra]] to be president, and began appointing the new government.<ref>{{harvnb|Quirk|1993|p=212}}; {{harvnb|Coltman|2003|p=137}}.</ref> Furious, Castro ended the ceasefire,<ref>{{harvnb|Bourne|1986|p=160}}; {{harvnb|Quirk|1993|p=211}}; {{harvnb|Coltman|2003|p=137}}.</ref> and ordered Cantillo's arrest by sympathetic figures in the army.<ref>{{harvnb|Bourne|1986|p=160}}; {{harvnb|Quirk|1993|p=212}}; {{harvnb|Coltman|2003|p=137}}.</ref> Accompanying celebrations at news of Batista's downfall on 1 January 1959, Castro ordered the MR-26-7 to prevent widespread looting and vandalism.<ref>{{harvnb|Bourne|1986|pp=161–162}}; {{harvnb|Quirk|1993|p=211}}; {{harvnb|Coltman|2003|pp=137–138}}.</ref> Cienfuegos and Guevara led their columns into Havana on 2 January, while Castro entered Santiago and gave a speech invoking the wars of independence.<ref>{{harvnb|Bourne|1986|pp=142–143}}; {{harvnb|Quirk|1993|p=214}}; {{harvnb|Coltman|2003|pp=138–139}}.</ref> Heading toward Havana, he greeted cheering crowds at every town, giving press conferences and interviews.<ref>{{harvnb|Bourne|1986|pp=162–163}}; {{harvnb|Quirk|1993|p=219}}; {{harvnb|Coltman|2003|pp=140–141}}.</ref> Castro reached Havana on 9 January 1959.<ref>{{harvnb|Balfour|1995|p=58}}.</ref> |
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Later that year, in a nationally broadcast speech on [[December 2]], Castro declared that he was a [[Marxist-Leninist]] and that Cuba was going to adopt [[Communism]]. |
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During the 1960s, several smaller-scale attempts to overthrow Castro were made. Cuban exiles, financed and equipped by the CIA, tried to copy the style of Castro's revolution, forming small violent gangs operating mainly in the [[Sierra de Escambray]], a remote region near [[Trinidad, Cuba]], hoping for an uprising and causing many civilian casualties. |
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=== |
===Provisional government: 1959=== |
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At Castro's command, the politically moderate lawyer [[Manuel Urrutia Lleó]] was proclaimed provisional president but Castro announced (falsely) that Urrutia had been selected by "popular election". Most of Urrutia's cabinet were MR-26-7 members.<ref>{{harvnb|Bourne|1986|pp=153, 161}}; {{harvnb|Quirk|1993|p=216}}; {{harvnb|Coltman|2003|pp=126, 141–142}}.</ref> Entering Havana, Castro proclaimed himself Representative of the Rebel Armed Forces of the Presidency, setting up home and office in the penthouse of the [[Hotel Tryp Habana Libre|Havana Hilton Hotel]].<ref>{{harvnb|Bourne|1986|p=164}}; {{harvnb|Coltman|2003|p=144}}.</ref> Castro exercised a great deal of influence over Urrutia's regime, which was now [[ruling by decree]]. He ensured that the government implemented policies to cut corruption and fight illiteracy and that it attempted to remove Batistanos from positions of power by dismissing Congress and barring all those elected in the rigged elections of 1954 and 1958 from future office. He then pushed Urrutia to issue a temporary ban on political parties; he repeatedly said that they would eventually hold multiparty elections.<ref>{{harvnb|Bourne|1986|pp=171–172}}; {{harvnb|Quirk|1993|pp=217, 222}}; {{harvnb|Coltman|2003|pp=150–154}}.</ref> Although repeatedly denying that he was a communist to the press, he began clandestinely meeting members of the PSP to discuss the creation of a socialist state.<ref>{{harvnb|Bourne|1986|pp=166, 170}}; {{harvnb|Quirk|1993|p=251}}; {{harvnb|Coltman|2003|p=145}}.</ref> |
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{{Quote box|width=25em|align=right|quote=We are not executing innocent people or political opponents. We are executing murderers and they deserve it.|source=– Castro's response to his critics regarding the mass executions, 1959<ref>{{harvnb|Bourne|1986|p=168}}; {{harvnb|Coltman|2003|p=149}}.</ref> }} |
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According to Khrushchev's memoirs, the Soviet premier conceived the idea of placing missiles in Cuba as a deterrent to further U.S. aggression against the island (or against the Soviet Union directly) while he was vacationing in the [[Crimea]] in the spring of 1962. After consultations with his own military 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]] [[MRBM]] on Cuban soil; however, American [[Lockheed U-2|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 south of [[Miami]] as an aggressive act and a threat to U.S. security. The [[Cuban missile crisis]] resulted with the United States publicly announcing its discovery on [[October 22]], [[1962]] and implemented a quarantine around Cuba that would actively intercept and search any vessels heading for the island. |
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In suppressing the revolution, Batista's government had killed thousands of Cubans; Castro and influential sectors of the press put the death toll at 20,000, but a list of victims published shortly after the revolution contained only 898 names—over half of them combatants.{{sfnm|1a1=Wickham-Crowley|1y=1990|1pp=63–64|2a1=Guerra|2y=2012|2p=43}} More recent estimates place the death toll between 1,000{{sfn|Wickham-Crowley|1990|p=63}} and 4,000.{{sfn|Guerra|2012|p=43}} In response to popular uproar, which demanded that those responsible be brought to justice, Castro helped to set up many trials, resulting in hundreds of executions. Although popular domestically, critics—in particular the US press, argued that many were not [[fair trial]]s. Castro responded that "revolutionary justice is not based on legal precepts, but on moral conviction."<ref>{{harvnb|Bourne|1986|pp=163, 167–169}}; {{harvnb|Quirk|1993|pp=224–230}}; {{harvnb|Coltman|2003|pp=147–149}}.</ref> |
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In a personal letter to Khrushchev written on [[October 27]] [[1962]] [http://www.cs.umb.edu/jfklibrary/cmc_castro_khrushchev.html], Castro urged Khrushchev to launch a nuclear first strike against the United States if Cuba were invaded, but Khrushchev rejected any first strike response [http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/nsa/cuba_mis_cri/621030%20Letter%20to%20Castro.pdf]. Soviet field commanders in Cuba were, however, authorized to use [[tactical nuclear weapons]] if attacked by the United States. |
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Acclaimed by many across Latin America, he travelled to Venezuela where he met with President-elect [[Rómulo Betancourt]], unsuccessfully requesting a loan and a new deal for Venezuelan oil.<ref>{{harvnb|Bourne|1986|pp=169–170}}; {{harvnb|Quirk|1993|pp=225–226}}.</ref> Returning home, an argument between Castro and senior government figures broke out. He was infuriated that the government had left thousands unemployed by closing down casinos and brothels. As a result, Prime Minister [[José Miró Cardona]] resigned, going into exile in the US and joining the anti-Castro movement.<ref>{{harvnb|Bourne|1986|p=173}}; {{harvnb|Quirk|1993|p=277}}; {{harvnb|Coltman|2003|p=154}}.</ref> |
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==Premiership== |
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Khrushchev agreed to remove the missiles in exchange for a U.S. commitment not to invade Cuba and to remove American missiles from [[Turkey]]. After tensions were defused, relations between the United States and Cuba remained mutually hostile, and the CIA continued to sponsor a number of assassination schemes over the following years. |
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{{Main|Consolidation of the Cuban Revolution}} |
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{{Further|Political career of Fidel Castro}} |
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===Consolidating leadership: 1959–1960=== |
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===Relations with The Soviet Union=== |
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{{Main|Agrarian reforms in Cuba|La Coubre explosion}} |
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[[Image:Castro_Khrushchev.jpg|thumb|right|275px|Fidel Castro embracing [[Soviet]] Premier [[Nikita Khrushchev]]]] |
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On 16 February 1959, Castro was sworn in as [[Prime Minister of Cuba]].<ref>{{harvnb|Bourne|1986|p=173}}; {{harvnb|Quirk|1993|p=228}}.</ref> In April, he visited the US on a [[wikt:charm offensive|charm offensive]] where President [[Dwight D. Eisenhower]] would not meet with him, but instead sent Vice President [[Richard Nixon]], whom Castro instantly disliked.<ref>{{harvnb|Bourne|1986|pp=174–177}}; {{harvnb|Quirk|1993|pp=236–242}}; {{harvnb|Coltman|2003|pp=155–157}}.</ref> After meeting Castro, Nixon described him to Eisenhower: "The one fact we can be sure of is that Castro has those indefinable qualities which made him a leader of men. Whatever we may think of him he is going to be a great factor in the development of Cuba and very possibly in Latin American affairs generally. He seems to be sincere. He is either incredibly naive about Communism or under Communist discipline-my guess is the former...His ideas as to how to run a government or an economy are less developed than those of almost any world figure I have met in fifty countries. But because he has the power to lead...we have no choice but at least try to orient him in the right direction".<ref>{{harvnb|Gaddis|1997|p=180}}</ref> |
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[[File:René Lévesque Fidel Castro Montreal 1959.jpg|thumb|left|[[CBC/Radio-Canada]]'s journalist and future [[Premier of Quebec]], [[René Lévesque]], interviews Castro during his trip to [[Montreal]] in late April 1959.]] |
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Following initial U.S. hostility, the establishment of diplomatic ties to the Soviet Union, and 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. The Cuban exile community in Miami continued to condemn Soviet influence on Cuba. The U.S. continues to label the Cuban regime as [[totalitarianism|totalitarian]] and state that the embargo will not end until major political and economic changes occur. |
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Proceeding to Canada,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/fidel-castro-visit-montreal-april-1959-1.3871200 |title=How 1 man brought Fidel Castro to Montreal in April 1959 |first=Brennan |last=Neill |date=28 November 2016 |access-date=21 February 2018 |archive-date=18 April 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180418221944/http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/fidel-castro-visit-montreal-april-1959-1.3871200 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Toy drive brought Fidel Castro to Montreal in 1959 |url=https://montrealgazette.com/news/local-news/toy-drive-brought-fidel-castro-to-montreal-in-1959 |access-date=20 March 2022 |website=Montreal Gazette |language=en-CA |archive-date=17 April 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220417134951/https://montrealgazette.com/news/local-news/toy-drive-brought-fidel-castro-to-montreal-in-1959 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Lowrie |first=Morgan |date=27 November 2016 |title=Fidel Castro welcomed by crowds, shunned by politicians during 1959 Montreal visit |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/fidel-castro-montreal-1.3869910 |access-date=20 March 2022 |publisher=CBC News |archive-date=20 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220320145029/https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/fidel-castro-montreal-1.3869910 |url-status=live }}</ref> Trinidad, Brazil, Uruguay and Argentina, Castro attended an economic conference in [[Buenos Aires]], unsuccessfully proposing a $30 billion US-funded "[[Marshall Plan]]" for Latin America.<ref>{{harvnb|Bourne|1986|p=177}}; {{harvnb|Quirk|1993|p=243}}; {{harvnb|Coltman|2003|p=158}}.</ref> In May 1959, Castro signed into law the [[Agrarian Reform Laws of Cuba|First Agrarian Reform]], setting a cap for landholdings to {{convert|993|acre|ha}} per owner and prohibiting foreigners from obtaining Cuban land ownership. Around 200,000 peasants received title deeds as large land holdings were broken up; popular among the working class, it alienated the richer landowners, including Castro's own mother,<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A36359-2005Jan25.html|title=The Controversial, Charismatic Castro|last=Robinson|first=Eugene|date=30 January 2005|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|access-date=27 January 2019|archive-date=10 August 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180810175734/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A36359-2005Jan25.html|url-status=live}}</ref> whose farmlands were taken.<ref>{{harvnb|Bourne|1986|pp=177–178}}; {{harvnb|Quirk|1993|p=280}}; {{harvnb|Coltman|2003|pp=159–160}}, {{cite web|url=http://u.truman.edu/cuba/aboutme.htm |title=First Agrarian Reform Law (1959) |access-date=29 August 2006 }}{{dead link|date=December 2016 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}.</ref> Within a year, Castro and his government had effectively redistributed 15 per cent of the nation's wealth, declaring that "the revolution is the dictatorship of the exploited against the exploiters."<ref>{{Cite book|title=With Fidel: A Portrait of Castro and Cuba|url=https://archive.org/details/withfidel00fran|url-access=registration|last1=Mankiewicz|first1=Frank|last2=Jones|first2=Kirby|publisher=Ballantine Books|year=1976|location=New York|pages=[https://archive.org/details/withfidel00fran/page/83 83]|isbn=9780345249814}}</ref> |
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[[File:Sukarno and Fidel, 1960.jpg|thumb|Castro and Indonesian president [[Sukarno]] in Havana, 1960. Castro undertook many foreign visits during his initial years in power.]] |
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Castro's relationship with the Soviet Union did face some problems. After a trial in Cuba of thirty five members of a pro-Moscow "microfaction" charged with activities including "clandestine propaganda against the Party line", [[Petrovich Shlyapnikov]], the chief [[KGB]] advisor to the [[General Intelligence Directorate]], was sent back to Moscow as part of the alleged conspiracy with the "microfaction". This coupled with what Moscow saw as wasteful use of Soviet aid, and a perception of an increasingly haughty and indignant demeanor, led to Soviet threats of cutting off aid to Cuba. |
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Castro appointed himself president of the National Tourist Industry, introducing unsuccessful measures to encourage African-American tourists to visit, advertising Cuba as a tropical paradise free of [[racial discrimination]].<ref>{{harvnb|Quirk|1993|pp=262–269, 281}}.</ref> Judges and politicians had their pay reduced while low-level civil servants saw theirs raised,<ref>{{harvnb|Quirk|1993|p=234}}.</ref> and in March 1959, Castro declared rents for those who paid less than $100 a month halved.<ref name="Bourne 1986 186">{{harvnb|Bourne|1986|p=186}}.</ref> The Cuban government also began to expropriate the casinos and properties from mafia leaders and taking millions in cash. Before he died [[Meyer Lansky]] said Cuba "ruined" him.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/latino/book-reveals-extent-mafia-cuban-empire-article-1.350649|title=Book reveals extent of Mafia's Cuban empire|last=Martorell|first=Carlos Rodriguez|date=17 July 2008|work=Daily News|location=New York|access-date=19 March 2017|archive-date=20 March 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170320052108/http://www.nydailynews.com/latino/book-reveals-extent-mafia-cuban-empire-article-1.350649|url-status=live}}</ref> |
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In the summer of 1959, Fidel began nationalizing plantation lands owned by American investors as well as confiscating the property of foreign landowners. He also seized property previously held by wealthy Cubans who had fled.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/nationworld/fl-cuban-american-lost-property-20150405-story.html|title=Cuban exiles seek compensation for seized property|first=William E.|last=Gibson|website=Sun-Sentinel|date=5 April 2015 |access-date=4 March 2019|archive-date=12 April 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190412081851/https://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/nationworld/fl-cuban-american-lost-property-20150405-story.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/aug/01/cuban-exiles-confiscated-property-diplomatic-thaw|title=Cuban exiles hope diplomatic thaw can help them regain confiscated property|last=Luscombe|first=Joe Lamar Richard|date=1 August 2015|access-date=4 March 2019|work=The Guardian|archive-date=3 February 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190203143546/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/aug/01/cuban-exiles-confiscated-property-diplomatic-thaw|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.tampabay.com/news/nation/run-from-cuba-americans-cling-to-claims-for-seized-property/2223110|title=Run from Cuba, Americans cling to claims for seized property|date=29 March 2015|newspaper=[[Tampa Bay Times]]|access-date=4 March 2019|archive-date=12 April 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190412051419/https://www.tampabay.com/news/nation/run-from-cuba-americans-cling-to-claims-for-seized-property/2223110|url-status=live}}</ref> He nationalized sugar production and oil refinement, over the objection of foreign investors who owned stakes in these commodities.<ref>{{cite news| title=Cuba, you owe us $7 billion| url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/ideas/2014/04/18/cuba-you-owe-billion/jHAufRfQJ9Bx24TuzQyBNO/story.html| newspaper=Boston Globe| date=18 April 2014| access-date=5 April 2016| archive-date=12 April 2019| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190412082117/https://www.bostonglobe.com/ideas/2014/04/18/cuba-you-owe-billion/jHAufRfQJ9Bx24TuzQyBNO/story.html| url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| title=1960 Dollars in 2016 Dollars| url=http://www.in2013dollars.com/1960-dollars-in-2016?amount=1700000| publisher=Inflation Calculator| access-date=5 April 2016| archive-date=26 October 2018| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181026182652/http://www.in2013dollars.com/1960-dollars-in-2016?amount=1700000| url-status=live}}</ref> |
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As soon as he returned from Havana, Shlyapnikov immediately lobbied for a reduction in oil exports to Cuba. Shipments were cut by 40%, which slowed Cuban industrial output drastically. |
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Although then refusing to categorize his regime as socialist and repeatedly denying being a communist, Castro appointed Marxists to senior government and military positions. Most significantly, Che Guevara became Governor of the Central Bank and then Minister of Industries. President Urrutia increasingly expressed concern with the rising influence of Marxism. Angered, Castro in turn announced his resignation as prime minister on 18 July—blaming Urrutia for complicating government with his "fevered anti-Communism". Over 500,000 Castro-supporters surrounded the Presidential Palace demanding Urrutia's resignation, which he submitted. On 23 July, Castro resumed his premiership and appointed Marxist [[Osvaldo Dorticós]] as president.<ref>{{harvnb|Bourne|1986|pp=181–183}}; {{harvnb|Quirk|1993|pp=248–252}}; {{harvnb|Coltman|2003|p=162}}.</ref> |
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Nevertheless, Castro's alliance with the Soviet Union remained strong in the face of their common Cold War foe, the United States. This caused somewhat of a split between him and his fellow revolutionary [[Che Guevara]], who took a more pro-[[China|Chinese]] view following ideological conflict between the [[Communist Party of the Soviet Union|CPSU]] and the [[Maoism|Maoist]] [[Communist Party of China|CPC]]. In 1967, Che left for [[Bolivia]] in an ill-fated attempt to stir up revolution against the country's [[military dictatorship]]; Castro did not provide him with any material support. One reason given for Castro's refusal is the fact that Moscow did not approve of revolution in Latin America unless it involved groups whose idea of communism was close to the Soviet model. |
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Castro's government emphasised social projects to improve Cuba's [[standard of living]], often to the detriment of economic development.<ref name="Bourne 1986. p. 275-76">{{harvnb|Bourne|1986|pp=275–276}}.</ref> Major emphasis was placed on education, and during the first 30 months of Castro's government, more classrooms were opened than in the previous 30 years. The Cuban primary education system offered a work-study program, with half of the time spent in the classroom, and the other half in a productive activity.<ref>{{harvnb|Bourne|1986|pp=275–276}}; {{harvnb|Quirk|1993|p=324}}.</ref> Health care was nationalized and expanded, with rural health centers and urban polyclinics opening up across the island to offer free medical aid. Universal vaccination against childhood diseases was implemented, and infant mortality rates were reduced dramatically.<ref name="Bourne 1986. p. 275-76"/> A third part of this social program was the improvement of infrastructure. Within the first six months of Castro's government, {{convert|600|mi|km|order=flip|sigfig=1|abbr=on}} of roads were built across the island, while $300 million was spent on water and sanitation projects.<ref name="Bourne 1986. p. 275-76"/> Over 800 houses were constructed every month in the early years of the administration in an effort to cut homelessness, while nurseries and day-care centers were opened for children and other centers opened for the disabled and elderly.<ref name="Bourne 1986. p. 275-76"/> |
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On [[August 23]], [[1968]] Castro made a public gesture to the Soviet Union that reaffirmed their support in him. Two days after the [[Prague Spring|Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia]], Castro took to the airwaves and publicly denounced the Czech rebellion. Castro warned the Cuban people about the Czechoslovakian 'counter-revolutionaries', 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". 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. |
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[[File:CheLaCoubreMarch.jpg|thumb|left|Castro (first from the left), [[Che Guevara]] (center), [[William Alexander Morgan]] (second from the right), and other leading revolutionaries marching through the streets in protest over the [[La Coubre explosion|''La Coubre'' explosion]], 5 March 1960]] |
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On [[November 4]], [[1975]], Castro decided to send Cuban troops to newly-independent [[Angola]] in response to the [[South Africa|South African]] invasion of that country. Moscow aided the Cuban initiative with the USSR engaging in a massive airlift of Cuban forces into Angola. |
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Castro used radio and television to develop a "dialogue with the people", posing questions and making provocative statements.<ref>{{harvnb|Bourne|1986|p=179}}.</ref> His regime remained popular with workers, peasants, and students, who constituted the majority of the country's population,<ref>{{harvnb|Quirk|1993|p=280}}; {{harvnb|Coltman|2003|p=168}}.</ref> while opposition came primarily from the middle class; thousands of doctors, engineers and other professionals emigrated to Florida in the US, causing an economic [[brain drain]].<ref>{{harvnb|Bourne|1986|pp=195–197}}; {{harvnb|Coltman|2003|p=167}}.</ref> Productivity decreased and the country's financial reserves were drained within two years.<ref name="Bourne 1986 186"/> After conservative press expressed hostility towards the government, the pro-Castro printers' trade union disrupted editorial staff, and in January 1960 the government ordered them to publish a "clarification" written by the printers' union at the end of articles critical of the government.<ref>{{harvnb|Quirk|1993|p=197}}; {{harvnb|Coltman|2003|pp=165–166}}.</ref> Castro's government arrested hundreds of [[counter-revolution]]aries,<ref>{{harvnb|Bourne|1986|pp=181, 197}}; {{harvnb|Coltman|2003|p=168}}.</ref> many of whom were subjected to solitary confinement, rough treatment, and threatening behaviour.<ref>{{harvnb|Coltman|2003|pp=176–177}}.</ref> Militant anti-Castro groups, funded by exiles, the CIA, and the Dominican government, undertook armed attacks and set up guerrilla bases in Cuba's mountains, leading to the six-year [[Escambray Rebellion]].<ref>{{harvnb|Franqui|1984|pp=111–115}}; {{harvnb|Coltman|2003|p=167}}; {{harvnb|Ros|2006|pp=159–201}}.</ref> |
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At the time, 1960, the [[Cold War]] raged between two superpowers: the United States, a capitalist [[liberal democracy]], and the Soviet Union (USSR), a Marxist–Leninist socialist state ruled by the [[Communist Party of the Soviet Union|Communist Party]]. Expressing contempt for the US, Castro shared the ideological views of the USSR, establishing relations with several Marxist–Leninist states.<ref>{{harvnb|Bourne|1986|p=202}}; {{harvnb|Quirk|1993|p=296}}.</ref> Meeting with Soviet [[First Deputy Premier of the Soviet Union|First Deputy Premier]] [[Anastas Mikoyan]], Castro agreed to provide the USSR with sugar, fruit, fibres, and hides in return for crude oil, fertilizers, industrial goods, and a $100 million loan.<ref>{{harvnb|Bourne|1986|pp=189–190, 198–199}}; {{harvnb|Quirk|1993|pp=292–296}}; {{harvnb|Coltman|2003|pp=170–172}}.</ref> Cuba's government ordered the country's refineries—then controlled by the US corporations [[Shell Oil Company|Shell]] and [[Esso]]—to process Soviet oil, but under US pressure they refused. Castro responded by expropriating and [[nationalizing]] the refineries. Retaliating, the US cancelled its import of Cuban sugar, provoking Castro to nationalize most US-owned assets on the island, including banks and sugar mills.<ref>{{harvnb|Bourne|1986|pp=205–206}}; {{harvnb|Quirk|1993|pp=316–319}}; {{harvnb|Coltman|2003|p=173}}.</ref> |
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Cuba was the number one recipient of Soviet aid by the late [[1980s]]. However, Cuba was dealt a giant blow by the disintegration of the Soviet Union in [[1991]] |
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[[File:La Coubre explosion.jpg|thumb|''La Coubre'' explosion, 4 March 1960]] |
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===Human rights and relationship with the United States=== |
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Relations between Cuba and the US were further strained following the explosion of a French vessel, the ''[[La Coubre]]'', in Havana harbour in March 1960. The ship carried weapons purchased from Belgium, and the cause of the explosion was never determined, but Castro publicly insinuated that the US government was guilty of sabotage. He ended this speech with "''¡Patria o Muerte!''" ("Fatherland or Death"), a proclamation that he made much use of in ensuing years.<ref>{{harvnb|Bourne|1986|pp=201–202}}; {{harvnb|Quirk|1993|p=302}}; {{harvnb|Coltman|2003|p=172}}.</ref> Inspired by their earlier success with the [[1954 Guatemalan coup d'état]], in March 1960, US President Eisenhower authorized the [[CIA]] to overthrow Castro's government. He provided them with a budget of $13 million and permitted them to ally with the [[American Mafia|Mafia]], who were aggrieved that Castro's government closed down their brothel and casino businesses in Cuba.<ref>{{harvnb|Bourne|1986|pp=202, 211–213}}; {{harvnb|Quirk|1993|pp=272–273}}; {{harvnb|Coltman|2003|pp=172–173}}.</ref> On 13 October 1960, the US prohibited the majority of exports to Cuba, initiating [[United States embargo against Cuba|an economic embargo]]. In retaliation, the National Institute for Agrarian Reform [[Instituto Nacional de Reforma Agraria|INRA]] took control of 383 private-run businesses on 14 October, and on 25 October a further 166 US companies operating in Cuba had their premises seized and nationalized.<ref>{{harvnb|Bourne|1986|p=214}}; {{harvnb|Quirk|1993|p=349}}; {{harvnb|Coltman|2003|p=177}}.</ref> On 16 December, the US ended its import quota of Cuban sugar, the country's primary export.<ref>{{harvnb|Bourne|1986|p=215}}.</ref> |
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===United Nations=== |
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The Castro regime has frequently been accused of numerous [[human rights abuse]]s, including [[torture]], arbitrary imprisonment, unfair trials, and extra-judicial executions. Many argue that several thousand unjustified deaths have occurred under Castro's decades-long rule. Several Cubans have been labeled "counterrevolutionaries", "fascists", or "CIA operatives", and imprisoned in extremely poor conditions without trial; some have been summarily executed. The level of political control in Cuba has relaxed somewhat since the USSR's collapse, but most people still view Castro as presiding over a totalitarian state. [[Military Units to Aid Production]], or UMAP's were labor camps established in 1965, according to Castro, for "people who have committed crimes against revolutionary morals" in order to work counter-revolutionary influences out of certain segments of the population. |
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[[File:Fidel Castro - UN General Assembly 1960.jpg|thumb|Castro at the [[United Nations General Assembly]] in 1960]] |
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In September 1960, Castro flew to New York City for the [[General Assembly of the United Nations]]. Staying at the [[Hotel Theresa]] in [[Harlem]], he met with journalists and anti-establishment figures like [[Malcolm X]]. Castro had decided to stay in Harlem as a way of expressing solidarity with the poor African-American population living there, thus leading to an assortment of world leaders such as Nasser of Egypt and Nehru of India having to drive out to Harlem to see him.<ref name="Gaddis 1997 182">{{harvnb|Gaddis|1997|p=182}}.</ref> He also met Soviet premier [[Nikita Khrushchev]], with the two publicly condemning the poverty and [[Racism in the United States|racism faced by Americans]] in areas like Harlem.<ref name="Gaddis 1997 182"/> Relations between Castro and Khrushchev were warm; they led the applause to one another's speeches at the General Assembly.<ref>{{harvnb|Bourne|1986|pp=206–209}}; {{harvnb|Quirk|1993|pp=333–338}}; {{harvnb|Coltman|2003|pp=174–176}}.</ref> The opening session of the United Nations General Assembly in September 1960 was a highly rancorous one with Khrushchev famously [[Shoe-banging incident|banging his shoe against his desk]] to interrupt a speech by Filipino delegate [[Lorenzo Sumulong]], which set the general tone for the debates and speeches.<ref name="Gaddis 1997 182"/> Castro delivered the longest speech ever held before the United Nations General Assembly, speaking for four and a half hours in a speech mostly given over to denouncing American policies towards Latin America.<ref>{{cite web |title=What is the longest speech given at the United Nations? |url=http://ask.un.org/faq/37127 |publisher=United Nations |access-date=30 November 2018 |archive-date=29 November 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181129043125/https://ask.un.org/faq/37127 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Gaddis|1997|p=183}}.</ref> Subsequently, visited by Polish first secretary [[Władysław Gomułka]], Bulgarian first secretary [[Todor Zhivkov]], Egyptian president [[Gamal Abdel Nasser]], and Indian premier [[Jawaharlal Nehru]],<ref>{{harvnb|Bourne|1986|pp=209–210}}; {{harvnb|Quirk|1993|p=337}}.</ref> Castro also received an evening's reception from the [[Fair Play for Cuba Committee]].<ref>{{harvnb|Quirk|1993|p=339}}.</ref> |
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Back in Cuba, Castro feared a US-backed coup; in 1959 his regime spent $120 million on Soviet, French, and Belgian weaponry and by early 1960 had doubled the size of Cuba's armed forces.<ref>{{harvnb|Quirk|1993|p=300}}; {{harvnb|Coltman|2003|p=176}}.</ref> Fearing counter-revolutionary elements in the army, the government created a People's Militia to arm citizens favourable to the revolution, training at least 50,000 civilians in combat techniques.<ref>{{harvnb|Bourne|1986|p=125}}; {{harvnb|Quirk|1993|p=300}}.</ref> In September 1960, they created the [[Committees for the Defense of the Revolution]] (CDR), a nationwide civilian organization which implemented neighbourhood spying to detect counter-revolutionary activities as well as organizing health and education campaigns, becoming a conduit for public complaints. By 1970, a third of the population would be involved in the CDR, and this would eventually rise to 80%.<ref>{{harvnb|Bourne|1986|p=233}}; {{harvnb|Quirk|1993|pp=345, 649}}; {{harvnb|Coltman|2003|p=176}}.</ref> |
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Groups like [[Amnesty International]] and [[Human Rights Watch]] also criticize the censorship, the lack of press freedom in Cuba, the lack of civil rights, the outlawing of political opposition groups and unions, and the lack of free and democratic elections. |
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[[File:Castro and Nasser.jpg|thumb|Castro giving press statement next to Egypt's President [[Gamal Abdel Nasser]] before their meeting on the sidelines of United Nations General Assembly in 1960]] |
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Despite the fear of a coup, Castro garnered support in New York City. On 18 February 1961, 400 people—mainly Cubans, Puerto Ricans, and college students—picketed in the rain outside of the United Nations rallying for Castro's anti-colonial values and his effort to reduce the United States' power over Cuba. The protesters held up signs that read, "Mr. Kennedy, Cuba is Not For Sale.", "[[Vive, viva, and vivat|Viva]] Fidel Castro!" and "Down With Yankee Imperialism!". Around 200 policemen were on the scene, but the protesters continued to chant slogans and throw pennies in support of Fidel Castro's socialist movement. Some Americans disagreed with President [[John F. Kennedy]]'s decision to ban trade with Cuba, and outwardly supported his nationalist revolutionary tactics.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Benjamin |first1=Philip |title=400 picket U.N. in salute to castro and lumumba. New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1961/02/19/archives/400-picket-un-in-salute-to-castro-and-lumumba-pickets-march-at-un-3.html |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |date=19 February 1961 |access-date=9 November 2018 |archive-date=9 November 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181109234633/https://www.nytimes.com/1961/02/19/archives/400-picket-un-in-salute-to-castro-and-lumumba-pickets-march-at-un-3.html |url-status=live }}</ref> |
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Castro proclaimed the new administration a [[direct democracy]], in which Cubans could assemble at demonstrations to express their democratic will. As a result, he rejected the need for elections, claiming that [[representative democracy|representative democratic]] systems served the interests of socio-economic elites.<ref>{{harvnb|Geyer|1991|p=277}}; {{harvnb|Quirk|1993|p=313}}.</ref> US Secretary of State [[Christian Herter]] announced that Cuba was adopting the Soviet model of rule, with a one-party state, government control of trade unions, suppression of civil liberties, and the absence of freedom of speech and press.<ref>{{harvnb|Quirk|1993|p=330}}.</ref> |
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Justifying his actions, Castro sees this as an appropriate response to his claims that the United States is continuing to engage in covert activities against Cuba using spies and mercenaries, a so-far unsubstantiated claim, and that most if not all critical human rights activists are in fact American agents. Nowadays, US documents declassified under the [[Freedom of Information Act (United States)|Freedom of Information Act]] support most of his claims. In [[Operation Mongoose]] during the early 1960s, the CIA is known to have participated in various forms of covert economic sabotage in an attempt to oust Castro, including attempting partial destruction of the country's vital sugar crop, setting up explosives at certain factories, and even the bombing of a cargo ship with numerous casualties. During the same time frame, the CIA is also known to have established an "enemy of the enemy" relationship with the [[Mafia]] in assassination attempts on Castro; in contrast to the ousted General Batista, Castro's government cracked down severely on organized crime, depriving some notorious mobsters of millions of dollars. There is controversy over whether President [[John F. Kennedy]] was fully aware of the "dirty tricks" the CIA was employing in its attempts to overthrow Castro at the time, as the agency's accountability standards were not as strict as they are today. However, much of these events occurred during the early 1960s, and there is no evidence suggesting that the U.S. is currently engaged in a subversion campaign against Cuba. |
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===Bay of Pigs Invasion and "Socialist Cuba": 1961–1962=== |
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Citing previous U.S. hostility, supporters of Castro thus portray opposition to his regime as illegitimate, and the result of an ongoing conspiracy fostered solely by Cuban exiles with ties to the United States or the CIA. Many Castro supporters thus feel that Castro's often harsh measures are justified to prevent the United States from presumably installing a [[puppet leader]] in his place. Castro's opposition, though, maintains that he uses the United States as an excuse to justify his continuing political control. |
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{{Main|Bay of Pigs Invasion}} |
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{{See also|Assassination attempts on Fidel Castro}} |
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{{Quote box|width=25em|align=right|quote=There was ... no doubt about who the victors were. Cuba's stature in the world soared to new heights, and Fidel's role as the adored and revered leader among ordinary Cuban people received a renewed boost. His popularity was greater than ever. In his own mind he had done what generations of Cubans had only fantasized about: he had taken on the United States and won.|source=– [[Peter Bourne]], Castro biographer, 1986{{sfn|Bourne|1986|p=226}}}} |
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In January 1961, Castro ordered [[Embassy of the United States, Havana|Havana's US Embassy]] to reduce its 300-member staff, suspecting that many of them were spies. The US responded by ending diplomatic relations, and it increased CIA funding for exiled dissidents; these militants began attacking ships that traded with Cuba, and bombed factories, shops, and sugar mills.<ref>{{harvnb|Bourne|1986|pp=215–216}}; {{harvnb|Quirk|1993|pp=353–354, 365–366}}; {{harvnb|Coltman|2003|p=178}}.</ref> Both President Eisenhower and his successor President Kennedy supported a CIA plan to aid a dissident militia, the Democratic Revolutionary Front, to invade Cuba and overthrow Castro; the plan resulted in the [[Bay of Pigs Invasion]] in April 1961. On 15 April, CIA-supplied [[Douglas A-26 Invader|B-26]]s bombed three Cuban military airfields; the US announced that the perpetrators were defecting Cuban air force pilots, but Castro exposed these claims as [[false flag]] misinformation.<ref>{{harvnb|Bourne|1986|pp=217–220}}; {{harvnb|Quirk|1993|pp=363–367}}; {{harvnb|Coltman|2003|pp=178–179}}.</ref> Fearing invasion, he ordered the arrest of between 20,000 and 100,000 suspected counter-revolutionaries,<ref>{{harvnb|Bourne|1986|pp=221–222}}; {{harvnb|Quirk|1993|p=371}}.</ref> publicly proclaiming, "What the imperialists cannot forgive us, is that we have made a Socialist revolution under their noses", his first announcement that the government was socialist.<ref>{{harvnb|Bourne|1986|pp=221–222}}; {{harvnb|Quirk|1993|p=369}}; {{harvnb|Coltman|2003|pp=180, 186}}.</ref> |
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The United States government maintains the continuing U.S. foreign policy goal in regards to Cuba is to bring [[democracy]] to the nation. The Cuban-immigrant population of the U.S. state of [[Florida]], which holds considerable political clout in U.S. electoral politics, has significant influence in U.S. relations with Cuba. |
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[[File:CheyFidel.jpg|thumb|upright|left|[[Che Guevara]] (left) and Castro, photographed by [[Alberto Korda]] in 1961]] |
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Supporters also contend that Cuba's human rights record is substantially better than that of many other former governments in the Caribbean or Latin America, particularly those that were ruled by U.S.-backed [[anti-Communist]] military regimes during the widespread guerrilla warfare of the 1970s and 1980s. In particular, they argue the human rights record and quality of life in Cuba is better than under his predecessor, Fulgencio Batista, who was unpopular and resented by Castro and his supporters as subservient to American interests, though Washington withdrew support of him in the wake of Castro's revolution. Critics point out that Cuba is the only Latin American country to have not democratized in a post-Cold War environment. |
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The CIA and the Democratic Revolutionary Front had based a 1,400-strong army, Brigade 2506, in [[Nicaragua]]. On the night of 16 to 17 April, Brigade 2506 landed along Cuba's [[Bay of Pigs]] and engaged in a firefight with a local revolutionary militia. Castro ordered Captain José Ramón Fernández to launch the counter-offensive, before taking personal control of it. After bombing the invaders' ships and bringing in reinforcements, Castro forced the Brigade to surrender on 20 April.<ref>{{harvnb|Bourne|1986|pp=222–225}}; {{harvnb|Quirk|1993|pp=370–374}}; {{harvnb|Coltman|2003|pp=180–184}}.</ref> He ordered the 1189 captured rebels to be interrogated by a panel of journalists on live television, personally taking over the questioning on 25 April. Fourteen were put on trial for crimes allegedly committed before the revolution, while the others were returned to the US in exchange for medicine and food valued at {{US$|25 million}}.<ref>{{harvnb|Bourne|1986|pp=226–227}}; {{harvnb|Quirk|1993|pp=375–378}}; {{harvnb|Coltman|2003|pp=180–184}}.</ref> Castro's victory reverberated around the world, especially in Latin America, but it also increased internal opposition primarily among the middle-class Cubans who had been detained in the run-up to the invasion. Although most were freed within a few days, many fled to the US, establishing themselves in Florida.<ref>{{harvnb|Coltman|2003|pp=185–186}}.</ref> |
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Consolidating "Socialist Cuba", Castro united the MR-26-7, PSP and Revolutionary Directorate into a governing party based on the Leninist principle of [[democratic centralism]]: the [[Communist Party of Cuba|Integrated Revolutionary Organizations]] (''Organizaciones Revolucionarias Integradas'' – ORI), renamed the United Party of the Cuban Socialist Revolution (PURSC) in 1962.<ref>{{harvnb|Bourne|1986|p=230}}; {{harvnb|Geyer|1991|p=276}}; {{harvnb|Quirk|1993|pp=387, 396}}; {{harvnb|Coltman|2003|p=188}}.</ref> Although the USSR was hesitant regarding Castro's embrace of socialism,<ref>{{harvnb|Geyer|1991|pp=274–275}}; {{harvnb|Quirk|1993|pp=385–386}}.</ref> relations with the Soviets deepened. Castro sent Fidelito for a Moscow schooling,<ref name="Bourne 1986 231">{{harvnb|Bourne|1986|p=231}}; {{harvnb|Coltman|2003|p=188}}.</ref> Soviet technicians arrived on the island,<ref name="Bourne 1986 231"/> and Castro was awarded the [[Lenin Peace Prize]].<ref>{{harvnb|Quirk|1993|p=405}}.</ref> In December 1961, Castro admitted that he had been a Marxist–Leninist for years, and in his Second Declaration of Havana he called on Latin America to rise up in revolution.{{sfnm|1a1=Bourne|1y=1986|1pp=230–234|2a1=Geyer|2y=1991|2p=274|3a1=Quirk|3y=1993|3pp=395, 400–401|4a1=Coltman|4y=2003|4p=190}} In response, the US successfully pushed the Organization of American States to expel Cuba; the Soviets privately reprimanded Castro for recklessness, although he received praise from China.<ref>{{harvnb|Bourne|1986|pp=232–234}}; {{harvnb|Quirk|1993|pp=397–401}}; {{harvnb|Coltman|2003|p=190}}.</ref> Despite their ideological affinity with China, in the [[Sino-Soviet split]], Cuba allied with the wealthier Soviets, who offered economic and military aid.<ref>{{harvnb|Bourne|1986|p=232}}; {{harvnb|Quirk|1993|p=397}}.</ref> |
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*For more see [[Human rights in Cuba]]. |
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The ORI began shaping Cuba using the Soviet model, persecuting political opponents and perceived [[Deviance (sociology)|social deviants]] such as prostitutes and homosexuals; Castro considered same-sex sexual activity a bourgeois trait.<ref>{{harvnb|Bourne|1986|p=233}}.</ref> Gay men were forced into the [[Military Units to Aid Production]] (''Unidades Militares de Ayuda a la Producción'' – UMAP); after many revolutionary intellectuals decried this move, the UMAP camps were closed in 1967, although gay men continued to be imprisoned.{{sfnm|1a1=Quirk|1y=1993|1pp=525–526|2a1=Coltman|2y=2003|2pp=188–189}} By 1962, Cuba's economy was in steep decline, a result of poor economic management and low productivity coupled with the US trade embargo. Food shortages led to rationing, resulting in protests in [[Cárdenas, Cuba|Cárdenas]].<ref>{{harvnb|Bourne|1986|p=233}}; {{harvnb|Quirk|1993|pp=203–204, 410–412}}; {{harvnb|Coltman|2003|p=189}}.</ref> Security reports indicated that many Cubans associated austerity with the "Old Communists" of the PSP, while Castro considered a number of them—namely [[Anibal Escalante|Aníbal Escalante]] and [[Blas Roca]]—unduly loyal to Moscow. In March 1962 Castro removed the most prominent "Old Communists" from office, labelling them "sectarian".<ref>{{harvnb|Bourne|1986|pp=234–236}}; {{harvnb|Quirk|1993|pp=403–406}}; {{harvnb|Coltman|2003|p=192}}.</ref> On a personal level, Castro was increasingly lonely, and his relations with Guevara became strained as the latter became increasingly anti-Soviet and pro-Chinese.<ref>{{harvnb|Bourne|1986|pp=258–259}}; {{harvnb|Coltman|2003|pp=191–192}}.</ref> |
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===Criticisms of the United States=== |
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===Cuban Missile Crisis and furthering socialism: 1962–1968=== |
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Castro remains a vocal critic of United States policies, speaking against the continuing economic embargo and U.S. attempts to topple his government. He has also condemned what he sees as exploitation of developing countries by U.S. corporations and even the state of public health care in the United States. Recently, he has harshly condemned the migration policies of the United States, which severely limit travel of Cuban-Americans to their families in Cuba. Castro also opposes the policies of developed world vis-à-vis the developing countries, including growing costs of servicing foreign debt. |
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{{Main|Cuban Missile Crisis|Great Debate (Cuba)|Revolutionary Offensive}} |
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[[File:U2 Image of Cuban Missile Crisis.jpg|thumb|U-2 reconnaissance photograph of Soviet nuclear missiles in Cuba]] |
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Militarily weaker than [[NATO]], Khrushchev wanted to install Soviet [[R-12 (missile)|R-12]] [[MRBM]] nuclear missiles on Cuba to even the power balance.<ref>{{harvnb|Coltman|2003|pp=192–194}}.</ref> Although conflicted, Castro agreed, believing it would guarantee Cuba's safety and enhance the cause of socialism.<ref>{{harvnb|Coltman|2003|p=194}}.</ref> Undertaken in secrecy, only the Castro brothers, Guevara, Dorticós and security chief [[Ramiro Valdés]] knew the full plan.<ref>{{harvnb|Coltman|2003|p=195}}.</ref> Upon discovering it through aerial reconnaissance, in October the US implemented an island-wide [[quarantine]] to search vessels headed to Cuba, sparking the [[Cuban Missile Crisis]]. The US saw the missiles as offensive; Castro insisted they were for defence only.<ref>{{harvnb|Bourne|1986|pp=238–239}}; {{harvnb|Quirk|1993|p=425}}; {{harvnb|Coltman|2003|pp=196–197}}.</ref> Castro urged that Khrushchev should launch a nuclear strike on the US if Cuba were invaded, but Khrushchev was desperate to avoid [[nuclear war]].<ref>{{cite news |last1=Mulrine |first1=Anna |title=Cuban Missile Crisis: the 3 most surprising things you didn't know |url=https://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Politics/DC-Decoder/2012/1016/Cuban-Missile-Crisis-the-3-most-surprising-things-you-didn-t-know/Fidel-Castro-was-pushing-for-nuclear-annihilation-of-the-US |access-date=23 April 2020 |work=The Christian Science Monitor |date=16 October 2012 |archive-date=31 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200731044340/https://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Politics/DC-Decoder/2012/1016/Cuban-Missile-Crisis-the-3-most-surprising-things-you-didn-t-know/Fidel-Castro-was-pushing-for-nuclear-annihilation-of-the-US |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Coltman|2003|p=197}}.</ref> Castro was left out of the negotiations, in which Khrushchev agreed to remove the missiles in exchange for a US commitment not to invade Cuba and an understanding that the US would remove their [[PGM-19 Jupiter#Operational deployment|MRBMs from Turkey and Italy]].<ref>{{harvnb|Coltman|2003|pp=198–199}}.</ref> Feeling betrayed by Khrushchev, Castro was furious and soon fell ill.<ref>{{harvnb|Bourne|1986|p=239}}; {{harvnb|Quirk|1993|pp=443–434, 449}}; {{harvnb|Coltman|2003|pp=199–200, 203}}.</ref> Proposing a five-point plan, Castro demanded that the US end its embargo, withdraw from [[Guantanamo Bay Naval Base]], cease supporting dissidents, and stop violating Cuban air space and territorial waters. He presented these demands to [[U Thant]], visiting [[Secretary-General of the United Nations]], but the US ignored them. In turn Castro refused to allow the UN's inspection team into Cuba.<ref>{{harvnb|Bourne|1986|pp=241–242}}; {{harvnb|Quirk|1993|pp=444–445}}.</ref> |
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In May 1963, Castro visited the USSR at Khrushchev's personal invitation, touring 14 cities, addressing a [[Red Square]] rally, and being awarded both the [[Order of Lenin]] and an honorary doctorate from [[Moscow State University]].{{sfnm|1a1=Bourne|1y=1986|1pp=245–248|2a1=Quirk|2y=1993|2pp=458–470|3a1=Coltman|3y=2003|3pp=204–205}} Castro returned to Cuba with new ideas; inspired by Soviet newspaper ''[[Pravda]]'', he amalgamated ''Hoy'' and ''Revolución'' into a new daily, ''[[Granma (newspaper)|Granma]]'',{{sfnm|1a1=Bourne|1y=1986|1p=249|2a1=Quirk|2y=1993|2p=538}} and oversaw large investment into Cuban sport that resulted in an increased international sporting reputation.{{sfnm|1a1=Bourne|1y=1986|1pp=249–250|2a1=Quirk|2y=1993|2p=702}} Seeking to further consolidate control, in 1963 the government cracked down on Protestant sects in Cuba, with Castro labelling them counter-revolutionary "instruments of imperialism"; many preachers were found guilty of illegal US links and imprisoned.{{sfn|Quirk|1993|pp=435–434}} Measures were implemented to force perceived idle and delinquent youths to work, primarily through the introduction of mandatory military service.{{sfn|Quirk|1993|pp=454–454, 479–480}} In September, the government temporarily permitted emigration for anyone other than males aged between 15 and 26, thereby ridding the government of thousands of critics, most of whom were from upper and middle-class backgrounds.{{sfnm|1a1=Quirk|1y=1993|1pp=530–534|2a1=Coltman|2y=2003|2p=213}} In 1963, Castro's mother died. This was the last time his private life was reported in Cuba's press.{{sfn|Bourne|1986|pp=250–251}} In January 1964, Castro returned to Moscow, officially to sign a new five-year sugar trade agreement, but also to discuss the ramifications of the [[assassination of John F. Kennedy]].{{sfnm|1a1=Bourne|1y=1986|1p=263|2a1=Quirk|2y=1993|2pp=488–489}} Castro was deeply concerned by the assassination, believing that a far-right conspiracy was behind it but that the Cubans would be blamed.{{sfn|Quirk|1993|pp=484–486}} In October 1965, the Integrated Revolutionary Organizations was officially renamed the "Cuban Communist Party" and published the membership of its Central Committee.{{sfnm|1a1=Quirk|1y=1993|1p=534|2a1=Coltman|2a2=2003|2p=213}} |
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Castro claims that, during the Cold War, the United States engaged in a variety of covert, and often deadly attacks against Cuba in order to weaken the entire country as a way of weakening Castro's government. Between 1960 and 1965, the U.S. government plotted against him, making plans to assassinate him. Some of these plans included, “spraying his Havana broadcasting studio with a mind altering chemical, poisoning his cigars, dusting his boots with a chemical that would cause his beard to fall out, and planting an explosive seashell in the area where he was known to scuba dive,” (Vail 108). He points out the alleged infection of Cuban pigs by anti-Castro organizations supported by the CIA in 1971 with [[African swine fever]], a disease of pigs not previously reported in the Americas. This started an epidemic which forced the Cubans to destroy half of all the pigs on the island in order to get it under control. [[#Footnotes|1]] |
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{{Quote box|width=25em|align=right|quote=The greatest threat presented by Castro's Cuba is as an example to other Latin American states which are beset by poverty, corruption, feudalism, and plutocratic exploitation ... his influence in Latin America might be overwhelming and irresistible if, with Soviet help, he could establish in Cuba a Communist utopia.|source=– [[Walter Lippmann]], ''[[Newsweek]]'', 27 April 1964<ref>"Cuba Once More", by [[Walter Lippmann]], ''[[Newsweek]]'', 27 April 1964, p. 23.</ref>}} |
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He also claims that, in 1981 the CIA started a [[Dengue fever]] epidemic that killed 158 people.[[#Footnotes|2]]. Between 1956 and 1958 the US Army tested whether mosquitoes of the type Aedes Aegypti - which are carriers of Dengue fever - could be used as weapons of biological warfare. [[#Footnotes|3]] During a trial in New York in 1984 a Cuban exile said that in late 1980 a ship traveled to Cuba "with a mission to carry some germs to introduce them in Cuba to be used against the Soviets and against the Cuban economy ... which later on produced results that were not what we had expected ... and it was used against our own people, and with that we did not agree". [[#Footnotes|4]] |
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Despite Soviet misgivings, Castro continued to call for global revolution, funding militant leftists and those engaged in [[national liberation]] struggles. Cuba's foreign policy was strongly anti-imperialist, believing that every nation should control its own natural resources.{{sfn|Quirk|1993|p=744}} He supported Che Guevara's "Andean project", an unsuccessful plan to set up a guerrilla movement in the highlands of [[Bolivia]], [[Peru]] and [[Argentina]]. He allowed revolutionary groups from around the world, from the [[Viet Cong]] to the [[Black Panther Party|Black Panthers]], to train in Cuba.{{sfnm|1a1=Bourne|1y=1986|1p=255|2a1=Coltman|2y=2003|2p=211}} |
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There may have been CIA efforts at sabotaging crops using pathogens. It has been confirmed that Castro has been the target of multiple CIA-sponsored assassination attempts. In 2000 four Cuban exiles with ties to the [[Cuban-American National Foundation]] [http://havanajournal.com/hispanics_comments/3106_0_24_0_M68/] were convicted in a Panamanian court of plotting to assassinate Castro during a regional summit. The four were pardoned in 2004 and all but [[Luis Posada Carriles]] entered the United States. Posada appeared in the U.S 2005, but faces extradition to Venezuela. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4442293.stm] So far, conclusive evidence linking the four men to the CIA has not been found. |
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He considered Western-dominated Africa to be ripe for revolution and sent troops and medics to aid [[Ahmed Ben Bella]]'s socialist regime in Algeria during the [[Sand War]]. He also allied with [[Alphonse Massamba-Débat]]'s socialist government in [[Congo-Brazzaville]]. In 1965, Castro authorized Che Guevara to travel to [[Republic of the Congo (Léopoldville)|Congo-Kinshasa]] to train [[Simba rebellion|revolutionaries against the Western-backed government]].{{sfnm|1a1=Bourne|1y=1986|1pp=255–256, 260|2a1=Quirk|2y=1993|2p=744|3a1=Coltman|3y=2003|3pp=211–212}} Castro was personally devastated when Guevara was killed by CIA-backed troops in Bolivia in October 1967 and publicly attributed it to Guevara's disregard for his own safety.{{sfnm|1a1=Bourne|1y=1986|1pp=267–268|2a1=Quirk|2y=1993|2pp=582–585|3a1=Coltman|3y=2003|3p=216}} |
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In 1966, Castro staged a [[Organization of Solidarity with the People of Asia, Africa and Latin America|Tri-Continental Conference of Africa, Asia and Latin America]] in Havana, further establishing himself as a significant player on the world stage.{{sfnm|1a1=Bourne|1y=1986|1p=265|2a1=Coltman|2y=2003|2p=214}} From this conference, Castro created the Latin American Solidarity Organization (OLAS), which adopted the slogan of "The duty of a revolution is to make revolution", signifying Havana's leadership of Latin America's revolutionary movement.{{sfn|Bourne|1986|p=267}} |
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===Worldwide revolution=== |
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[[File:Fidel-Gagarin-hug.jpg|thumb|Castro and Russian cosmonaut [[Yuri Gagarin]], the first human in space]] |
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Under Castro, the Cuban government became an enthusiastic supporter of [[Marxism|Marxist]] "wars of national liberation" not only in Latin America, but worldwide. Such interventions are described in the [[Foreign relations of Cuba]] article. |
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Castro's increasing role on the world stage strained his relationship with the USSR, now under the leadership of [[Leonid Brezhnev]]. Asserting Cuba's independence, Castro refused to sign the [[Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons]], declaring it a Soviet-US attempt to dominate the [[Third World]].{{sfn|Bourne|1986|p=269}} Diverting from Soviet Marxist doctrine, he suggested that Cuban society could evolve straight to [[pure communism]] rather than gradually progress through various stages of socialism.{{sfn|Quirk|1993|pp=559–560}} In turn, the Soviet-loyalist Aníbal Escalante began organizing a government network of opposition to Castro, though in January 1968, he and his supporters were arrested for allegedly passing state secrets to Moscow.{{sfnm|1a1=Bourne|1y=1986|1pp=269–270|2a1=Quirk|2y=1993|2pp=588–590}} Recognising Cuba's economic dependence on the Soviets, Castro relented to Brezhnev's pressure to be obedient, and in August 1968 he denounced the leaders of the [[Prague Spring]] and praised the [[Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia]].{{sfnm|1a1=Bourne|1y=1986|1pp=270–271|2a1=Quirk|2y=1993|2pp=597–600|3a1=Coltman|3y=2003|3pp=216–217}}<ref>{{cite web |last=Castro |first=Fidel |date=August 1968 |url=http://lanic.utexas.edu/project/castro/db/1968/19680824.html |title=Castro comments on Czechoslovakia crisis |publisher=FBIS |access-date=25 September 2011 |archive-date=2 April 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120402043602/http://lanic.utexas.edu/project/castro/db/1968/19680824.html |url-status=live }}</ref> |
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Influenced by China's [[Great Leap Forward]], in 1968 Castro proclaimed a [[Revolutionary Offensive|Great Revolutionary Offensive]], closing all remaining privately owned shops and businesses and denouncing their owners as capitalist counterrevolutionaries.{{sfnm|1a1=Quirk|1y=1993|1pp=591–594|2a1=Coltman|2y=2003|2p=227}} The severe lack of consumer goods for purchase led productivity to decline, as large sectors of the population felt little incentive to work hard.{{sfn|Quirk|1993|p=647}} This was exacerbated by the perception that a revolutionary elite had emerged, consisting of those connected to the administration; they had access to better housing, private transportation, servants, and the ability to purchase luxury goods abroad.{{sfn|Quirk|1993|pp=644–645}} |
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==Asylum issues== |
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[[image:castrtito.jpg|thumbnail|250px|Castro with Yugoslavian president [[Josip Broz Tito]]]] |
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On [[March 28]], [[1980]], a bus of asylum seekers crashed through the gates of the [[Peru]]vian Embassy in [[Havana]]. Over 10,000 Cubans fled to the embassy within 48 hours. Castro announced on [[April 20]] that anyone could leave by boat at the port of [[Mariel]] in Havana. Cuban exiles began sailing to Mariel in what became known as the "freedom flotilla". According to [[United States Coast Guard|U.S. Coast Guard]] figures, 124,776 Cubans had fled their homeland when Castro closed Mariel on [[September 26]]. |
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===Economic stagnation and Third World politics: 1969–1974=== |
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Although the vast majority of Cubans who fled during the [[Mariel Boat Lift]] were legitimate [[refugee|asylum]] seekers, Castro used the event to expel estimated 20,000 [[convict]]s, [[homosexual]]s and [[Mental retardation|mentally disabled]] Cubans. |
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[[File:BENZAZA BOUMEDIENE CASTRO.jpg|left|thumb|Late President of Algeria [[Houari Boumédiène|Houari Boumediene]], Fidel Castro, and Benzaza Hadj Benabdallah – May 1972]] |
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Castro publicly celebrated his administration's 10th anniversary in January 1969; in his celebratory speech he warned of sugar rations, reflecting the nation's economic problems.{{sfnm|1a1=Quirk|1y=1993|1pp=618–621|2a1=Coltman|2y=2003|2p=227}} The 1969 crop was heavily damaged by a hurricane, and to meet its export quota, the government drafted in the army, implemented a seven-day working week, and postponed public holidays to lengthen the harvest.{{sfnm|1a1=Bourne|1y=1986|1p=273|2a1=Quirk|2y=1993|2pp=634–640|3a1=Coltman|3y=2003|3p=229}} When that year's production quota was not met, Castro offered to resign during a public speech, but assembled crowds insisted he remain.{{sfnm|1a1=Bourne|1y=1986|1p=274|2a1=Quirk|2y=1993|2p=644|3a1=Coltman|3y=2003|3p=230}} Despite the economic issues, many of Castro's social reforms were popular, with the population largely supportive of the "Achievements of the Revolution" in education, medical care, housing, and road construction, as well as the policies of "direct democratic" public consultation.{{sfnm|1a1=Bourne|1y=1986|1pp=275–276|2a1=Quirk|2y=1993|2p=606|3a1=Coltman|3y=2003|3p=230}} Seeking Soviet help, from 1970 to 1972 Soviet economists re-organized Cuba's economy, founding the Cuban-Soviet Commission of Economic, Scientific and Technical Collaboration, while Soviet premier [[Alexei Kosygin]] visited in October 1971.{{sfnm|1a1=Bourne|1y=1986|1pp=276–277|2a1=Quirk|2y=1993|2pp=682–684}} In July 1972, Cuba joined the [[Comecon|Council for Mutual Economic Assistance]] (Comecon), an economic organization of socialist states, although this further limited Cuba's economy to agricultural production.{{sfn|Bourne|1986|p=277}} |
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[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 183-L0614-040, Berlin, Fidel Castro an der Grenze.jpg|thumb|Castro and members of the East German [[Politburo]] in Berlin, June 1972]] |
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Since 1959, an estimated 1,079,000 Cubans have left the island and migrated to different countries, primarily the United States [http://www.sela.org/public_html/AA2K2/eng/docs/coop/migra/spsmirdi12-02/spsmirdi12-2.htm]. |
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In May 1970, the crews of two Cuban fishing boats were kidnapped by Florida-based dissident group [[Alpha 66]], who demanded that Cuba release imprisoned militants. Under US pressure, the hostages were released, and Castro welcomed them back as heroes.{{sfnm|1a1=Quirk|1y=1993|1pp=640–641|2a1=Coltman|2y=2003|2p=230}} In April 1971, Castro was internationally condemned for ordering the arrest of dissident poet [[Heberto Padilla]] who had been arrested 20 March; Padilla was freed, but the government established the National Cultural Council to ensure that intellectuals and artists supported the administration.{{sfnm|1a1=Quirk|1y=1993|1pp=609–615, 662–676|2a1=Coltman|2y=2003|2pp=232–233}} |
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In November 1971, [[State visit by Fidel Castro to Chile|Castro visited Chile]], where Marxist President [[Salvador Allende]] had been elected as the head of [[Popular Unity (Chile)|a left-wing coalition]]. Castro supported Allende's socialist reforms but warned him of right-wing elements in Chile's military. In 1973, the military [[1973 Chilean coup d'état|led a coup d'état]] and established a military junta led by [[Augusto Pinochet]].{{sfnm|1a1=Bourne|1y=1986|1pp=278–280|2a1=Quirk|2y=1993|2pp=685–701, 703|3a1=Coltman|3y=2003|3pp=233–236, 240}} Castro proceeded to Guinea to meet socialist President [[Sékou Touré]], praising him as Africa's greatest leader, and there received the [[Order of Fidelity to the People]].{{sfnm|1a1=Quirk|1y=1993|1pp=706–707|2a1=Coltman|2y=2003|2pp=237–238}} He then went on a seven-week tour visiting leftist allies: Algeria, Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, East Germany, Czechoslovakia and the Soviet Union, where he was given further awards. On each trip, he was eager to visit factory and farm workers, publicly praising their governments; privately, he urged the regimes to aid revolutionary movements elsewhere, particularly those fighting the [[Vietnam War]].{{sfnm|1a1=Quirk|1y=1993|1pp=707–715|2a1=Coltman|2y=2003|2p=238}} |
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==Religion== |
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Castro is an [[atheist]] and has not been a practicing [[Roman Catholicism|Roman Catholic]] since his childhood. [[Pope John XXIII]] [[excommunicated]] Castro on [[January 3]], [[1962]]. This was consistent with a 1949 decree by [[Pope Pius XII]] forbidding Catholics from supporting communist governments. For Castro, who had previously renounced his Catholic faith, this was an event of very little consequence, nor was it expected to be. It was aimed at undermining support for Castro among Catholics; however, there is little evidence that it did. |
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In September 1973, he returned to [[Algiers]] to attend the Fourth Summit of the [[Non-Aligned Movement]] (NAM). Various NAM members were critical of Castro's attendance, claiming that Cuba was aligned to the [[Warsaw Pact]] and therefore should not be at the conference.{{sfnm|1a1=Bourne|1y=1986|1pp=283–284|2a1=Quirk|2y=1993|2pp=718–719|3a1=Coltman|3y=2003|3p=239}} At the conference he publicly broke off relations with Israel, citing its government's close relationship with the US and its treatment of Palestinians during the [[Israeli–Palestinian conflict|Israel–Palestine conflict]]. This earned Castro respect throughout the Arab world, in particular from the Libyan leader [[Muammar Gaddafi]], who became a friend and ally.{{sfnm|1a1=Quirk|1y=1993|1p=721|2a1=Coltman|2y=2003|2pp=239–240}} As the [[Yom Kippur War]] broke out in October 1973 between Israel and an Arab coalition led by Egypt and Syria, Cuba sent 4,000 troops to aid Syria.{{sfnm|1a1=Bourne|1y=1986|1p=284|2a1=Quirk|2y=1993|2pp=745–746}} Leaving Algiers, Castro visited Iraq and [[North Vietnam]].{{sfn|Quirk|1993|pp=721–723}} |
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His relations with [[Pope John Paul II]] were somewhat better. In the early [[1990s]] Castro agreed to loosen restrictions on religion and even permitted church going Catholics to join the Cuban Communist Party. In 1998, Castro hosted [[Pope John Paul II]] on his visit to Cuba, the first by a ruling pontiff to the island. Pope John Paul II generally stayed away from overt political themes, instead emphasizing that his trip was designed to strengthen the Catholic Church in Cuba. The pontiff, however, criticized the U.S. embargo on Cuba and some Cuban policies. He criticized Cuba's widespread practice of legalized abortion and urged Castro to end its monopoly on education and allow the return of Catholic schools. [http://www.cnn.com/WORLD/9801/22/pope/] |
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Cuba's economy grew in 1974 as a result of high international sugar prices and new credits with Argentina, Canada, and parts of Western Europe.{{sfnm|1a1=Bourne|1y=1986|1pp=283–284|2a1=Quirk|2y=1993|2pp=724–725|3a1=Coltman|3y=2003|3p=240}} A number of Latin American states called for Cuba's re-admittance into the Organization of American States (OAS), with the US finally conceding in 1975 on [[Henry Kissinger]]'s advice.{{sfnm|1a1=Bourne|1y=1986|1p=282|2a1=Quirk|2y=1993|2p=737}} Cuba's government underwent a restructuring along Soviet lines, claiming that this would further democratization and decentralize power away from Castro. Officially announcing Cuba's identity as a [[socialist state]], the first National Congress of the Cuban Communist Party was held, and [[Constitution of Cuba#1976 Constitution|a new constitution drafted]] that abolished the position of president and prime minister. Castro remained the dominant figure in governance, taking the presidency of the newly created [[Council of State (Cuba)|Council of State]] and [[Council of Ministers (Cuba)|Council of Ministers]], making him both [[head of state]] and head of government.{{sfnm|1a1=Bourne|1y=1986|1p=283|2a1=Quirk|2y=1993|2pp=726–729|3a1=Coltman|3y=2003|3pp=240–241}} |
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==Popular image== |
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==Presidency== |
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[[Image:Fidel-Birthday.jpg|thumb|250px|Venezuelan girl kissing Fidel Castro on his 75th birthday]] |
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{{Further|Political career of Fidel Castro}} |
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===Foreign wars and NAM Presidency: 1975–1979=== |
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An apparent [[cult of personality]] around Castro has arisen despite his personal attempts to discourage it. In contrast to many of the world's modern strongmen, Castro has only twice been personally featured on a Cuban stamp. In 1974 he appeared on a stamp to commemorate the visit of [[Leonid Brezhnev]], and in 1999 he appeared on a stamp commemorating the 40th anniversary of the Revolution. There has been a much stronger tendency to encourage reverence for Cuban independence hero [[José Martí]] and the "martyrs" of the Cuban revolution such as [[Camilo Cienfuegos]]. He rarely appears in public without his military fatigues. Castro himself is famous for his long and detailed speeches which often last several hours (he used to hold the world record for the longest speech) and contain much data and historical references. |
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{{Main|Cuban intervention in Angola}} |
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Castro considered Africa to be "the weakest link in the imperialist chain", and at the request of [[Agostinho Neto]] he ordered 230 military advisers into [[People's Republic of Angola|Angola]] in November 1975 to aid Neto's Marxist [[MPLA]] in the [[Angolan Civil War]]. When the US and South Africa stepped up their support of the opposition [[National Liberation Front of Angola|FLNA]] and [[UNITA]], Castro ordered a further 18,000 troops to Angola, which played a major role in forcing a South African and UNITA retreat.{{sfnm|1a1=Bourne|1y=1986|1pp=281, 284–287|2a1=Quirk|2y=1993|2pp=747–750|3a1=Coltman|3y=2003|3pp=242–243}} The decision to intervene in Angola has been a controversial one, all the more so as Castro's critics have charged that it was not his decision at all, contending that the Soviets ordered him to do so.{{sfn|George|2004|pp=77–79}} Castro always maintained that he took the decision to launch Operation Carlota himself in response to an appeal from Neto and that the Soviets were in fact opposed to Cuban intervention in Angola, which took place over their opposition.{{sfn|George|2004|p=79}} |
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Traveling to Angola, Castro celebrated with Neto, Sékou Touré and Guinea-Bissaun president [[Luís Cabral]], where they agreed to support Mozambique's [[FRELIMO|Marxist–Leninist government]] against [[RENAMO]] in the [[Mozambican Civil War]].{{sfnm|1a1=Quirk|1y=1993|1p=752|2a1=Coltman|2y=2003|2p=243}} In February, Castro visited Algeria and then Libya, where he spent ten days with Gaddafi and oversaw the establishment of the [[History of Libya under Muammar Gaddafi#Great Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya (1977–2011)|Jamahariya system of governance]], before attending talks with [[Yemeni Socialist Party|the Marxist government]] of [[South Yemen]]. From there he proceeded to Somalia, Tanzania, Mozambique and Angola where he was greeted by crowds as a hero for Cuba's role in opposing apartheid South Africa.{{sfnm|1a1=Quirk|1y=1993|1pp=759–761|2a1=Coltman|2y=2003|2pp=243–244}} Throughout much of Africa he was hailed as a friend to national liberation from foreign dominance.{{sfn|Quirk|1993|p=750}} This was followed with visits to East Berlin and Moscow.{{sfn|Quirk|1993|pp=766–767}} |
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There has been speculation about Castro's health since he apparently fainted during a seven-hour speech under the Caribbean sun in [[June 2001]]. His doctors say his health is improving. |
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{{Quote box|width=25em|align=right|quote=There is often talk of human rights, but it is also necessary to talk of the rights of humanity. Why should some people walk barefoot, so that others can travel in luxurious cars? Why should some live for thirty-five years, so that others can live for seventy years? Why should some be miserably poor, so that others can be hugely rich? I speak on behalf of the children in the world who do not have a piece of bread. I speak on the behalf of the sick who have no medicine, of those whose rights to life and human dignity have been denied.|source=– Fidel Castro's message to the UN General Assembly, 1979{{sfn|Coltman|2003|p=245}}}} |
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[[Image:Cuba-Fidel.jpg|thumb|250px|A painting of Fidel Castro given as a gift from the former [[Soviet Union]]]] |
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In 1977, the [[Ogaden War]] broke out over the disputed [[Ogaden]] region as Somalia invaded Ethiopia; although a former ally of Somali president [[Siad Barre]], Castro had warned him against such action, and Cuba sided with [[Mengistu Haile Mariam]]'s Marxist government of Ethiopia. In a desperate attempt to stop the war, Castro had a summit with Barre where he proposed a federation of Ethiopia, Somalia, and South Yemen as an alternative to war.{{sfn|Tareke|2009|p=190}} Barre who saw seizing the Ogaden as the first step towards creating a greater Somalia that would unite all of the Somalis into one state rejected the federation offer and decided upon war.{{sfn|Tareke|2009|p=190}} Castro sent troops under the command of General [[Arnaldo Ochoa]] to aid the overwhelmed Ethiopian army. Mengistu's regime was barely hanging on by 1977, having lost one-third of its army in Eritrea at the time of the Somali invasion.{{sfn|Brogan|1989|p=31}} The intervention of 17,000 Cuban troops into the Ogaden was by all accounts decisive in altering a war that Ethiopia was on the brink of losing into a victory.{{sfn|Brogan|1989|pp=31–34}} |
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During [[2004]], there was further speculation about the state of Castro's health. 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. [http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/americas/01/14/castro.health.ap/] 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. [http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/05/18/1084783511071.html?oneclick=true] |
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After forcing back the Somalis, Mengistu then ordered the Ethiopians to suppress the [[Eritrean People's Liberation Front]], a measure Castro refused to support.{{sfnm|1a1=Bourne|1y=1986|1pp=291–292|2a1=Quirk|2y=1993|2pp=761–765, 776–781|3a1=Coltman|3y=2003|3p=245}} Castro extended support to Latin American revolutionary movements, namely the [[Sandinista National Liberation Front]] in its overthrow of the Nicaraguan rightist government of [[Anastasio Somoza Debayle]] in July 1979.{{sfn|Coltman|2003|p=249}} Castro's critics accused the government of wasting Cuban lives in these military endeavours; the anti-Castro [[Center for a Free Cuba]] has claimed that an estimated 14,000 Cubans were killed in foreign Cuban military actions.<ref>{{cite web |last=O'Grady |first=Mary Anastasia |date=30 October 2005 |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB113590852154334404 |title=Counting Castro's Victims |work=The Wall Street Journal |access-date=11 February 2015 |archive-date=11 February 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150211211043/http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB113590852154334404 |url-status=live }}</ref> When American critics claimed that Castro had no right to interfere in these nations, he countered that Cuba had been invited into them, pointing out the US's own involvement in various foreign nations.{{sfn|Quirk|1993|p=759}} Between 1979 and 1991 about 370,000 Cuban troops together with 50,000 Cuban civilians (mostly teachers and doctors) served in Angola, representing about 5% of Cuba's population.<ref name="Vines">{{cite web |last1=Vines |first1=Alex |title=Fidel Castro's Greatest Legacy in Africa Is in Angola |url=https://www.chathamhouse.org/2016/12/fidel-castros-greatest-legacy-africa-angola |website=Chatham House |date=6 December 2016 |access-date=24 October 2020 |archive-date=27 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201027011702/https://www.chathamhouse.org/2016/12/fidel-castros-greatest-legacy-africa-angola |url-status=live }}</ref> The Cuban intervention in Angola was envisioned as a short-term commitment, but the Angolan government used the profits from the oil industry to subsidize Cuba's economy, making Cuba as economically dependent upon Angola as Angola was militarily dependent upon Cuba.<ref name="Vines"/> |
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On [[October 20]], [[2004]], Castro fell off a stage following a speech he gave at a rally. The fall fractured his knee and arm. He underwent three hours of surgery to repair his kneecap. Following his fall, Castro wrote a letter that was read on Cuban television and published in newspapers. In it, he assured the public that he was fine and would "not lose contact with you". [http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/9993023.htm?1c] A government statement added: "His general health is good, and spirits are excellent." Asked if he wished Castro a speedy recovery, [[United States Department of State|U.S. State Department]] spokesman [[Richard A. Boucher|Richard Boucher]] responded "no," and urged for a change in Cuban leadership. |
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In the late 1970s, Cuba's relations with North American states improved during the period with Mexican president [[Luis Echeverría]], Canadian prime minister [[Pierre Trudeau]],{{sfnm|1a1=Quirk|1y=1993|1pp=750–751|2a1=Coltman|2y=2003|2pp=244–245}} and US president [[Jimmy Carter]] in power. Carter continued criticizing Cuba's human rights abuses but adopted a respectful approach which gained Castro's attention. Considering Carter well-meaning and sincere, Castro freed certain political prisoners and allowed some Cuban exiles to visit relatives on the island, hoping that in turn Carter would abolish the economic embargo and stop CIA support for militant dissidents.{{sfnm|1a1=Bourne|1y=1986|1p=289|2a1=Quirk|2y=1993|2pp=756–759, 769, 771|3a1=Coltman|3y=2003|3pp=247–248}} Conversely, his relationship with China declined, as he accused [[Deng Xiaoping]]'s Chinese government of betraying their revolutionary principles by initiating trade links with the US and [[Sino-Vietnamese War|attacking Vietnam]].{{sfn|Quirk|1993|pp=793–794}} In 1979, the Conference of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) was held in Havana, where Castro was selected as NAM president, a position he held until 1982. In his capacity as both president of the NAM and of Cuba he appeared at the United Nations General Assembly in October 1979 and gave a speech on the disparity between the world's rich and poor. His speech was greeted with much applause from other world leaders,{{sfnm|1a1=Bourne|1y=1986|1p=294|2a1=Quirk|2y=1993|2pp=782–783, 798–802|3a1=Coltman|3y=2003|3p=245}} though his standing in NAM was damaged by Cuba's refusal to condemn the [[Afghan–Soviet War|Soviet intervention in Afghanistan]].{{sfn|Bourne|1986|p=294}} |
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By November, Castro surprised many when he suddenly stood up from his wheelchair during a state visit by Chinese President Hu Jintao, leaning on a metal cane with an arm support. The following month, he stood unassisted for several minutes during a visit by Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez. |
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===Reagan and Gorbachev: 1980–1991=== |
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Finally, cheered by hundreds of lawmakers, a smiling Fidel Castro walked in public for the first time since shattering his kneecap in the fall after only two months. Legislators looked stunned, then smiled and applauded, when Cuba's 78-year-old president entered the main auditorium of the Convention Palace on the arm of a uniformed schoolgirl to attend a year-end National Assembly meeting. |
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[[File:Fidel Castro, Havana, 1978 (9609361).jpg|thumb|Castro speaking in Havana, 1978]] |
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By the 1980s, Cuba's economy was again in trouble, following a decline in the market price of sugar and 1979's decimated harvest.{{sfnm|1a1=Quirk|1y=1993|1pp=754–755, 804|2a1=Coltman|2y=2003|2p=250|3a1=Gott|3y=2004|3p=288}} For the first time, unemployment became a serious problem in Castro's Cuba, with the government sending unemployed youth to other countries, primarily East Germany, to work there.{{sfn|Quirk|1993|pp=804, 816}} Desperate for money, Cuba's government secretly sold off paintings from national collections and illicitly traded for US electronic goods through Panama.{{sfn|Coltman|2003|p=255}} Increasing numbers of Cubans fled to Florida but were labelled "scum" and "[[lumpenproletariat|lumpen]]" by Castro and his CDR supporters.{{sfnm|1a1=Quirk|1y=1993|1p=808|2a1=Coltman|2y=2003|2pp=250–251}} In one incident, 10,000 Cubans stormed the Peruvian Embassy requesting asylum, and so the US agreed that it would accept 3,500 refugees. Castro conceded that those who wanted to leave could do so from Mariel port. In what was known as the [[Mariel boatlift]], hundreds of boats arrived from the US, leading to a mass exodus of 120,000; Castro's government took advantage of the situation by loading criminals, the mentally ill, and homosexuals onto the boats destined for Florida.{{sfnm|1a1=Bourne|1y=1986|1p=295|2a1=Quirk|2y=1993|2pp=807–810|3a1=Coltman|3y=2003|3pp=251–252}} The event destabilized Carter's administration, and later, in 1980, [[Ronald Reagan]] was elected US president. |
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Reagan's administration adopted a hard-line approach against Castro, making its desire to overthrow his regime clear.{{sfnm|1a1=Bourne|1y=1986|1p=296|2a1=Quirk|2y=1993|2pp=810–815|3a1=Coltman|3y=2003|3p=252}} In late 1981, Castro publicly accused the US of biological warfare against Cuba by orchestrating a [[dengue fever]] epidemic.{{sfnm|1a1=Quirk|1y=1993|1pp=812–813|2a1=Coltman|2y=2003|2p=252}} Cuba's economy became even more dependent on Soviet aid, with Soviet subsidies (mainly in the form of supplies of low-cost oil and voluntarily buying Cuban sugar at inflated prices) averaging $4–5 billion a year by the late 1980s.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Farnsworth |first1=Clyde H. |last2=Times |first2=Special To the New York |title=Soviet Said to Reduce Support for Cuban Economy |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1988/03/16/world/soviet-said-to-reduce-support-for-cuban-economy.html |access-date=23 May 2021 |work=The New York Times |date=16 March 1988 |archive-date=6 July 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210706202403/https://www.nytimes.com/1988/03/16/world/soviet-said-to-reduce-support-for-cuban-economy.html |url-status=live }}</ref> This accounted for 30–38% of the country's entire GDP.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.MKTP.CD?locations=CU|title=GDP (current US$) – Data|publisher=World Bank|access-date=4 March 2019|archive-date=14 April 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190414034818/https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.MKTP.CD?locations=CU|url-status=live}}</ref> Soviet economic assistance had not helped Cuba's long-term growth prospects by promoting diversification or sustainability. Although described as a "relatively highly developed Latin American export economy" in 1959 and the early 1960s, Cuba's basic economic structure changed very little between then and the 1980s. Tobacco products such as cigars and cigarettes were the only manufactured products among Cuba's leading exports and were produced using an expensive and labor-intensive pre-industrial process. The Cuban economy remained highly inefficient and over-specialized in a few highly subsidized commodities exported primarily to the [[Soviet bloc]] countries.<ref>''The Economic Impact of U.S. Sanctions With Respect to Cuba''. United States International Trade Commission, Publication 3398. Washington D.C., February 2001. Citing ECLAC, ''La Economia Cubana'', p. 217; IMF, ''Direction of Trade Statistics Yearbook'', various editions; and EIU, ''Cuba, Annual Supplement, 1980'', p.22.</ref> |
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Because of his larger than life role in Cuba, his well-being has become a continual source of speculation, both on and off the island, as he has grown older. Castro's quick recovery from breaking his left kneecap into eight pieces was likely to dampen the latest round of rumors questioning his health. |
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Although despising Argentina's [[National Reorganization Process|right-wing military junta]], Castro supported them in the 1982 [[Falklands War]] against Britain and offered military aid to the Argentinians.{{sfn|Coltman|2003|p=253}} Castro supported the leftist [[New Jewel Movement]] that seized power in [[People's Revolutionary Government|Grenada]] in 1979, befriending Grenadine president [[Maurice Bishop]] and sending doctors, teachers, and technicians to aid the country's development. When Bishop was executed in a Soviet-backed coup by hard-line Marxist [[Bernard Coard]] in October 1983, Castro condemned the killing but cautiously retained support for Grenada's government. However, the US used the coup as a basis for [[United States invasion of Grenada|invading the island]]. Cuban soldiers died in the conflict, with Castro denouncing the invasion and comparing the US to [[Nazi Germany]].{{sfnm|1a1=Bourne|1y=1986|1p=297|2a1=Quirk|2y=1993|2pp=819–822|3a1=Coltman|3y=2003|3pp=253–254}} In a July 1983 speech marking the 30th anniversary of the Cuban Revolution, Castro condemned Reagan's administration as a "reactionary, extremist clique" who were waging an "openly warmongering and fascist foreign policy".{{sfn|Quirk|1993|p=818}} Castro feared a [[CIA activities in Nicaragua|US invasion of Nicaragua]] and sent Ochoa to train the governing [[Sandinistas]] in guerrilla warfare but received little support from the USSR.{{sfn|Coltman|2003|pp=254–255}} |
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In 2005 ''[[Forbes]]'' magazine listed Castro among the world's richest people, with an estimated net worth of $550 million. As a result Castro is considering filing a lawsuit against the magazine, saying the accusations are false and the article was meant to defame him. |
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In 1985, [[Mikhail Gorbachev]] became Secretary-General of the Soviet Communist Party; a reformer, he implemented measures to increase freedom of the press (''[[glasnost]]'') and economic decentralization (''[[perestroika]]'') in an attempt to strengthen socialism. Like many orthodox Marxist critics, Castro feared that the reforms would weaken the socialist state and allow capitalist elements to regain control.{{sfnm|1a1=Quirk|1y=1993|1p=826|2a1=Coltman|2y=2003|2p=256|3a1=Gott|3y=2004|3p=273}} Gorbachev conceded to US demands to reduce support for Cuba,{{sfn|Coltman|2003|p=256}} with Soviet-Cuban relations deteriorating.{{sfn|Coltman|2003|p=257}} On medical advice given him in October 1985, Castro gave up regularly smoking [[Cuban cigar]]s, helping to set an example for the rest of the populace.{{sfn|Coltman|2003|p=224}} Castro became passionate in his denunciation of the Third World debt problem, arguing that the Third World would never escape the debt that First World banks and governments imposed upon it. In 1985, Havana hosted five international conferences on the world debt problem.{{sfn|Coltman|2003|p=255}} |
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<center> |
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<table border="1"> |
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<tr> |
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<td width="30%" align="center">'''Preceded by''':<br> |
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[[Osvaldo Dorticós Torrado]]</td> |
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<td width="40%" align="center">[[List of Presidents of Cuba|President of Cuba]]</td> |
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<td width="30%" align="center">'''Succeeded by''':<br> [[Raúl Castro|Raul Castro (designated)]]</td> |
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</tr> |
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</table> |
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</center> |
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[[File:Lobito Lighthouse 1995.jpg|thumb|Castro's image painted onto a now-destroyed lighthouse in [[Lobito]], Angola, 1995]] |
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==See also== |
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By November 1987, Castro began spending more time on the Angolan Civil War, in which the Marxist MPLA government had fallen into retreat. Angolan president [[José Eduardo dos Santos]] successfully appealed for more Cuban troops, with Castro later admitting that he devoted more time to Angola than to the domestic situation, believing that a victory would lead to the collapse of apartheid. In response to the [[Battle of Cuito Cuanavale|siege of Cuito Cuanavale]] in 1987–1988 by South African–UNITA forces, Castro sent an additional 12,000 Cuban Army troops to Angola in late 1987.{{sfn|Brogan|1989|p=9}} From afar in Havana, Castro was closely involved in the decision-making about the defence of Cuito Cuanavle and came into conflict with Ochoa, whom he criticized for almost losing Cuito Cuanavle to a South African-UNITA assault on 13 January 1988 despite warning for almost two months prior that such an attack was coming.{{sfn|George|2004|p=220}} On 30 January 1988, Ochoa was summoned to a meeting with Castro in Havana where he was told that Cuito Cuanavale must not fall and to execute Castro's plans for a pull-back to more defensible positions over the objections of the Angolans.{{sfn|George|2004|p=221}} The Cuban troops played a decisive role in the relief of Cuito Cuanavale, breaking the siege in March 1988, which led to the withdrawal of most of the South African troops from Angola.{{sfn|Brogan|1989|p=9}} Cuban propaganda turned the siege of Cuito Cuanavle into a decisive victory that changed the course of African history and Castro awarded 82 soldiers medals of the newly created Medal of Merit for the Defense of Cuito Cuanavle on 1 April 1988.{{sfn|George|2004|pp=234–235}} Tensions were increased with the Cubans advancing close to the border of Namibia, which led to warnings from the South African government that they considered this an extremely unfriendly act, causing South Africa to mobilize and call up its reserves.{{sfn|Brogan|1989|p=9}} In the spring of 1988, the intensity of South African-Cuban fighting drastically increased with both sides taking heavy losses.{{sfn|George|2004|pp=237–239}} |
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*[[List of national leaders]] |
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The prospect of an all-out Cuban-South African war served to concentrate minds in both Moscow and Washington and led to an increased push for a diplomatic solution to the Angolan war.{{sfn|Brogan|1989|p=9}} The cost of Cuba's wars in Africa were paid for with Soviet subsidies at a time when the Soviet economy was badly hurt by low oil prices while the apartheid government of South Africa had by the 1980s become a very awkward American ally as much of the American population, especially black Americans, objected to apartheid. From the viewpoint of both Moscow and Washington, having both Cuba and South Africa disengage in Angola was the best possible outcome.{{sfn|Brogan|1989|p=9}} The low oil prices of the 1980s had also changed the Angolan attitude about subsidizing the Cuban economy as dos Santos found the promises made in the 1970s when oil prices were high to be a serious drain upon Angola's economy in the 1980s.<ref name="Vines"/> South African whites were vastly outnumbered by South African blacks, and accordingly the South African Army could not take heavy losses with its white troops as that would fatally weaken the ability of the South African state to uphold apartheid.{{sfn|George|2004|p=234}} The Cubans had also taken heavy losses while the increasing difficult relations with dos Santos who become less generous in subsidizing the Cuban economy suggested that such losses were not worth the cost.{{sfn|George|2004|p=246}} Gorbachev called for a negotiated end to the conflict and in 1988 organized a quadripartite talk between the USSR, US, Cuba and South Africa; they agreed that all foreign troops would pull out of Angola while South Africa agreed to grant independence to Namibia. Castro was angered by Gorbachev's approach, believing that he was abandoning the plight of the world's poor in favour of détente.{{sfnm|1a1=Coltman|1y=2003|1pp=257–258|2a1=Gott|2y=2004|2pp=276–279}} |
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When Gorbachev visited Cuba in April 1989, he informed Castro that ''perestroika'' meant an end to subsidies for Cuba.{{sfnm|1a1=Quirk|1y=1993|1pp=827–828|2a1=Coltman|2y=2003|2pp=260–261|3a1=Gott|3y=2004|3p=276}} Ignoring calls for liberalization in accordance with the Soviet example, Castro continued to clamp down on internal dissidents and in particular kept tabs on the military, the primary threat to the government. A number of senior military officers, including Ochoa and [[Tony de la Guardia]], were investigated for corruption and complicity in cocaine smuggling, tried, and executed in 1989, despite calls for leniency.{{sfnm|1a1=Quirk|1y=1993|1pp=828–829|2a1=Coltman|2y=2003|2pp=258–266|3a1=Gott|3y=2004|3pp=279–286}} In Eastern Europe, socialist governments fell to capitalist reformers between 1989 and 1991 and many Western observers expected the same in Cuba.{{sfnm|1a1=Quirk|1y=1993|1p=830|2a1=Coltman|2y=2003|2p=277|3a1=Gott|3y=2004|3p=286}} Increasingly isolated, Cuba improved relations with [[Manuel Noriega]]'s right-wing government in Panama—despite Castro's personal hatred of Noriega—but it was overthrown in a US invasion in December 1989.{{sfnm|1a1=Coltman|1y=2003|1pp=267–268|2a1=Gott|2y=2004|2p=286}} In February 1990, Castro's allies in Nicaragua, President [[Daniel Ortega]] and the Sandinistas, were defeated by the US-funded [[National Opposition Union]] in an election.{{sfnm|1a1=Coltman|1y=2003|1pp=268–270|2a1=Gott|2y=2004|2p=286}} With the collapse of the Soviet bloc, the US secured a majority vote for a resolution condemning Cuba's human rights violations at the [[United Nations Human Rights Commission]] in Geneva, Switzerland. Cuba asserted that this was a manifestation of US hegemony and refused to allow an investigative delegation to enter the country.{{sfnm|1a1=Quirk|1y=1993|1p=831|2a1=Coltman|2y=2003|2pp=270–271}} |
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===Special Period: 1992–2000=== |
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{{Main|Special Period}} |
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{{Further|Dollarization of Cuba|Dual economy of Cuba}} |
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[[File:Cuba.FidelCastro.02.jpg|thumb|Castro in front of a Havana statue of Cuban national hero [[José Martí]] in 2003]] |
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With favourable trade from the Soviet bloc ended, Castro publicly declared that Cuba was entering a "[[Special Period in Time of Peace]]". Petrol rations were dramatically reduced, Chinese bicycles were imported to replace cars, and factories performing non-essential tasks were shut down. Oxen began to replace tractors; firewood began being used for cooking and electricity cuts were introduced that lasted 16 hours a day. Castro admitted that Cuba faced the worst situation short of open war, and that the country might have to resort to [[subsistence farming]].{{sfnm|1a1=Quirk|1y=1993|1pp=830–831|2a1=Balfour|2y=1995|2p=163|3a1=Coltman|3y=2003|3p=271|4a1=Gott|4y=2004|4pp=287–289}} By 1992, Cuba's economy had declined by over 40% in under two years, with major food shortages, widespread malnutrition and a lack of basic goods.{{sfnm|1a1=Coltman|1y=2003|1p=282|2a1=Gott|2y=2004|2p=288}} Castro hoped for a restoration of Marxism–Leninism in the USSR but refrained from backing the [[1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt|1991 coup in that country]].{{sfn|Coltman|2003|pp=274–275}} When Gorbachev regained control, Cuba-Soviet relations deteriorated further, and Soviet troops were withdrawn in September 1991.{{sfnm|1a1=Quirk|1y=1993|1pp=832–833|2a1=Coltman|2y=2003|2p=275}} In December, the [[Dissolution of the Soviet Union|Soviet Union was officially dissolved]] as [[Boris Yeltsin]] abolished the Soviet Communist Party and introducing a capitalist [[multiparty democracy]]. Yeltsin despised Castro and developed links with the Miami-based [[Cuban American National Foundation]].{{sfnm|1a1=Quirk|1y=1993|1p=832|2a1=Coltman|2y=2003|2pp=274–275}} Castro tried improving relations with the capitalist nations. He welcomed Western politicians and investors to Cuba, befriended [[Manuel Fraga]] and took a particular interest in [[Margaret Thatcher]]'s policies in the UK, believing that Cuban socialism could learn from her emphasis on low taxation and personal initiative.{{sfn|Coltman|2003|pp=290–291}} He ceased support for foreign militants, refrained from praising [[FARC]] on a 1994 visit to Colombia and called for a negotiated settlement between the [[Zapatista Army of National Liberation|Zapatistas]] and Mexican government in 1995. Publicly, he presented himself as a moderate on the world stage.{{sfn|Coltman|2003|pp=305–306}} |
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In 1991, Havana [[1991 Pan American Games|hosted]] the [[Pan American Games]], which involved construction of [[Estadio Panamericano, Havana|a stadium]] and accommodation for the athletes; Castro admitted that it was an expensive error, but it was a success for Cuba's government. Crowds regularly shouted "Fidel! Fidel!" in front of foreign journalists, while Cuba became the first Latin American nation to beat the US to the top of the gold-medal table.{{sfnm|1a1=Quirk|1y=1993|1pp=831–832|2a1=Coltman|2y=2003|2pp=272–273}} Support for Castro remained strong, and although there were small anti-government demonstrations, the Cuban opposition rejected the exile community's calls for an armed uprising.{{sfnm|1a1=Coltman|1y=2003|1pp=275–276|2a1=Gott|2y=2004|2p=314}} In August 1994, Havana witnessed the largest anti-Castro demonstration in Cuban history, as 200 to 300 young men threw stones at police, demanding that they be allowed to emigrate to Miami. A larger pro-Castro crowd confronted them, who were joined by Castro; he informed media that the men were anti-socials misled by the US. The protests dispersed with no recorded injuries.{{sfnm|1a1=Coltman|1y=2003|1pp=297–299|2a1=Gott|2y=2004|2pp=298–299}} Fearing that dissident groups would invade, the government organized the "War of All the People" defence strategy, planning a widespread guerrilla warfare campaign, and the unemployed were given jobs building a network of bunkers and tunnels across the country.{{sfnm|1a1=Coltman|1y=2003|1p=287|2a1=Gott|2y=2004|2pp=273–274}} |
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{{Quote box|width=25em|align=right|quote=We do not have a smidgen of capitalism or neo-liberalism. We are facing a world completely ruled by neo-liberalism and capitalism. This does not mean that we are going to surrender. It means that we have to adopt to the reality of that world. That is what we are doing, with great equanimity, without giving up our ideals, our goals. I ask you to have trust in what the government and party are doing. They are defending, to the last atom, socialist ideas, principles and goals.|source=– Fidel Castro explaining the reforms of the Special Period{{sfn|Coltman|2003|pp=291–292}} }} |
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Castro believed in the need for reform if Cuban socialism was to survive in a world now dominated by capitalist free markets. In October 1991, the Fourth Congress of the Cuban Communist Party was held in Santiago, at which a number of important changes to the government were announced. Castro would step down as head of government, to be replaced by the much younger [[Carlos Lage]], although Castro would remain the head of the Communist Party and commander-in-chief of the armed forces. Many older members of government were to be retired and replaced by their younger counterparts. A number of economic changes were proposed, and subsequently put to a national referendum. Free farmers' markets and small-scale private enterprises would be legalized in an attempt to stimulate economic growth, while US dollars were also made legal tender. Certain restrictions on emigration were eased, allowing more discontented Cuban citizens to move to the United States. Further democratization was to be brought in by having the National Assembly's members elected directly by the people, rather than through municipal and provincial assemblies. Castro welcomed debate between proponents and opponents of the [[Cuban economic reforms|economics reforms]]—although over time he began to increasingly sympathise with the opponent's positions, arguing that such reforms must be delayed.{{sfnm|1a1=Coltman|1y=2003|1pp=276–281, 284, 287|2a1=Gott|2y=2004|2pp=291–294}} |
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Castro's government diversified its economy into [[biotechnology]] and [[tourism in Cuba|tourism]], the latter outstripping Cuba's sugar industry as its primary source of revenue in 1995.{{sfnm|1a1=Quirk|1y=1993|1p=836|2a1=Coltman|2y=2003|2p=288|3a1=Gott|3y=2004|3pp=290, 322}} The arrival of thousands of Mexican and Spanish tourists led to increasing numbers of Cubans turning to prostitution; officially illegal, Castro refrained from cracking down on [[prostitution in Cuba]], fearing a political backlash.{{sfn|Coltman|2003|p=294}} Economic hardship led many Cubans toward religion, both in the form of [[Roman Catholicism]] and [[Santería]]. Although long thinking religious belief to be backward, Castro softened his approach to religious institutions and religious people were permitted for the first time to join the Communist Party.{{sfnm|1a1=Coltman|1y=2003|1pp=278, 294–295|2a1=Gott|2y=2004|2p=309}} Although he viewed the Roman Catholic Church as a reactionary, pro-capitalist institution, Castro organized a visit to Cuba by [[Pope John Paul II]] for January 1998; it strengthened the position of both the Cuban Church and Castro's government.{{sfnm|1a1=Coltman|1y=2003|1pp=309–311|2a1=Gott|2y=2004|2pp=306–310}} |
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In the early 1990s Castro embraced environmentalism, campaigning against [[global warming]] and the waste of natural resources and accusing the US of being the world's primary polluter.{{sfn|Coltman|2003|p=312}} In 1994 a ministry dedicated to the environment was established, and new laws established in 1997 that promoted awareness of environmental issues throughout Cuba and stressed the sustainable use of natural resources.{{sfnm|1a1=Whittle|1a2=Rey Santos|1y=2006|1p=77|2a1=Evenson|2y=2010|2pp=489, 502–503}} By 2006, Cuba was the world's only nation which met the [[United Nations Development Programme]]'s definition of sustainable development, with an [[ecological footprint]] of less than 1.8 hectares per capita and a [[Human Development Index]] of over 0.8.<ref>{{cite report |url=http://assets.panda.org/downloads/living_planet_report.pdf |publisher=World Wildlife Fund |title=Living Planet Report 2006 |year=2006 |page=19 |access-date=25 June 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180821060851/http://assets.panda.org/downloads/living_planet_report.pdf |archive-date=21 August 2018 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Castro also became a proponent of the [[anti-globalization]] movement, criticizing US global hegemony and the control exerted by [[multinational corporation|multinationals]].{{sfn|Coltman|2003|p=312}} Castro maintained his strong stance [[Foreign relations of South Africa during apartheid|against apartheid]], and at the 26 July celebrations in 1991, he was joined onstage by [[Nelson Mandela]], recently released from prison. Mandela praised Cuba's involvement in battling South Africa during the Angolan Civil War and thanked Castro personally.{{sfnm|1a1=Coltman|1y=2003|1p=283|2a1=Gott|2y=2004|2p=279}} Castro later attended Mandela's inauguration as President of South Africa in 1994.{{sfn|Coltman|2003|p=304}} In 2001, Castro attended the Conference Against Racism in South Africa at which he lectured on the global spread of racial stereotypes through US film.{{sfn|Coltman|2003|p=312}} |
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===Pink tide: 2000–2006=== |
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[[File:Lula anda Castro9822.jpeg|thumb|Castro meeting with Brazilian president [[Lula da Silva]], a significant "[[Pink Tide]]" leader]] |
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Mired in economic problems, Cuba was aided by [[1998 Venezuelan presidential election|the election]] of [[Hugo Chávez]] to the Venezuelan Presidency in 1999. Castro and Chávez developed a close friendship, with the former acting as a mentor and father-figure to the latter,{{sfnm|1a1=Azicri|1y=2009|1p=100|2a1=Márquez|2a2=Sanabria|2y=2018|2p=138}} and together they built an alliance that had repercussions throughout Latin America.{{sfn|Azicri|2009|p=100}} In 2000, they signed an agreement through which Cuba would send 20,000 medics to Venezuela, in return receiving 53,000 barrels of oil per day at preferential rates; in 2004, this trade was stepped up, with Cuba sending 40,000 medics and Venezuela providing 90,000 barrels a day.{{sfnm|1a1=Marcano|1a2=Barrera Tyszka|1y=2007|1pp=213–215}}<ref>{{cite news |
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|last = Morris |
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|first = Ruth |
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|date = 18 December 2005 |
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|url = https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/sun_sentinel/access/943180711.html?dids=943180711:943180711&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&date=Dec+18%2C+2005&author=Ruth+Morris+Havana+Bureau&pub=South+Florida+Sun+-+Sentinel&edition=&startpage=1.A&desc=CUBA%27S+DOCTORS+RESUSCITATE+ECONOMY+AID+MISSIONS+MAKE+MONEY%2C+NOT+JUST+ALLIES |
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|title = Cuba's Doctors Resuscitate Economy Aid Missions Make Money, Not Just Allies |
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|work = [[Sun-Sentinel]] |
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|access-date = 28 December 2006 |
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|archive-date = 1 October 2007 |
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|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20071001003849/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/sun_sentinel/access/943180711.html?dids=943180711%3A943180711&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS%3AFT&date=Dec+18%2C+2005&author=Ruth+Morris+Havana+Bureau&pub=South+Florida+Sun+-+Sentinel&edition=&startpage=1.A&desc=CUBA%27S+DOCTORS+RESUSCITATE+ECONOMY+AID+MISSIONS+MAKE+MONEY%2C+NOT+JUST+ALLIES |
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|url-status = dead |
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}}</ref> Some economic problems remained; in 2004, Castro shut down 118 factories, including steel plants, sugar mills and paper processors to compensate for a critical shortage of fuel.<ref>{{cite news |date=30 September 2004 |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/3702784.stm |title=Cuba to shut plants to save power |work=[[BBC News]] |access-date=20 May 2006 |archive-date=26 February 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080226193908/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/3702784.stm |url-status=live }}</ref> In September 2005, Castro established a group of medical professionals, known as the [[Henry Reeve Brigade]], with the mission of international medical solidarity. The group were sent throughout the world to carry out humanitarian missions on behalf of the Cuban government.<ref>{{cite web |title=Misión Henry Reeve:: Fidel soldado de las ideas |url=http://www.fidelcastro.cu/es/internacionalismo/mision-henry-reeve |website=fidelcastro.cu |access-date=17 October 2020 |archive-date=5 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201005015747/http://www.fidelcastro.cu/es/internacionalismo/mision-henry-reeve |url-status=live }}</ref> |
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Cuba and Venezuela were the founding members of the [[ALBA|Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas]] (ALBA).{{sfn|Azicri|2009|p=100}} ALBA's origins lay in a December 2004 agreement signed between the two countries and was formalized through a People's Trade Agreement also signed by [[Evo Morales]]' Bolivia in April 2006. Castro had also been calling for greater Caribbean integration since the late 1990s, saying that only strengthened cooperation between Caribbean countries would prevent their domination by rich nations in a global economy.<ref>{{cite news|date = 21 August 1998|url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/156312.stm|title = Castro calls for Caribbean unity|work = BBC News|access-date = 21 May 2006|archive-date = 26 February 2008|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080226193936/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/156312.stm|url-status = live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|date = 25 August 1998|url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/156756.stm|title = Castro finds new friends|work = BBC News|access-date = 21 May 2006|archive-date = 26 February 2008|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080226193900/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/156756.stm|url-status = live}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite news|date = 13 March 2006|url = http://www.caribbeannewsnow.com/caribnet/cgi-script/csArticles/articles/000008/000823.htm|title = Cuba opens more Caribbean embassies|publisher = Caribbean Net News|access-date = 11 May 2006|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120118173203/http://www.caribbeannewsnow.com/caribnet/cgi-script/csArticles/articles/000008/000823.htm|archive-date = 18 January 2012|url-status=dead}}</ref> |
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[[File:Fidel Castro 1. Mai 2005 bei Kundgebung.jpg|thumb|Castro amid cheering crowds in 2005]] |
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In contrast to the improved relations between Cuba and a number of leftist Latin American states, in 2004 it broke off diplomatic ties with Panama after centrist President [[Mireya Moscoso]] pardoned four Cuban exiles accused of attempting to assassinate Castro in 2000. Diplomatic ties were reinstalled in 2005 following the election of leftist President [[Martín Torrijos]].<ref name="Cuba and Panama restore relations">{{cite news |date=21 August 2005 |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4170374.stm |title=Cuba and Panama restore relations |work=BBC News |access-date=21 May 2006 |first=Stephen |last=Gibbs |archive-date=23 November 2005 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051123040728/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4170374.stm |url-status=live }}</ref> |
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Castro's improving relations across Latin America were accompanied by continuing animosity towards the US. However, after massive damage caused by [[Hurricane Michelle]] in 2001, Castro successfully proposed a one-time cash purchase of food from the US while declining its government's offer of humanitarian aid.<ref>{{cite news |date=17 November 2001 |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/1662346.stm |title=Castro welcomes one-off US trade |work=BBC News |access-date=19 May 2006 |archive-date=21 December 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071221112312/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/1662346.stm |url-status=live }}; {{cite news|date=16 December 2001|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/1714776.stm|title=US food arrives in Cuba|work=BBC News|access-date=19 May 2006|archive-date=25 June 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060625160852/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/1714776.stm|url-status=live}}</ref> Castro expressed solidarity with the US following the 2001 [[September 11 attacks]], condemning [[Al-Qaeda]] and offering Cuban airports for the emergency diversion of any US planes. He recognized that the attacks would make US foreign policy more aggressive, which he believed was counterproductive.{{sfn|Coltman|2003|p=320}} Castro criticized the [[2003 invasion of Iraq]], saying that the US-led war had imposed an international "law of the jungle".<ref>"[http://www.foxnews.com/story/2003/12/23/castro-kuwait-iraq-invasions-both-mistakes.html Castro: Kuwait, Iraq Invasions Both Mistakes] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161126195013/http://www.foxnews.com/story/2003/12/23/castro-kuwait-iraq-invasions-both-mistakes.html |date=26 November 2016 }}". Fox News. 23 December 2003.</ref> |
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Meanwhile, in 1998, Canadian prime minister [[Jean Chrétien]] arrived in Cuba to meet Castro and highlight their close ties. He was the first Canadian government leader to visit the island since Pierre Trudeau was in Havana in 1976.<ref>{{cite news |date=20 April 1998 |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/80546.stm |title=Canadian PM visits Fidel in April |work=BBC News |access-date=21 May 2006 |archive-date=26 February 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080226193952/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/80546.stm |url-status=live }}</ref> In 2002, former US president Jimmy Carter visited Cuba, where he highlighted the lack of civil liberties in the country and urged the government to pay attention to the [[Varela Project]] of [[Oswaldo Payá]].{{sfn|Skierka|2006|p=xvi}} |
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==Final years== |
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===Stepping down: 2006–2008=== |
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Castro underwent surgery for intestinal bleeding, and on 31 July 2006, [[2006–2008 Cuban transfer of presidential duties|delegated his presidential]] duties to Raúl Castro.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/latin_america/july-dec06/castro_08-01.html |title=Reaction Mixed to Castro's Turnover of Power |publisher=PBS |date=1 August 2006 |access-date=27 August 2017 |archive-date=19 January 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140119011235/http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/latin_america/july-dec06/castro_08-01.html |url-status=dead }}; {{cite web |url=http://www.juventudrebelde.co.cu/cuba/2011-03-22/my-shoes-are-too-tight/ |title=My Shoes Are Too Tight |author=Castro, Fidel |publisher=Juventud Rebelde |date=22 March 2011 |access-date=14 April 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110427023625/http://www.juventudrebelde.co.cu/cuba/2011-03-22/my-shoes-are-too-tight/ |archive-date=27 April 2011 }}; {{cite news |url=http://articles.cnn.com/2011-03-22/world/cuba.castro.party_1_raul-castro-cuban-people-cuba-plans? |title=Castro says he resigned as Communist Party chief 5 years ago |publisher=CNN |date=22 March 2011 |access-date=14 April 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110415064631/http://articles.cnn.com/2011-03-22/world/cuba.castro.party_1_raul-castro-cuban-people-cuba-plans |archive-date=15 April 2011 }}</ref> In February 2007, Raúl announced that Fidel's health was improving and that he was taking part in important issues of government.<ref>{{cite web |title=Acting president Raul Castro says brother Fidel getting better |agency=Associated Press |publisher=CBC News |date=9 February 2007 |url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/acting-president-raul-castro-says-brother-fidel-getting-better-1.670123 |access-date=17 November 2016 |archive-date=18 November 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161118020514/http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/acting-president-raul-castro-says-brother-fidel-getting-better-1.670123 |url-status=live }}</ref> Later that month, Fidel called into Hugo Chávez's radio show ''[[Aló Presidente]]''.<ref>{{cite news |last=Pretel |first=Enrique Andres |date=28 February 2007 |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN27428997 |title=Cuba's Castro says recovering, sounds stronger |work=Reuters |access-date=28 April 2012 |archive-date=26 July 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120726090144/http://www.reuters.com/article/2007/02/28/idUSN27428997 |url-status=live }}</ref> On 21 April, Castro met [[Wu Guanzheng]] of the [[Chinese Communist Party]]'s [[Politburo Standing Committee of the Communist Party of China|Politburo Standing Committee]],<ref>{{cite news | url =http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6578539.stm | title =Castro resumes official business | work =BBC News | access-date =21 April 2007 | date =21 April 2007 | archive-date =22 January 2010 | archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20100122050927/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6578539.stm | url-status =live }}</ref> with Chávez visiting in August,{{sfn|Marcano|Barrera Tyszka|2007|p=287}} and Morales in September.{{sfn|Sivak|2010|p=52}} That month, the Non-Aligned Movement held its 14th Summit in Havana, there agreeing to appoint Castro as the organization's president for a year's term.<ref>{{cite news |date=16 September 2006 |title=Castro elected President of Non-Aligned Movement Nations |publisher=People's News Daily |url=http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/200609/16/eng20060916_303402.html |access-date=8 December 2013 |archive-date=7 October 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121007163113/http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/200609/16/eng20060916_303402.html |url-status=live }}</ref> |
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Commenting on Castro's recovery, US president [[George W. Bush]] said: "One day the good Lord will take Fidel Castro away." Hearing about this, the [[atheist]] Castro replied: "Now I understand why I survived Bush's plans and the plans of other presidents who ordered my assassination: the good Lord protected me." The quote was picked up on by the world's media.<ref>{{cite news | date =28 June 2007 | url =https://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSN2834938420070629 | title =Bush wishes Cuba's Castro would disappear | work =Reuters | access-date =1 July 2007 | archive-date =10 January 2008 | archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20080110103131/http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSN2834938420070629 | url-status =live }}</ref> |
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In a February 2008 letter, Castro announced that he would not accept the positions of President of the Council of State and Commander in Chief at that month's National Assembly meetings,<ref>{{cite news|author=Castro, Fidel|title=Message from the Commander in Chief|url=http://www.cuba.cu/gobierno/discursos/2008/esp/f180208e.html|work=Diario Granma|publisher=Comité Central del Partido Comunista de Cuba|date=18 February 2008|access-date=20 May 2011|language=es|archive-date=20 August 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110820164635/http://www.cuba.cu/gobierno/discursos/2008/esp/f180208e.html|url-status=live}}; {{cite news|date = 18 February 2008|url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7252109.stm|title = Fidel Castro announces retirement|work = BBC News|access-date = 18 February 2008|archive-date = 22 November 2008|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20081122101026/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7252109.stm|url-status = live}}; {{cite news|date = 18 February 2008|url = http://africa.reuters.com/top/news/usnBAN929511.html|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090103110711/http://africa.reuters.com/top/news/usnBAN929511.html|archive-date = 3 January 2009|title = Fidel Castro stepping down as Cuba's leader|work = Reuters|url-status = dead|access-date = 18 February 2008}}</ref> remarking, "It would betray my conscience to take up a responsibility that requires mobility and total devotion, that I am not in a physical condition to offer".<ref>{{cite news |date =19 February 2008 |url =http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/7252109.stm |title =Fidel Castro announces retirement |work =BBC News |access-date =19 February 2008 |archive-date =15 January 2009 |archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20090115044622/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/7252109.stm |url-status =live }}</ref> On 24 February 2008, the [[National Assembly of People's Power]] unanimously voted Raúl as president.<ref>{{cite news|title=Raul Castro named Cuban president|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7261204.stm|work=BBC News|date=24 February 2008|access-date=24 February 2008|archive-date=22 June 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180622045408/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7261204.stm|url-status=live}}</ref> Describing his brother as "not substitutable", Raúl proposed that Fidel continue to be consulted on matters of great importance, a motion unanimously approved by the 597 National Assembly members.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=41321 |title=CUBA: Raúl Shares His Seat with Fidel |publisher=Inter Press Service |access-date=16 March 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110511102235/http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=41321 |archive-date=11 May 2011 }}</ref> |
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===Retirement and final years: 2008–2016=== |
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Following his retirement, Castro's health deteriorated; international press speculated that he had [[diverticulitis]], but Cuba's government refused to corroborate this.<ref name="Franks 2012">{{cite news |url=http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-cuba-castro-birthday-idUKBRE87B0HO20120812 |title=Fidel Castro to turn 86, but out of view since June |author=Franks, Jeff |work=Reuters |date=12 August 2012 |access-date=13 October 2012 |archive-date=8 August 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160808215726/http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-cuba-castro-birthday-idUKBRE87B0HO20120812 |url-status=live }}</ref> He continued to interact with the Cuban people, published an opinion column titled "Reflections" in ''Granma'', used a Twitter account, and gave occasional public lectures.<ref name="Franks 2012"/> In January 2009 Castro asked Cubans not to worry about his lack of recent news columns and failing health, and not to be disturbed by his future death.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/centralamericaandthecaribbean/cuba/4324128/Fidel-Castro-sends-farewell-message-to-his-people.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220110/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/centralamericaandthecaribbean/cuba/4324128/Fidel-Castro-sends-farewell-message-to-his-people.html |archive-date=10 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=Fidel Castro sends farewell message to his people |last=Govan|first=Fiona|date=23 January 2009|work=The Daily Telegraph |location=London |access-date=28 January 2009}}{{cbignore}}</ref> He continued meeting foreign leaders and dignitaries, and that month photographs were released of Castro's meeting with Argentine president [[Cristina Fernández]].<ref name="BBC 23Jan9">{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/7846670.stm|title=Fidel contemplates his mortality|date=23 January 2009|work=BBC News|access-date=28 January 2009|archive-date=17 February 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090217014939/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/7846670.stm|url-status=live}}</ref> |
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[[File:Enrique Peña Nieto y Fidel Castro.jpg|thumb|Castro with Mexican president [[Enrique Peña Nieto]], January 2014; even in retirement, Castro continued his involvement with politics and international affairs.]] |
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In July 2010, he made his first public appearance since falling ill, greeting science center workers and giving a television interview to ''[[Mesa Redonda Internacional|Mesa Redonda]]'' in which he discussed US tensions with Iran and North Korea.<ref>{{cite news |title=Cuba's Fidel Castro makes rare state TV appearance |date=13 July 2010 |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/10606890 |access-date=20 June 2018 |archive-date=21 December 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181221072241/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/10606890 |url-status=live }}</ref> On 7 August 2010, Castro gave his first speech to the National Assembly in four years, urging the US not to take military actions against those nations and warning of a [[nuclear holocaust]].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/08/07/AR2010080702549.html |title=Fidel Castro warns of nuclear risk in 1st speech to Cuban parliament in 4 years |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=8 August 2010 |access-date=16 March 2011 |first=Will |last=Weissert |archive-date=29 April 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110429070010/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/08/07/AR2010080702549.html |url-status=live }}; [https://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/08/world/americas/08cuba.html "Fidel Castro Addresses Parliament on Iran Issue"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170627085849/http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/08/world/americas/08cuba.html |date=27 June 2017 }}. ''The New York Times''. 8 August 2010. Retrieved 25 September 2011.</ref> When asked whether 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."<ref>[https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/mobile/world-latin-america-10903048 "Fidel Castro addresses parliament after four-year gap"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181023214224/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/mobile/world-latin-america-10903048 |date=23 October 2018 }}, BBC News, 7 August 2010. Retrieved 8 August 2010.</ref> |
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On 19 April 2011, Castro resigned from the Communist Party central committee,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.euronews.net/2011/04/19/fidel-quits-communist-party-leadership-as-cuba-looks-to-reform/|title=Fidel quits Communist Party leadership as Cuba looks to reform|publisher=Euronews.net|date=19 April 2011|access-date=19 April 2011|archive-date=23 April 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110423031134/http://www.euronews.net/2011/04/19/fidel-quits-communist-party-leadership-as-cuba-looks-to-reform/|url-status=dead}}</ref> thus stepping down as [[First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba|First Secretary]]. Raúl was selected as his successor.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-cuba-congress-idUKTRE73I3GQ20110419|title=Cuban communists opt for old guard to lead reforms|work=Reuters|date=19 April 2011|access-date=20 April 2011|archive-date=7 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160307164958/http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-cuba-congress-idUKTRE73I3GQ20110419|url-status=live}}</ref> Now without any official role in the country's government, he took on the role of an elder [[leader|statesman]]. In March 2011, Castro condemned the [[2011 military intervention in Libya|NATO-led military intervention in Libya]].<ref>"[http://edition.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/americas/03/03/cuba.castro.libya/ Castro condemns NATO's 'inevitable' war on Libya] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161127022215/http://edition.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/americas/03/03/cuba.castro.libya/ |date=27 November 2016 }}". CNN News. 3 March 2011.</ref> In March 2012, [[Pope Benedict XVI]] visited Cuba for three days, during which time he briefly met with Castro despite the Pope's vocal opposition to Cuba's government.<ref name="Franks 2012"/><ref>{{cite news |url=http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-pope-cuba-fidel-idUKBRE82R14Q20120328 |title=Pope meets Cuba's Fidel Castro, slams US embargo |author1=Pullella, Philip |author2=Franks, Jeff |work=Reuters |date=29 March 2012 |access-date=13 October 2012 |archive-date=22 September 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230922145023/https://www.reuters.com/?edition-redirect=uk |url-status=live }}</ref> Later that year it was revealed that along with Hugo Chávez, Castro had played a significant behind-the-scenes role in orchestrating peace talks between the Colombian government and the far left FARC guerrilla movement to end the conflict which had raged since 1964.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/oct/13/fidel-castro-hugo-chavez-colombia-farc-talks |title=Fidel Castro and Hugo Chávez played role in Colombia's peace talks with Farc |author=Beaumont, Peter |work=The Observer |date=13 October 2012 |access-date=13 October 2012 |location=London |archive-date=4 September 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130904050937/http://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/oct/13/fidel-castro-hugo-chavez-colombia-farc-talks |url-status=live }}</ref> During the [[North Korea crisis (2013)|North Korea crisis of 2013]], he urged both the North Korean and US governments to show restraint. Calling the situation "incredible and absurd", he maintained that war would not benefit either side, and that it represented "one of the gravest risks of nuclear war" since the Cuban missile crisis.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/apr/05/fidel-castro-north-korea-nuclear-war-warning | location=London | work=The Guardian | title=Fidel Castro to North Korea: nuclear war will benefit no one | date=5 April 2013 | access-date=17 November 2016 | archive-date=24 June 2013 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130624190556/http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/apr/05/fidel-castro-north-korea-nuclear-war-warning | url-status=live }}</ref> |
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In December 2014, Castro was awarded the Chinese [[Confucius Peace Prize]] for seeking peaceful solutions to his nation's conflict with the US and for his post-retirement efforts to prevent nuclear war.<ref>{{cite news |title=Fidel Castro awarded China's Confucius Peace Prize |date=22 December 2014 |agency=Associated Press |url=http://bigstory.ap.org/article/06aef4345e0441c3b6abe40f89327495/fidel-castro-awarded-chinas-confucius-peace-prize |access-date=17 November 2016 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141228175349/http://bigstory.ap.org/article/06aef4345e0441c3b6abe40f89327495/fidel-castro-awarded-chinas-confucius-peace-prize |archive-date=28 December 2014 }}; {{cite news |title=Fidel Castro Wins Confucius Peace Prize |date=11 December 2014 |work=Chian Digital Times |url=http://chinadigitaltimes.net/2014/12/castro-wins-confucius-peace-prize-xi-russias-person-year/ |access-date=17 November 2016 |archive-date=15 November 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161115114052/http://chinadigitaltimes.net/2014/12/castro-wins-confucius-peace-prize-xi-russias-person-year/ |url-status=live }}</ref> In January 2015, he publicly commented on the "[[Cuban Thaw]]", an increased normalization between Cuba-US relations, by stating that while it was a positive move for establishing peace in the region, he mistrusted the US government.<ref>{{cite news |title=Fidel Castro appears to lend support to Cuba talks with U.S. |author=Daniel Trotta |date=26 January 2015 |work=Reuters |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-cuba-usa-idUSKBN0L005P20150127 |access-date=17 November 2016 |archive-date=18 September 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150918201903/http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/01/27/us-cuba-usa-idUSKBN0L005P20150127 |url-status=live }}</ref> He did not meet with US president [[Barack Obama]] on the latter's visit to Cuba in March 2016, although sent him a letter stating that Cuba "has no need of gifts from the empire".<ref>{{cite news |title=Fidel Castro writes caustic note to Obama after Cuba visit |date=28 March 2016 |publisher=Deutsche Welle |url=http://www.dw.com/en/fidel-castro-writes-caustic-note-to-obama-after-cuba-visit/a-19146619 |access-date=17 November 2016 |archive-date=1 December 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161201133852/http://www.dw.com/en/fidel-castro-writes-caustic-note-to-obama-after-cuba-visit/a-19146619 |url-status=live }}</ref> That April, he gave his most extensive public appearance in many years when addressing the Communist Party. Highlighting that he was soon to turn 90 years old, he noted that he would die in the near future but urged those assembled to retain their communist ideals.<ref>{{cite news |title=Fidel Castro gives his 'last' party address |date=19 April 2016 |publisher=Deutsche Welle |url=http://www.dw.com/en/fidel-castro-gives-his-last-party-address/a-19199782 |access-date=17 November 2016 |archive-date=1 November 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161101063015/http://www.dw.com/en/fidel-castro-gives-his-last-party-address/a-19199782 |url-status=live }}</ref> In September 2016, Castro was visited at his Havana home by the Iranian president [[Hassan Rouhani]],<ref>{{cite news |title=Iran: Hassan Rouhani meets with Cuban leader Fidel Castro during one-day state visit in Havana |newspaper=[[The Indian Express]] |date=20 September 2016 |url=http://indianexpress.com/article/world/world-news/iran-hassan-rouhani-meets-with-fidel-castro-during-one-day-state-visit-in-havana-3040241/ |access-date=17 November 2016 |archive-date=25 October 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161025230459/http://indianexpress.com/article/world/world-news/iran-hassan-rouhani-meets-with-fidel-castro-during-one-day-state-visit-in-havana-3040241/ |url-status=live }}</ref> and later that month was visited by Japanese prime minister [[Shinzo Abe]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Japan's Shinzo Abe meets Fidel Castro, discusses North Korea |publisher=Deutsche Welle |date=23 September 2016 |url=http://www.dw.com/en/japans-shinzo-abe-meets-fidel-castro-discusses-north-korea/a-19569562 |access-date=17 November 2016 |archive-date=26 November 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161126145600/http://www.dw.com/en/japans-shinzo-abe-meets-fidel-castro-discusses-north-korea/a-19569562 |url-status=live }}</ref> In late October 2016, Castro met with the Portuguese president [[Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa]], who became one of the last foreign leaders to meet him.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://tvi24.iol.pt/politica/marcelo-rebelo-de-sousa/marcelo-foi-um-dos-ultimos-lideres-a-estar-com-fidel-castro|title=Marcelo foi um dos últimos líderes a estar com Fidel Castro|date=26 November 2016|website=Tvi24|access-date=4 March 2019|archive-date=19 February 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190219102600/https://tvi24.iol.pt/politica/marcelo-rebelo-de-sousa/marcelo-foi-um-dos-ultimos-lideres-a-estar-com-fidel-castro/|url-status=live}}</ref> |
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===Death=== |
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{{Main|Death and state funeral of Fidel Castro}} |
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[[File:Fidel Castro's funeral procession.jpg|thumb|Castro's funeral procession passing through [[Sancti Spíritus Province]], Cuba]] |
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Castro died in Havana on the night of 25 November 2016.<ref name="AlJazeeraobit">{{cite news|url=http://www.aljazeera.com/news/americas/2016/11/cuba-leader-fidel-castro-dead-90-161126053354637.html|publisher=Al Jazeera|title=Cuba's former leader Fidel Castro dead at 90|date=26 November 2016|access-date=25 November 2016|archive-date=26 November 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161126094009/http://www.aljazeera.com/news/americas/2016/11/cuba-leader-fidel-castro-dead-90-161126053354637.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name = Davison>{{cite news|url = https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/fidel-castro-obituary-the-cuban-revolutionary-who-defied-10-us-presidents-a7440916.html|title = Fidel Castro obituary: The Cuban revolutionary who defied 10 US presidents|newspaper = [[The Independent]]|date = 26 November 2016|accessdate = 25 July 2022|last = Davison|first = Phil|archive-date = 25 July 2022|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20220725174747/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/fidel-castro-obituary-the-cuban-revolutionary-who-defied-10-us-presidents-a7440916.html|url-status = live}}</ref> The cause of death was not disclosed.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://fortune.com/2016/12/04/fidel-castro-cuba-burial/|title=Fidel Castro Laid to Rest in Cuba, Ending Nine Days of Mourning|date=4 December 2016|agency=Reuters|work=Fortune|access-date=4 December 2016|archive-date=5 December 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161205122527/http://fortune.com/2016/12/04/fidel-castro-cuba-burial/|url-status=live}}</ref> His brother, President Raúl Castro, confirmed the news in a brief speech: "The commander in chief of the Cuban revolution died at 22:29 [[[Eastern Time Zone|EST]]] this evening."<ref name="bbc">{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-38114953|work=BBC News|title=Cuba's Fidel Castro dies aged 90|access-date=25 November 2016|date=26 November 2016|archive-date=14 January 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210114053634/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-38114953|url-status=live}}</ref> His death came nine months after his older brother [[Ramón Castro Ruz|Ramón]] died at the age of 91 in February. Fidel Castro was [[cremation|cremated]] the next day.<ref name="bbc"/> A funeral procession travelled {{convert|900|km}} along the island's [[Carretera Central (Cuba)|central highway]] from Havana to Santiago de Cuba, tracing in reverse the route of the "Freedom Caravan" of January 1959. After nine days of public mourning, his ashes were entombed in the [[Santa Ifigenia Cemetery]] in Santiago de Cuba.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-38201169|title=Fidel Castro's ashes buried in Santiago de Cuba|date=4 December 2016|work=BBC News|access-date=4 December 2016|archive-date=4 December 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161204125104/http://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-38201169|url-status=live}}</ref> |
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==Ideology== |
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{{Main|Politics of Fidel Castro}} |
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[[File:XXX Cumbre del Mercosur - Córdoba - 21JUL06 -2- presidenciagovar..jpg|thumb|left|Castro (second from left) with South American leaders of the [[Mercosur]] trade bloc in 2006. In the 2000s, Castro forged alliances in the Latin American "[[pink tide]]".]] |
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Castro proclaimed himself to be "a [[Socialist]], a [[Marxist]], and a [[Leninist]]",{{sfn|Castro|Ramonet|2009|p=157}} and publicly identified as a [[Marxist–Leninist]] from December 1961 onward.{{sfn|Sondrol|1991|p=608}} As a Marxist, Castro sought to transform Cuba from a capitalist state to a socialist society and ultimately to a communist society. Influenced by Guevara, he suggested that Cuba could evade most stages of socialism and progress straight to communism.{{sfn|Quirk|1993|pp=559–560}} The Cuban Revolution nevertheless did not meet the Marxist assumption that socialism would be achieved through proletariat revolution, for most of the forces involved in Batista's overthrow were led by members of the Cuban middle-class.{{sfn|Balfour|1995|pp=177–178}} According to Castro, a country could be regarded as socialist if its means of production were controlled by the state. In this way, his understanding of socialism was less about who controlled power in a country and more about the method of distribution.{{sfn|Balfour|1995|p=178}} |
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Castro's government was also [[nationalistic]], with Castro declaring, "We are not only Marxist-Leninists, but also nationalists and patriots".{{sfn|Quirk|1993|p=790}} In this it drew upon a longstanding tradition of Cuban nationalism.{{sfn|Balfour|1995|p=177}} Castro biographer [[Sebastian Balfour]] noted that "the vein of moral regeneration and voluntarism that runs through" Castro's thought owes far more to "Hispanic nationalism" than European socialism or Marxism–Leninism.{{sfn|Balfour|1995|p=177}} Historian [[Richard Gott]] remarked that one of the keys to Castro's success was his ability to use the "twin themes of socialism and nationalism" and keep them "endlessly in play".{{sfn|Gott|2004|p=149}} Castro described Karl Marx and Cuban nationalist José Martí as his main political influences,{{sfn|Castro|Ramonet|2009|pp=101–102}} although Gott believed that Martí ultimately remained more important than Marx in Castro's politics.{{sfn|Gott|2004|p=149}} Castro described Martí's political ideas as "a philosophy of independence and an exceptional humanistic philosophy",{{sfn|Castro|Ramonet|2009|p=147}} and his supporters and apologists repeatedly claimed that there were great similarities between the two figures.{{sfn|Lecuona|1991|p=46}} |
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Biographer Volker Skierka described Castro's government as a "highly individual, socialist-nationalist {{'}}''fidelista''{{'}} system",{{sfn|Skierka|2006|p=xv}} with Theodore Draper terming his approach "Castroism", viewing it as a blend of European socialism with the Latin American revolutionary tradition.{{sfn|Draper|1965|pp=48–49}} |
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Political scientist Paul C. Sondrol has described Castro's approach to politics as "totalitarian utopianism",{{sfn|Sondrol|1991|p=610}} with a style of leadership that drew upon the wider Latin American phenomenon of the ''caudillo''.{{sfn|Sondrol|1991|pp=607, 609}} He drew inspiration from the wider Latin American anti-imperialist movements of the 1930s and 1940s, including Argentina's [[Perón]] and Guatemala's [[Jacobo Árbenz]].{{sfn|Balfour|1995|p=176}} Castro took a relatively [[socially conservative]] stance on many issues, opposing drug use, gambling, and prostitution, which he viewed as [[moral evil]]s. Instead, he advocated hard work, family values, integrity, and self-discipline.{{sfn|Bourne|1986|p=200}} Although his government repressed [[homosexual activity]] for decades, later in his life he took responsibility for this persecution, regretting it as a "great injustice", as he himself put it.<ref>{{cite news |title= Fidel Castro takes blame for 1960s gay persecution |website= BBC News |date= 31 August 2010 |url= https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-11147157 |access-date= 20 October 2018 |archive-date= 20 October 2018 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20181020060019/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-11147157 |url-status= live }}</ref> |
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==Personal and public life== |
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===Personality=== |
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{{see also|Religious views of Fidel Castro}} |
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Juan Reynaldo Sánchez, Castro's former bodyguard, detailed much of his personal and private life in his book ''The Double Life of Fidel Castro''. He described Castro as "Nothing ordinary about him at all, he is unique, special, and different."{{sfn|Sánchez|2015|p=60}} He profiled him as an [[egocentric]] who loved being the center of attention and, with his almost electric charisma, grabbed the attention of the people around him. He was also highly manipulative; with his formidable intelligence, he could easily manipulate a person or group of people. In addition, he was repetitive and obsessive. In discussions with his colleagues or foreigners, he would repeat the same things repeatedly until they were convinced he was right. It was impossible to contradict him on any subject whatsoever. Anyone who attempted to convince him that he was wrong or even made a suggestion that it could be improved slightly was making a "fatal error." Fidel would then make a mental mark of the individual as an "idiot" and wait for the right time to retaliate against them.{{sfn|Sánchez|2015|p=5}} Nobody, not even Raúl was exempt from this; despite being the [[Ministry of the Revolutionary Armed Forces (Cuba)|minister of the armed forces]], he would bring seemingly minor military decisions to Castro for his final approval to avoid inadvertently contradicting him.{{sfn|Sánchez|2015|p=192}} Sánchez believed that General Arnaldo Ochoa's downfall was significantly related to his willingness to contradict Fidel's orders in Angola.{{sfn|Sánchez|2015|p=57}} |
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Biographer [[Leycester Coltman]] described Castro as "fiercely hard-working, dedicated, loyal ... generous and magnanimous" but noted that he could be "vindictive and unforgiving." He asserted that Castro "always had a keen sense of humor and could laugh at himself" but could equally be "a bad loser" who would act with "ferocious rage if he thought that he was being humiliated." {{sfn|Coltman|2003|p=14}} Publicly, he was known for throwing tantrums and could make "snap judgments," which he refused to back down from.{{sfn|Quirk|1993|p=494}} In private, though, Castro was skilled at keeping his anger in check and not allowing it to affect his judgment, simply becoming cold and withdrawn; Sánchez stated that in 17 years, he had only seen Castro explode in anger twice, one upon being informed of his daughter Alina's defection in 1993.{{sfn|Sánchez|2015|p=72}} |
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Castro was known for working long hours; he primarily woke up late—rarely before ten or eleven in the morning—and started his working day around noon, and would work until late at night, often only going to bed at 3 or 4 am.{{sfn|Coltman|2003|p=219}} He preferred to meet foreign diplomats in these early hours, believing that they would be tired and he could gain the upper hand in negotiations.{{sfn|Quirk|1993|p=11}} Castro liked to meet with ordinary citizens, both in Cuba and abroad, but took a particularly paternal attitude toward Cubans, treating them as if "they were a part of his own giant family." {{sfn|Bourne |1986|p=273}} British historian [[Alex von Tunzelmann]] commented that "though ruthless, [Castro] was a patriot, a man with a profound sense that it was his mission to save the Cuban people." Political scientist Paul C. Sondrol characterized Castro as "quintessentially [[totalitarianism|totalitarian]] in his charismatic appeal, utopian functional role and public, transformative utilisation of power."{{sfn|Sondrol|1991|p=601}}{{sfn|Von Tunzelmann|2011|p=94}} |
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[[File:Fidel castro angel 1954.jpg|thumb|Castro with his son Ángel in 1954]] |
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Balfour described Castro as having a "voracity for knowledge" and "elephantine memory" that allowed him to speak for hours on various subjects.{{sfn|Balfour|1995|p=180}} His hero was [[Alexander the Great]], whose Spanish equivalent ''Alejandro'' he adopted as his ''nom de guerre''.{{sfn|Sánchez|2015|p=74}} Castro was a voracious reader; amongst his favorite authors were [[Ernest Hemingway]], [[Franz Kafka]], [[William Shakespeare]], and [[Maxim Gorky]]. He named ''[[For Whom the Bell Tolls]]'' his favorite book, committing several portions of the novel to memory and using some of its lessons as a guerrilla fighter.{{sfn|Bourne|1986|p=204}} He enjoyed art and photography and was known as a patron of both within Cuba but was uninterested in music and disliked dancing.{{sfn|Coltman|2003|p=224}}{{sfn|Sánchez|2015|p=60}} He was also an avid fan of cinema, particularly Soviet films. His favorite film was the five-hour long 1967 adaption of [[Leo Tolstoy]]'s ''[[War and Peace (film series)|War and Peace]]''.{{sfn|Sánchez|2015|p=48}} Castro had a lifelong passion, almost obsession, with cows and, starting in 1966, with bovine genetics and breeding. State media frequently published details of his attempts to breed cows with increased milk yields.{{sfn|Sánchez|2015|p=44}} This interest reached its peak in 1982 when a cow that Fidel had bred, "[[Ubre Blanca]]", broke the Guinness World Record for producing 29 gallons of milk live on national television. She was promoted into a national celebrity and propaganda tool, and when the cow died in 1985, ''Granma'' published an official obituary for her on the front page, and the postal service issued stamps in her honor.{{sfn|Sánchez|2015|p=44}} |
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[[Fidel Castro's religious beliefs]] have been a matter of some debate; he was [[baptized]] and raised as a Roman Catholic. He criticized the use of the Bible to justify the oppression of women and Africans,{{sfn|Castro|Ramonet|2009|pp=40–41}} but commented that Christianity exhibited "a group of very humane precepts" which gave the world "ethical values" and a "sense of social justice," relating, "If people call me Christian, not from the standpoint of religion but from the standpoint of social vision, I declare that I am a Christian."{{sfn|Castro|Ramonet|2009|p=156}} During a visit of American minister and activist [[Jesse Jackson]], Castro accompanied him to a [[Methodist]] church service where he even spoke from the pulpit with a Bible before him, an event that marked a beginning of increased openness towards Christianity in Cuba.<ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RuY08UQFRfwC&dq=%22fidel+castro%22+%22methodist+church%22+%22pulpit%22&pg=PA262 | title=The Cambridge Companion to Black Theology | isbn=9780521705691 | last1=Hopkins | first1=Dwight N. | last2=Antonio | first2=Edward P. | date=26 July 2012 | publisher=Cambridge University Press | access-date=23 May 2022 | archive-date=22 September 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230922145023/https://books.google.com/books?id=RuY08UQFRfwC&dq=%22fidel+castro%22+%22methodist+church%22+%22pulpit%22&pg=PA262 | url-status=live }}</ref> He promoted the idea that [[Jesus in Christianity|Jesus Christ]] was a communist, citing the [[Feeding the multitude|feeding of the 5,000]] and the story of [[Jesus and the rich young man]] as evidence.{{sfn|Quirk|1993|p=695}} |
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===Public image=== |
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[[File:Castro sign.jpg|thumb|Cuban propaganda poster proclaiming a quote from Castro: "{{lang|es|Luchar contra lo imposible y vencer}}" ("To fight against the impossible and win")]] |
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Within Cuba, Castro was primarily referred to by his official military title ''Comandante En Jefe''; he was usually addressed as ''Comandante'' (The Commander) in general discourse as well as in person but could also be addressed as ''El Jefe'' (the Chief) in the third person, particularly within the party and military command.{{sfn|Sánchez|2015|p=11}} Castro was often nicknamed "''El Caballo''" ("The Horse"), a label attributed to Cuban entertainer [[Benny Moré]], which alludes to Castro's well-known philandering during the 1950s and early 1960s.{{sfnm|1a1=Coltman|1y=2003|1p=219|2a1=Gott|2y=2004|2p=175}}<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/nov/26/havana-mourning-cubans-fidelista-fidel-castro|title=Havana in mourning: 'We Cubans are Fidelista even if we are not communist'|first1=Stephen|last1=Gibbs|first2=Jonathan|last2=Watts|first3=Ted|last3=Francis|date=26 November 2016|newspaper=The Guardian|access-date=14 October 2018|archive-date=14 October 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181014164928/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/nov/26/havana-mourning-cubans-fidelista-fidel-castro|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine|last=Bardach|first=Ann Louise|url=https://psmag.com/social-justice/well-always-have-fidel-48159|title=We'll always have Fidel|magazine=Pacific Standard|date=15 October 2012|access-date=14 October 2018|archive-date=14 October 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181014165032/https://psmag.com/social-justice/well-always-have-fidel-48159|url-status=live}}</ref> |
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With his [[wikt:logorrheic|logorrheic]] oratorical abilities and profound charisma, Castro was highly skilled at manipulation and deception, quickly whipping up his audience and entire population segments into support. Large throngs of supporters gathered to cheer at Castro's fiery speeches, which typically lasted for hours (even outdoors in inclement weather) and without the use of written notes.{{sfn|Quirk|1993|pp=312, 688}} During speeches, Castro regularly cited reports and books he had read on various subjects, including military matters, plant cultivation, filmmaking, and chess strategies.{{sfn|Quirk|1993|pp=352–353}} Officially, the Cuban government did maintain a [[cult of personality]]. However, unlike other Soviet-era leaders and his allies, it was less widespread and took on a more subtle and discreet form.{{sfn|Sánchez|2015|p=244}} There were no statues or large portraits of him but rather signs with "thoughts" of the ''Comandante''. His popularity among segments of the Cuban populace led to one development without the government's involvement. It would be used to judge each individual's devotion to his "revolutionary cause." {{sfnm|1a1=Quirk|1y=1993|1p=255|2a1=Gott|2y=2004|2p=325}} Indeed, by 2006, Castro's image could frequently be found in Cuban stores, classrooms, taxicabs, and on national television.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/4779529.stm |title=Ailing Castro still dominates Cuba |work=BBC News |date=11 August 2006 |access-date=13 January 2010 |archive-date=20 October 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061020122142/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/4779529.stm |url-status=live }}</ref> In private, however, Castro hated such idolization campaigns and believed that he had intellectual ascendancy over leaders who engaged in such behavior, such as his friend [[Kim Il Sung]] of [[North Korea]] whose cult of personality he considered excessive, outlandish and unreasonable.{{sfn|Sánchez|2015|p=245}} |
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[[File:Fidel Castro 2012.jpg|thumb|Castro in his characteristic green fatigues, 2012]] |
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He gave no importance to his appearance or clothing; for 37 years, he wore only his trademark olive-green military fatigues or the standard [[MINFAR]] dress uniform for formal events and special occasions, emphasizing his role as the perpetual revolutionary, but in the mid-1990s began wearing dark civilian suits and ''[[guayabera]]'' in public.{{sfn|Sánchez|2015|p=303–304}} At over {{convert|6|ft|3|in}} tall with a few inches added from his combat boots, Castro usually towered over most foreign leaders he met with, giving him a dominating presence in any room or photo that was taken, which he used to his advantage (for comparison, [[Abraham Lincoln]] and [[Charles de Gaulle]], both well known for their tall heights, stood at 6'4" and 6'5", respectively). Until his uprising against Batista, Castro typically kept a pencil-thin mustache and combed back hair, typical of upper-class Cuban men in the 1950s, but grew out both during his years as a guerrilla fighter and retained them afterward. Castro also disliked worrying about his appearance and hated shaving, making the beard and uniform all the more convenient for him.{{sfn|Sánchez|2015|p=56}} His uniform was also kept simple; he never wore any medals or decorations, and his only marker of rank was the {{lang|es|Comandante El Jefe}} insignia stitched on the shoulder straps. Until the 1990s, he wore combat boots, but he abandoned them for sneakers and tennis shoes instead due to orthopedic issues. Around his waist, he often carried a 9mm Browning pistol in a brown leather holster with three additional magazines.{{sfn|Sánchez|2015|p=105}} His weapon of choice was a 7.62 Kalashnikov [[AKM]], which Castro occasionally carried with him during the 1960s but was later kept stored in a suitcase carried by one of the members of his escort or kept placed between his feet while driving along with five cartridges; he frequently used it during shooting exercises and practice.{{sfn|Sánchez|2015|p=129}} Castro had a lifelong love of guns and was considered an expert sharpshooter, impressing foreign visitors and even holding up against members of his elite bodyguards who engaged in frequent competition with him.{{sfn|Quirk|1993|pp=10, 255}} |
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Castro's most iconic public feature eventually became the Cuban cigar he smoked daily. Introduced to it by his father at the age of 15, Castro continued the habit for almost 44 years except for a brief period during the 1950s while he was a guerrilla fighter and boycotting against Batista-linked tobacco firms.<ref name="cigaraficionado.com">{{cite magazine|last=Shanken|first=Marvin R.|authorlink=Marvin R. Shanken|date=Summer 1994|title=A Conversation With Fidel|url=https://www.cigaraficionado.com/article/a-conversation-with-fidel-6005|magazine=[[Cigar Aficionado]]|language=en|location=Havana|publication-place=New York City|access-date=15 May 2021|archive-date=22 April 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210422142808/https://www.cigaraficionado.com/article/a-conversation-with-fidel-6005|url-status=live}}</ref> Castro claimed that he quit around 1985 during an anti-smoking campaign promoted by the Communist Party. Sánchez disputes this, saying that his doctor had Castro reduce his cigar usage starting in 1980 and quit entirely in 1983 after a cancerous ulcer was found in his intestine.{{sfn|Sánchez|2015|p=274}} Prior to the Revolution, Castro smoked various brands including [[Romeo y Julieta (cigar)|Romeo y Julieta]] Churchill, [[H. Upmann]], Bauza, and [[Partagás (cigar brand)|Partagás]]. In the early 1960s, Castro saw one of his bodyguards smoking a noticeably aromatic but unbranded cigar. Castro and the bodyguard located the cigar maker, Eduardo Ribera, who agreed to establish the El Laguito Factory and branded the cigars as [[Cohiba (cigar brand)|Cohiba]] which became Castro's signature brand and elevating its profile internationally.<ref name="cigaraficionado.com"/> Initially restricted for his private use and other members of the Politburo, it was later presented as diplomatic gifts for allied countries and friends of Castro, most notably seen smoked by [[Che Guevara]], [[Josip Broz Tito]], [[Houari Boumédiène]], [[Sukarno]], and [[Saddam Hussein]].<ref name="cigaraficionado.com"/> |
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===Lifestyle=== |
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Castro's primary residence was at ''Punto Cero'', a large and vegetative estate approximately 6 km from the ''Palacio de la Revolution'' in the Siboney neighborhood.{{sfn|Sánchez|2015|p=79}} The main house is an L-shaped two-story family mansion with a 600-square-yard footprint, a 50-foot-long swimming pool, six greenhouses providing fruit and vegetables for Fidel's and Raúl's families as well as their bodyguard units, and a large lawn with free-range chickens and cows. Close by is a second two-story building that houses the bodyguards and the domestic staff.{{sfn|Sánchez|2015|p=79}} The house was decorated in a classical Caribbean style, with local wicker and wood furniture, porcelain plates, watercolor paintings, and art books. Sánchez described the estate as naturally beautiful and tastefully decorated, and while considered luxurious for the average Cuban, was not lavish or over-the-top compared to the residences of the [[Somoza family|Somoza clan]] or the [[Kim family (North Korea)|Kim dynasty]] of North Korea.{{sfn|Sánchez|2015|p=80}} Raúl and [[Vilma Espín|Vilma]]'s house ''La Rinconada'' is located close by on 222nd street. Raúl usually hosted large family barbecues on Sundays, where Fidel would sometimes come, giving his extended family, sisters, and elder brother Ramón a rare opportunity to see him.{{sfn|Sánchez|2015|p=195}} Next to ''Punto Cero'' is ''Unit 160'' which was the base of Fidel's bodyguard units. The base was over five acres large and surrounded by high walls, essentially a "city within a city" consisting of support personnel for transportation, communications, electronics, and food, and an extensive armory of Kalashnikovs, Makarovs, and Brownings. Members of that unit also assisted in Fidel's passion for Bovine breeding, and a stable was kept for some of Fidel's most prized cows.{{sfn|Sánchez|2015|p=49}} |
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In addition to "Punto Cero," Castro had five other residences in Havana: ''Casa Cojimar'', his initial home after 1959 but disused by the 1970s; a house on 160th Street near the Playa district; ''Casa Carbonell'', maintained by Cuban Intelligence for his covert meetings with representatives of foreign groups or intelligence assets; A beach house in Santa Maria del Mar (next to the Tropico Hotel); and two houses retrofitted with air-raid shelters and connected to the MINFAR command bunkers for use in war: ''Casa Punta Brava'' (Dalia's old house before meeting Fidel) and ''Casa Gallego'', near the bodyguards base at Unit 160. In the west of Cuba, he had three residences: ''Casa Americana'' (confiscated from an American businessman connected to Batista); ''Rancho la Tranquilidad'' in the locality of Mil Cumbres; and La Deseada, a hunting lodge utilized in the winter for duck hunting and fishing trips. He also had two homes in Matanzas, one in Ciego de Avila, a horse ranch ''Hacienda San Cayetano'' in [[Camagüey]] along with another house in a vacation compound for the Politburo nearby, ''Casa Guardalavaca'' in Holguin, and two residences in Santiago de Cuba (one of which is shared with [[Ramiro Valdes]]).{{sfn|Sánchez|2015|p=268}} |
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Castro's main vacation destination was Cayo de Piedra, a small key island formerly the site of a lighthouse, approximately a mile long and divided into two by a cyclone in the 1960s. He came upon the island by accident while reviewing the region in the aftermath of the failed Bay of Pigs invasion. Instantly falling in love with the island, he ordered it closed off and had the lighthouse demolished.{{sfn|Sánchez|2015|p=14}} [[Osmany Cienfuegos]] designed the private bungalow, guesthouse, bridge, marina, and a building for the use of the bodyguards and support staff.{{sfn|Sánchez|2015|p=15}} He arrived from his inaccessible private marina near the Bay of Pigs, ''La Caleta del Rosario'', which also housed another residence and guesthouse.{{sfn|Sánchez|2015|p=10}} Castro used two yachts, ''Aquarama I'', confiscated from a Batista Government official and later in the 1970s, the 90-foot white hull ''Aquarama II''. ''Aquarama II'', which was decorated with wood donated from [[Angola]], had two double cabins, one for Fidel's personal use, a main sitting room, two bathrooms, a bar, a secure communications suite, and was equipped with four [[Osa-class missile boat]] engines gifted from Brezhnev allowing for top speeds of over 42 Knots.{{sfn|Sánchez|2015|p=9}} ''Aquarama II'' had two companion speedboats used by his escort, ''Pioniera I'' and ''Pioniera II''; one was equipped with a large cache of weapons, and another was equipped with medical equipment.{{sfn|Sánchez|2015|p=7}} |
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Castro also had a keen interest in [[gastronomy]] and was known to wander into his kitchen to discuss cookery with his chefs.{{sfn|Coltman|2003|p=224}} His diet was quintessentially Cuban, based on traditional pescatarian cuisine and the additional influence from his father's native Galicia. All of his food was sourced from Punto Cero or fished from his private island of Cayo Piedra, except for cases of [[Algerian wine|Algerian Red Wine]] gifted initially from [[Houari Boumediene]] and continued by successive Algerian governments and Iraqi figs and fruit jams from Saddam Hussein.{{sfn|Sánchez|2015|p=84}} Castro, who typically woke up in the late morning, usually had tea or fish [[broth|bouillon]] for breakfast accompanied by milk provided from one of the cows that grazed on ''Punto Cero''; they were all bred to provide milk which suited Castro's demanding taste. His lunches were also frugal, consisting of fish or seafood soup with fresh produce. Dinner was his primary meal, consisting of grilled fish, chicken, mutton, or even ''pata negra'' ham on special occasions, along with a large serving of green vegetables. However, he was prevented from eating beef or coffee by his dietician. {{sfn|Sánchez|2015|p=83}} |
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Until 1979, Castro's primary vehicle was a black [[ZiL]] limousine, first an armored convertible [[ZIL-111]] from Khrushchev, a [[ZIL-114]] and briefly a [[ZIL-4104]] gifted to him by Leonid Brezhnev, while his escort would accompany him in several [[Alfa Romeo 1750 Berlina|Alfa Romeo 1750s and 2000s]].{{sfn|Sánchez|2015|p=104}} In 1979, during the Non-Aligned Movement summit at Havana, Saddam Hussein gave Castro his Armored [[Mercedes-Benz W126|Mercedes-Benz 560 SEL]], which he had brought from Baghdad and became his sole transport for the rest of his life. Subsequently, Fidel ordered two mechanics from his bodyguard unit to West Germany to purchase several second-hand Mercedes-Benz 500s to replace the obsolete Alfa Romeos.{{sfn|Sánchez|2015|p=104}} Castro always traveled with at least fourteen guards and four of his aides, spread out over four vehicles: three Mercedes-Benz and one Soviet Lada, which trailed the main convoy (to keep the military presence at a minimal). Whenever he would leave Havana, a fifth Mercedes would join the procession carrying his doctor, nurse, and photographer.{{sfn|Sánchez|2015|p=100}} |
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The "[[Forbes]]" magazine ranked Castro as the 7th wealthiest ruler in the world at an estimated personal wealth of approximately 900 million US dollars in 2006 (going from 550 million US dollars in their 2005 list). The estimate is based on the magazine's assumption that Castro had economic control over a network of state-owned companies, including [[CIMEX]], Medicuba, the Havana Convention Palace, and the assumption that a portion of their profits went to Castro through investments.<ref name="aljazeera-2006">{{Cite news |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2006/5/16/castro-denies-900m-fortune-claim |title=Castro denies $900m fortune claim |agency=[[Al Jazeera English]] |date=16 May 2006 |access-date=26 November 2023 |archive-date=28 November 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231128035744/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2006/5/16/castro-denies-900m-fortune-claim |url-status=live }}</ref> Suggesting that Castro's fortune multiplied, growing from 103 million to 850 million euros (equivalent to 900 million dollars) in just three years,<ref name="informeorwell-2023">{{Cite web |last=Rincon |first=Emmanuel |date=6 October 2023 |title=Las multimillonarias herencias que los socialistas Hugo Chávez y Fidel Castro dejaron a sus familias |url=https://informeorwell.com/america-latina/las-multimillonarias-herencias-que-los-socialistas-hugo-chavez-y-fidel-castro-dejaron-a-sus-familias/ |access-date=11 October 2023 |website=Informe Orwell |language=es |archive-date=14 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231014110121/https://informeorwell.com/america-latina/las-multimillonarias-herencias-que-los-socialistas-hugo-chavez-y-fidel-castro-dejaron-a-sus-familias/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="infobae-2016">{{Cite web |title=La fortuna que cosechó Fidel Castro, según la revista Forbes |url=https://www.infobae.com/america/america-latina/2016/11/27/la-fortuna-que-cosecho-fidel-castro-segun-la-revista-forbes/ |access-date=11 October 2023 |website=infobae |language=es-ES |archive-date=14 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231014110119/https://www.infobae.com/america/america-latina/2016/11/27/la-fortuna-que-cosecho-fidel-castro-segun-la-revista-forbes/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="clarin-2016">{{Cite web |last=Clarín.com |date=28 November 2016 |title=La fortuna y extravagante vida de Fidel Castro, según Forbes |url=https://www.clarin.com/mundo/fortuna-extravagante-fidel-castro-forbes_0_Sy3TY3Kzg.html |access-date=11 October 2023 |website=Clarín |language=es |archive-date=14 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231014110120/https://www.clarin.com/mundo/fortuna-extravagante-fidel-castro-forbes_0_Sy3TY3Kzg.html |url-status=live }}</ref> the "Forbes" article also referred to rumours of Castro's [[Banking in Switzerland|Swiss bank]] accounts with "large stashes" of this fortune.<ref name="aljazeera-2006"/> According to Juan Reinaldo Sánchez, a former personal bodyguard of Castro, his assets included Cayo Piedra, a private island; over twenty mansions; a marina with yachts; encrypted bank accounts; and a gold mine.<ref name="informeorwell-2023"/><ref name="infobae-2016"/><ref name="clarin-2016"/> |
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===Relationships=== |
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[[File:Barbudos - Fidel Castro and Camilo Cienfuegos.jpg|thumb|Castro and [[Camilo Cienfuegos]] before playing a baseball game]] |
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In his personal life, Castro was known for being distant, withdrawn, and confided in very few people. His closest and most trusted friend was Raúl Castro, his younger brother by five years and longtime armed forces minister.{{sfn|Sánchez|2015|p=41}} Although Raúl had a vastly contrasting, almost polar opposite personality to Castro, Sánchez described Raúl as complementing Castro's personality in all the ways that he is not. Whereas Fidel was "charismatic, energetic, visionary but extremely impulsive and disorganized," Raúl was described as a "natural, methodical, and uncompromising organizer." Castro spoke nearly daily with Raúl, met several times a week, and was a frequent visitor at Raúl and Vilma's house; Vilma was also considered close to Castro and often appeared publicly with him at national events.{{sfn|Sánchez|2015|p=188}} Besides Raúl, Castro was not close to any of his other siblings, although he did have friendly relations with his elder brother Ramón and sister Angelita.{{sfn|Sánchez|2015|p=187}} His sister [[Juanita Castro]] had been living in the United States since the early 1960s until her death in 2023 and was a public opponent of the Cuban regime.<ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,871241-1,00.html| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930065044/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,871241-1,00.html| url-status=dead| archive-date=30 September 2007| title=The Bitter Family (page 1 of 2)|magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]]| date=10 July 1964| access-date=19 February 2008}}</ref> |
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Outside his immediate family, Castro's closest friend was fellow revolutionary Celia Sánchez, who accompanied him everywhere during the 1960s and controlled almost all access to the leader.{{sfn|Bourne|1986|pp=200–201}}{{sfn|Sánchez|2015|p=41}} Reynaldo Sánchez confirmed that Celia was indeed Castro's mistress and regarded her as the "true love of his life." {{sfn|Sánchez|2015|p=41}} Castro provided a large apartment for Celia on 11th Street near Vedado, ''El Once'' whom Fidel visited every day before returning home. Over the years, Castro added an elevator, fitness room, and a bowling alley for his and Celia's personal use. He even provided bodyguards from his escort to Celia for her protection.{{sfn|Sánchez|2015|p=42}} |
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Castro's closest male friends were the members of his immediate bodyguard unit, ''Escolta'' or the "Escort."{{sfn|Sánchez|2015|p=92}} His security was provided by Department 1 of the Personal Security Directorate of [[MININT]] (Ministry of the Interior). Department 1 was for Fidel's security, Department 2 was for Raúl and Vilma's, and Department 3 was for the members of the Politburo and so on.{{sfn|Sánchez|2015|p=40}} Unlike the other MININT Departments, his and Raúl's units bypassed the standard chain of command and reported to them directly. Castro's security consisted of three concentric ''anillos'' or rings. The third ring consisted of thousands of soldiers in MININT and MINFAR who supported Logistics, air defense, Intelligence, etc.; The second ring consisted of eighty to one hundred soldiers who provided the outer perimeter security; And the first ring, the Elite ''Escolta'' or "The Escort," provided his immediate security and consisted of two teams of 15 elite soldiers who worked 24-hour shifts, along with around ten support staff.{{sfn|Sánchez|2015|p=40}} |
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A soldier at heart, Castro had more affinity with his escort than his civilian family. He spent most of his time under their protection and were usually his companions in his personal interests.{{sfn|Sánchez|2015|p=92}} A sports fan, he also spent much of his time trying to keep fit, undertaking regular exercise such as hunting, fly fishing, underwater fishing, scuba diving, and playing basketball.{{sfn|Sánchez|2015|p=93}} They were also his companions on special events, such as his birthday or national holidays, during which they regularly exchanged gifts and engaged in one-sided discussions with Castro where he would recall his life stories. The members of Escort Castro were closest to the former Mayor of Havana, Jose "Pepín" Naranjo, who became his official aide until he died in 1995, and his physician, Eugenio Selman. {{sfn|Sánchez|2015|p=11}}{{sfn|Bourne|1986|p=201}}<ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.spokesman.com/stories/1995/dec/26/castro-adviser-66-dies-of-heart-attack/| title=Castro Adviser, 66, Dies of Heart Attack| work=The Spokesman Review| date=26 December 1995| access-date=31 May 2012| archive-date=10 May 2013| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130510143659/http://www.spokesman.com/stories/1995/dec/26/castro-adviser-66-dies-of-heart-attack/| url-status=live}}</ref> Outside of his escort, Castro was also close to [[Manuel Piñeiro|Manuel "Barbarroja" Pineiro]], the head of the American Department of the [[Dirección de Inteligencia|DGI]], [[Antonio Núñez Jiménez]], and the Colombian novelist [[Gabriel García Márquez]].{{sfn|Bourne|1986|p=299}}{{sfn|Sánchez|2015|p=94}} |
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===Marital history=== |
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The Cuban government has never published an official marital history of Castro, with most information coming from defectors and scarce details published in state media and pieced together over the years.{{sfn|Skierka|2006|p=3}}<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.latinamericanstudies.org/fidel/castro-family.htm |last=Tamayo |first=Juan O. |title=Fidel Castro's Family |work=The Miami Herald |via=Latinamericanstudies.org |date=8 October 2000 |access-date=13 January 2010 |archive-date=25 September 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170925195101/http://www.latinamericanstudies.org/fidel/castro-family.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> In his earlier years in power, he showcased some of his family life, in particular his eldest son Fidelito to portray himself as a regular "family man" to the apprehensive American audience, but eventually abandoned that as he became more concerned about his safety.{{sfn|Sánchez|2015|p=65}} Throughout his rule, Castro never named an official "First Lady" and when the need for such a public female companion was necessary, Celia Sánchez or Raúl's wife, Vilma Espín, would play such a role of ''la primera dama''.{{sfn|Sánchez|2015|p=62}} |
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Sánchez described Castro as a compulsive lover or "womanizer"; he was officially married twice but carried on numerous affairs, including many one-night stands.{{sfn|Sánchez|2015|p=60}}{{sfn|Quirk|1993|p=231}} Popular with women and often recognized as a [[sex symbol]] in Cuba,{{sfn|Bourne|1986|p=201}} Castro never had difficulty in finding love and seduction. Sánchez denies that Castro ever engaged in any unusual or un-consensual behavior.{{sfn|Sánchez|2015|p=60}} Castro was also described as a poor father; often absent from their lives, he had little interest in his children's activities and was more interested in his work.{{sfn|Sánchez|2015|p=63}} Raúl, who had much stronger paternal feelings towards his family, was often the one who played the role of surrogate father to Castro's children, in particular Fidelito and Alina.{{sfn|Sánchez|2015|p=194}} |
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* Castro's first wife was [[Mirta Díaz-Balart]], whom he married in October 1948. She is the only spouse of Castro acknowledged by the Cuban Government. Diaz-Balart, the daughter of a powerful Cuban politician and brother of Batista's Minister of Interior, was a student at the University of Havana, where she met and married Castro. She divorced him later, in 1955, while he was in prison due to the attacks on the Moncada Barracks. They had one son: |
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**[[Fidel Castro Díaz-Balart|Fidel Ángel "Fidelito" Castro Díaz-Balart]], born in September 1949.{{sfn|Bardach|2007|p=67}} Fidelito grew up at various times between Havana and Miami; he later went to the Soviet Union to study [[nuclear physics]]. For a time, he ran Cuba's atomic-energy commission before being removed from the post by his father.<ref name="anderson">{{cite news |last=Anderson |first=Jon Lee |title=Castro's Last Battle: Can the revolution outlive its leader? |magazine=The New Yorker |date=31 July 2006 |page=51 |url=http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2006/07/31/castros-last-battle |access-date=26 February 2015 |archive-date=26 February 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150226221245/http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2006/07/31/castros-last-battle |url-status=live }}</ref> He took his own life in February 2018, over a year after his father's death.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-42913492|title=Fidel Castro's son 'takes own life'|date=2 February 2018|access-date=4 March 2019|work=BBC News|archive-date=6 April 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190406082830/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-42913492|url-status=live}}</ref> |
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* During his first marriage, Castro briefly encountered Maria Laborde, an admirer from Camagüey, of whom very little is known and who has long been deceased. They had one son: |
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**Jorge Ángel Castro, born on 23 March 1949. It was long believed that his birth was in 1956, but Sánchez and another defector uncovered that he was in fact born earlier than Fidelito.{{sfn|Sánchez|2015|p=68}}<ref name="Hart">{{Cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/6235286/Fidel-Castros-Cuba-full-of-his-offspring-after-years-of-womanising-by-El-Commandante.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220110/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/6235286/Fidel-Castros-Cuba-full-of-his-offspring-after-years-of-womanising-by-El-Commandante.html |archive-date=10 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=Fidel Castro's Cuba full of his offspring after years of womanising by El Commandante|last=Hart|first=Philip|journal=The Daily Telegraph|date=26 September 2009|access-date=26 November 2019|language=en-GB|issn=0307-1235}}{{cbignore}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://elpais.com/politica/2018/02/02/sepa_usted/1517584659_839094.html|title=Las dispares vidas de los otros hijos de Fidel Castro|last=Palomo|first=Elvira|date=2 February 2018|work=El País|access-date=26 November 2019|language=es|issn=1134-6582|archive-date=22 August 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190822161019/https://elpais.com/politica/2018/02/02/sepa_usted/1517584659_839094.html|url-status=live}}</ref> |
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*While Castro was married to Mirta, he had an affair with [[Natalia Revuelta Clews|Natalia "Naty" Revuelta Clews]]. Widely regarded in Havana for her beauty, Natalia was married to Dr. Orlando Fernandez but sympathized with the aims of the Revolutionary movement. She initially joined the movement as a friend of Castro but later became his mistress and visited him while imprisoned in Isla de Pinos.{{sfn|Sánchez|2015|p=69}} She would give birth to his daughter: |
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**[[Alina Fernández|Alina Fernández Revuelta]],<ref name="anderson"/> born in 1956, is Castro's only daughter. She did not know her true parentage until she was 10. Castro showed little interest in her but sent her to a boarding school in Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France. One of the few people willing to stand up to Castro, several defectors have described her personality as the most similar to her father. Alina became a public relations director for a State-owned fashion company and a model for [[Havana Club]]. Her father inadvertently found out about the latter job while reading ''Cuba'' magazine, coming across an advertisement showing Alina posing in a bikini on a boat with two other models; according to Sánchez he "nearly exploded with rage".{{sfn|Sánchez|2015|p=70}} Alina left Cuba in 1993, disguised as a Spanish tourist,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.canada.com/topics/news/world/story.html?id=2ef037b4-5f82-4283-b1fb-2cc9e2442977 |title=Cuba's first family not immune to political rift |access-date=10 August 2006 |last=Boadle |first=Anthony |date=8 August 2006 |agency=[[Reuters]] |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071011191626/http://canada.com/topics/news/world/story.html?id=2ef037b4-5f82-4283-b1fb-2cc9e2442977 |archive-date=11 October 2007 }}</ref> and sought asylum in the US, from where she has criticized her father's policies.{{sfn|Fernández|1997|}} |
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*Castro's second and longest marriage was with Dalia Soto Del Valle, another admirer who met Castro during a speech in Villa Clara in 1961. She was a teacher who was part of the Government's literacy campaign. She moved to Havana on Castro's initiative and later moved in with him at ''Punto Cero'' as his permanent family. Her relationship with Castro was kept secret until 2006 when she was photographed with an increasingly frail Castro during the Party Congress, although the Cuban Government has released no other information.{{sfn|Sánchez|2015|p=73}} Castro and Dalia had five sons, each of them starting with the letter A and three of them a variation of "Alexander" (in homage to Alexander the Great, his pseudonym while a guerrilla fighter):{{sfn|Sánchez|2015|p=74}} |
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**Alexis Castro Del Valle, born in 1962. Described as a loner with few friends, he eventually got a degree in computer science but has since become a mechanic.{{sfn|Sánchez|2015|p=75}} |
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**Alex Castro Del Valle, born in 1963. Much more affable and outgoing, he was initially trained as an engineer as well but instead became a photographer and cameraman for ''[[Granma (newspaper)|Granma]]'' and [[Cubavisión]], respectively. He later became the official photographer of his father and, published several books, and hosted the exhibition ''Fidel Castro: Photografia Intimidade''.{{sfn|Sánchez|2015|p=76}} |
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**Alejandro Castro Del Valle, born in 1969. Considered a "computer geek" like his brothers, he also studied computer science and engineering but was passionate about the subject. Around 1990, he wrote software that allowed Russian programs to be run on Japanese ones; the product was purchased by [[NEC]] of Japan, which raised his national profile in the engineering community of Cuba and even public praise from his father.{{sfn|Sánchez|2015|p=76}} |
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**Antonio Castro Del Valle, born in 1971. A national youth baseball champion, he studied sports medicine at the University of Havana and became an [[Orthopedic surgeon]]. He is currently the head of the Surgery unit at the Elite Frank Pais Orthopedic Hospital, a Doctor to the National Baseball team, and President of the Cuban Baseball Federation.{{sfn|Sánchez|2015|p=78}} |
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**Angelito Castro Del Valle, born in 1974. Considered spoiled by his parents from a young age, he was long considered the "trouble child" of the family. He was passionate about cars and frequently earned the ire of his father's escort unit for disrupting the mechanics' work. Angelito never obtained any higher education but later became the senior executive of the Mercedes-Benz concession of Cuba.{{sfn|Sánchez|2015|p=79}} |
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*After the 1970s, Castro began a long relationship with Juanita Vera, a Colonel in the foreign intelligence service who joined his escort unit as his English interpreter. She often appeared in public with Castro, in particular in Oliver Stone's ''[[Comandante (2003 film)|Comandante]]'' as his translator and interpreter. She and Castro had one son, Abel Castro Vera, born in 1983.{{sfn|Sánchez|2015|p=269}} |
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Castro had another daughter, Francisca Pupo (born 1953), the result of a one-night affair. Pupo and her husband now live in Miami.<ref name="canf.org">{{cite web|url=http://www.canf.org/es/ENSAYOS/2003-dic-09-vida_secreta_del_tirano_castro.htm|last=Duarte|first=Roberto|title=Vida Secreta Del Tirano Castro |
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|url-status=bot: unknown|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061210012059/http://www.canf.org/es/ENSAYOS/2003-dic-09-vida_secreta_del_tirano_castro.htm|archive-date=10 December 2006|access-date=16 August 2017}} ''CANF.org''. Cuban American National Foundation. 29 October 2003</ref> Another son known as Ciro was also born in the early 1960s, the result of another brief fling, his existence confirmed by Celia Sánchez.<ref name="Hart"/> |
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[[File:Family Tree of Fidel Castro.svg|center|thumb|upright=3|{{center|Castro's family tree}}]] |
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==Reception and legacy== |
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{{See also|Human rights in Cuba|List of awards and honours bestowed upon Fidel Castro|List of things named after Fidel Castro}} |
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{{Quote box|width=25em|align=right|quote=Within Cuba, Fidel's domination of every aspect of the government and the society remains total. His personal needs for absolute control seems to have changed little over the years. He remains committed to a disciplined society in which he is still determined to remake the Cuban national character, creating work-orientated, socially concerned individuals ... He wants to increase people's standard of living, the availability of material goods, and to import the latest technology. But the economic realities, despite rapid dramatic growth in the gross national product, severely limit what Cuba can buy on the world market.|source=– Peter Bourne, Castro biographer, 1986{{sfn|Bourne|1986|p=302}} }} |
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One of the most controversial political leaders of his era,{{sfn|Balfour|1995|p=1}} Castro both inspired and dismayed people around the world during his lifetime.{{sfn|Balfour|1995|p=vi}} The London ''[[The Observer|Observer]]'' stated that he proved to be "as divisive in death as he was in life", and that the only thing that his "enemies and admirers" agreed upon was that he was "a towering figure" who "transformed a small Caribbean island into a major force in world affairs".<ref>{{cite news|last1=Graham-Harrison|first1=Emma|last2=Gibbs|first2=Stephen|last3=Borger|first3=Julian|title=Fidel Castro: leader proves as divisive in death as he was in life|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/nov/26/fidel-castro-dies-cuba-revolutionary-icon|newspaper=[[The Observer]]|location=London|date=26 November 2016|access-date=5 December 2016|archive-date=4 December 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161204234436/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/nov/26/fidel-castro-dies-cuba-revolutionary-icon|url-status=live}}</ref> ''[[The Daily Telegraph]]'' noted that around the world he was "either praised as a brave champion of the people, or derided as a power-mad dictator."<ref>{{cite news|last=Alexander|first=Harriet|title=Fidel Castro: As Divisive in Death as he was in Life |newspaper=[[The Daily Telegraph]]|date=26 November 2016|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/11/26/fidel-castro-divisive-death-life/ |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220110/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/11/26/fidel-castro-divisive-death-life/ |archive-date=10 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |access-date=5 December 2016}}{{cbignore}}</ref> |
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According to political scientists, Castro ruled a single-party [[authoritarian regime]] in Cuba.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Svolik|first=Milan W.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6fUgAwAAQBAJ|title=The Politics of Authoritarian Rule|date=17 September 2012|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-1-139-56107-5|pages=7, 43|language=en|access-date=15 February 2022|archive-date=22 September 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230922145023/https://books.google.com/books?id=6fUgAwAAQBAJ|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Hoffmann|first=Bert|date=1 October 2015|title=The international dimension of authoritarian regime legitimation: insights from the Cuban case|url=https://doi.org/10.1057/jird.2014.9|journal=Journal of International Relations and Development|language=en|volume=18|issue=4|pages=556–574|doi=10.1057/jird.2014.9|issn=1581-1980|s2cid=144107918|access-date=15 February 2022|archive-date=22 September 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230922145028/https://link.springer.com/article/10.1057/jird.2014.9|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Lachapelle|first1=Jean|last2=Levitsky|first2=Steven|last3=Way|first3=Lucan A.|last4=Casey|first4=Adam E.|year=2020|title=Social Revolution and Authoritarian Durability|url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/world-politics/article/abs/social-revolution-and-authoritarian-durability/B62A931E63978E8B8466225EC123D2A9|journal=World Politics|language=en|volume=72|issue=4|pages=557–600|doi=10.1017/S0043887120000106|issn=0043-8871|s2cid=225096277|access-date=15 February 2022|archive-date=21 January 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220121122958/https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/world-politics/article/abs/social-revolution-and-authoritarian-durability/B62A931E63978E8B8466225EC123D2A9|url-status=live}}</ref> Political opposition was not permitted.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Miller |first=Nicola |date=1 January 2003 |title=The Absolution of History: Uses of the Past in Castro's Cuba |url=https://doi.org/10.1177/0022009403038001969 |journal=Journal of Contemporary History |language=en |volume=38 |issue=1 |pages=147–162 |doi=10.1177/0022009403038001969 |issn=0022-0094 |s2cid=153348631 |access-date=15 February 2022 |archive-date=31 December 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211231000655/https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0022009403038001969 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Schedler |first1=Andreas |last2=Hoffmann |first2=Bert |year=2015 |title=Communicating authoritarian elite cohesion |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13510347.2015.1095181 |journal=Democratization |language=en |volume=23 |issue=1 |pages=93–117 |doi=10.1080/13510347.2015.1095181 |issn=1351-0347 |s2cid=146645252 |access-date=15 February 2022 |archive-date=30 December 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211230230953/https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13510347.2015.1095181 |url-status=live }}</ref> According to political scientists Steven Levitsky and Lucan Way, the Cuban regime entailed "full authoritarianism ... (like China and Saudi Arabia)", as there were "no viable channels... for opposition to contest legally for executive power."<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Levitsky|first1=Steven|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NZDI05p1PDgC|title=Competitive Authoritarianism: Hybrid Regimes after the Cold War|last2=Way|first2=Lucan A.|date=16 August 2010|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-1-139-49148-8|pages=6–7|language=en|access-date=17 July 2021|archive-date=9 February 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230209040625/https://books.google.com/books?id=NZDI05p1PDgC|url-status=live}}</ref> Censorship of information was extensive,<ref name="HRW-Cuba-III-1999">{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/cubasrepressivem00huma|title=Impediments to Human rights in Cuban Law (Part III)|date=June 1999|work=Cuba's Repressive Machinery: Human Rights Forty Years After the Revolution|publisher=Human Rights Watch|isbn=1-56432-234-3|access-date=7 August 2012|url-access=registration}}</ref><ref name="Michael C. Moynihan">{{Cite web|last=Moynihan|first=Michael C.|date=22 February 2008|title=Still Stuck on Castro - How the press handled a tyrant's farewell|url=http://www.reason.com/news/show/125095.html|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120920/http://www.reason.com/news/show/125095.html|archive-date=20 September 2012|access-date=25 March 2009}}</ref> and independent journalism was repressed.<ref>{{Cite web|date=3 October 2006|title=62nd General Assembly Reports: Cuba|url=http://www.sipiapa.com/v4/det_informe.php?asamblea=3&infoid=62&idioma=us|access-date=6 August 2012|publisher=Inter American Press Association|archive-date=27 January 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230127232427/http://www.sipiapa.com/v4/det_informe.php?asamblea=3&infoid=62&idioma=us|url-status=live}}</ref> |
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Despite its small size and limited economic weight, Castro's Cuba gained a large role in world affairs.{{sfn|Balfour|1995|p=2}} The Castro government relied heavily on its appeals to nationalistic sentiment, in particular the widespread hostility to the US government.{{sfn|Balfour|1995|p=ix}} According to Balfour, Castro's domestic popularity stemmed from the fact that he symbolized "a long-cherished hope of national liberation and social justice" for much of the population.{{sfn|Balfour|1995|p=3}} Balfour also noted that throughout Latin America, Castro served as "a symbol of defiance against the continued economic and [[cultural imperialism]] of the United States".{{sfn|Balfour|1995|p=170}} Similarly, [[Wayne Smith (diplomat)|Wayne S. Smith]]—the former Chief of the [[United States Interests Section in Havana]]—noted that Castro's opposition to US dominance and transformation of Cuba into a significant world player resulted in him receiving "warm applause" throughout the [[Western Hemisphere]].<ref name="Wayne Smith">{{cite web|url=http://www.tompaine.com/articles/2007/02/02/castros_legacy.php |title=Castro's Legacy |last=Smith |first=Wayne S. |date=2 February 2007 |publisher=TomPaine.com |access-date=7 November 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071011012120/http://www.tompaine.com/articles/2007/02/02/castros_legacy.php |archive-date=11 October 2007 |url-status=dead }}</ref> |
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Various Western governments and human rights organizations nevertheless heavily criticized Castro and he was widely reviled in the US.{{sfn|Coltman|2003|p=290}} Following Castro's death, US [[President-elect of the United States|president-elect]] [[Donald Trump]] called him a "brutal dictator",<ref>{{cite news |title=Donald Trump calls Fidel Castro 'brutal dictator' |date=26 November 2016 |website=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-38118739 |access-date=5 November 2016 |archive-date=26 November 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161126170131/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-38118739 |url-status=live }}</ref> while the Cuban-American politician [[Marco Rubio]] called him "an evil, murderous dictator" who turned Cuba into "an impoverished island prison".<ref>{{cite news |last=Borger |first=Julian |title=Trump and Obama offer divergent responses to death of Fidel Castro |newspaper=[[The Guardian]] |date=26 November 2016 |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/nov/26/fidel-castro-death-obama-trump-response |access-date=5 December 2016 |archive-date=4 December 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161204234445/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/nov/26/fidel-castro-death-obama-trump-response |url-status=live }}</ref> Castro publicly rejected the "dictator" label, stating that he constitutionally held less power than most heads of state and insisting that his regime allowed for greater democratic involvement in policy making than Western liberal democracies.{{sfnm|1a1=Quirk|1y=1993|1p=529|2a1=Coltman|2y=2003|2p=292}} Nevertheless, critics claim that Castro wielded significant unofficial influence aside from his official duties.{{sfn|Coltman|2003|p=292}} Quirk stated that Castro wielded "absolute power" in Cuba, albeit not in a legal or constitutional manner,{{sfn|Quirk|1993|p=501}} while Bourne claimed that power in Cuba was "completely invested" in Castro,{{sfn|Bourne|1986|p=263}} adding that it was very rare for "a country and a people" to have been so completely dominated by "the personality of one man".{{sfn|Bourne|1986|p=295}} Balfour stated that Castro's "moral and political hegemony" within Cuba diminished the opportunities for democratic debate and decision making.{{sfn|Balfour|1995|p=181}} Describing Castro as a "totalitarian dictator",{{sfn|Sondrol|1991|p=606}} Sondrol suggested that in leading "a political system largely [of] his own creation and bearing his indelible stamp", Castro's leadership style warranted comparisons with totalitarian leaders like [[Mao Zedong]], [[Hideki Tojo]], [[Joseph Stalin]], [[Adolf Hitler]], and [[Benito Mussolini]].{{sfn|Sondrol|1991|p=619}} |
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[[File:Ben Bella a la Havane - Cuba.jpg|thumb|Castro with [[Ahmed Ben Bella]], principal leader of the [[Algerian War|Algerian War of Independence]] against French colonial rule; Ben Bella was one of many political figures inspired by Castro{{sfn|Quirk|1993|p=424}}]] |
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Noting that there were "few more polarising political figures" than Castro, [[Amnesty International]] described him as "a progressive but deeply flawed leader". In their view, he should be "applauded" for his regime's "substantial improvements" to healthcare and education, but criticized for its "ruthless suppression of freedom of expression."<ref>{{cite news |title=Fidel Castro: A progressive but deeply flawed leader |publisher=Amnesty International |date=26 November 2016 |url=https://www.amnesty.org.uk/press-releases/fidel-castro-progressive-deeply-flawed-leader |access-date=5 December 2016 |archive-date=15 April 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170415211105/https://www.amnesty.org.uk/press-releases/fidel-castro-progressive-deeply-flawed-leader |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Human Rights Watch]] stated that his government constructed a "repressive machinery" which deprived Cubans of their "basic rights".<ref name="HRW-Castro">{{cite web|title=Cuba: Fidel Castro's Abusive Machinery Remains Intact|publisher=[[Human Rights Watch]]|url=https://www.hrw.org/en/news/2008/02/18/cuba-fidel-castro-s-abusive-machinery-remains-intact|date=18 February 2008|access-date=7 October 2009|archive-date=6 October 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091006175535/http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2008/02/18/cuba-fidel-castro-s-abusive-machinery-remains-intact|url-status=live}}</ref> Castro defended his government's record on human rights, stating that the state was forced to limit the freedoms of individuals and imprison those involved in counter-revolutionary activities to protect the rights of the collective populace, such as the right to employment, education, and health care.{{sfnm|1a1=Quirk|1y=1993|1p=758|2a1=Coltman|2y=2003|2p=247}} |
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Historian and journalist Richard Gott considered Castro to be "one of the most extraordinary political figures of the twentieth century", commenting that he had become a "world hero in the mould" of [[Giuseppe Garibaldi]] to people throughout the developing world for his anti-imperialist efforts.{{sfn|Gott|2004|p=148}} Balfour stated that Castro's story had "few parallels in contemporary history", for there existed no other "Third World{{sic}} leader" in the second half of the twentieth century who held "such a prominent and restless part on the international stage" or remained head of state for such a long period.{{sfn|Balfour|1995|p=1}} Bourne described Castro as "an influential world leader" who commanded "great respect" from individuals of all political ideologies across the developing world.{{sfn|Bourne|1986|p=302}} Canadian prime minister [[Justin Trudeau]] described Castro as a "remarkable leader" and a "larger than life leader who served his people."<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.cnn.com/2016/11/27/world/justin-trudeau-castro-eulogy-parody/index.html|title=O Canada: Trudeau's Castro tribute raises eyebrows|last=Park|first=Maddison|publisher=CNN|date=28 November 2016|access-date=23 May 2021|archive-date=29 November 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161129073854/http://www.cnn.com/2016/11/27/world/justin-trudeau-castro-eulogy-parody/index.html|url-status=live}}</ref> The [[European Commission]] president [[Jean-Claude Juncker]] said that Castro "was a hero for many."<ref>{{cite news |title=Czech, Slovak MEPs 'shocked' by EU comments on Castro |url=https://euobserver.com/institutional/136136 |work=EUobserver |date=5 December 2016 |access-date=3 November 2018 |archive-date=4 November 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181104050312/https://euobserver.com/institutional/136136 |url-status=live }}</ref> Russian president [[Vladimir Putin]] described Castro as both "a sincere and reliable friend of Russia" and a "symbol of an era", while Chinese Communist Party [[General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party|general secretary]] [[Xi Jinping]] similarly referred to him as "a close comrade and a sincere friend" to China.<ref name="AlJaz">{{Cite news |title=Fidel Castro's Death – World Reactions |publisher=Al Jazeera |access-date=5 December 2016 |url=http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2016/11/fidel-castro-death-world-reactions-161126095542185.html |archive-date=5 December 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161205013956/http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2016/11/fidel-castro-death-world-reactions-161126095542185.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Indian prime minister [[Narendra Modi]] termed him "one of the most iconic personalities of the 20th century" and a "great friend", while South African president [[Jacob Zuma]] praised Castro for aiding black South Africans in "our struggle against apartheid".<ref name="AlJaz"/> He was awarded a [[List of awards and honours bestowed upon Fidel Castro|wide variety of awards and honours from foreign governments]] and was cited as an inspiration for foreign leaders like Ahmed Ben Bella{{sfn|Quirk|1993|p=424}} and Nelson Mandela,{{sfn|Sampson|1999|p=192}} who subsequently awarded him South Africa's highest civilian award for foreigners, the [[Order of Good Hope]].<ref>{{cite news|date=6 September 1998|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/165566.stm|title=Castro ends state-visit to South Africa|work=BBC News|access-date=21 May 2006|archive-date=15 January 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090115180134/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/165566.stm|url-status=live}}</ref> The biographer Volker Skierka stated that "he will go down in history as one of the few revolutionaries who remained true to his principles".{{sfn|Skierka|2006|p=xxiv}} |
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==References== |
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===Citations=== |
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{{Reflist|25em}} |
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===Cited works=== |
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{{Refbegin|30em|indent=yes}} |
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*{{cite news |title=The Castro-Chávez Alliance |last=Azicri |first=Max |year=2009 |journal=Latin American Perspectives |volume=36 |number=1 |pages=99–110 |url=http://lap.sagepub.com/content/36/1/99.abstract |issn=1552-678X |access-date=27 February 2015 |archive-date=29 December 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151229033649/http://lap.sagepub.com/content/36/1/99.abstract |url-status=live }} |
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*{{cite book |last=Balfour |first=Sebastian |year=1995 |title=Castro |edition=second |publisher=Longman |location=London and New York |isbn=978-0582437470 |url=https://archive.org/details/castro0000balf_u5r1 }} |
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*{{cite book |title=Cuba Confidential: Love and Vengeance in Miami and Havana |last=Bardach |first=Ann Louise |authorlink=Ann Louise Bardach |year=2007 |publisher=Random House |location=New York |isbn=978-0-307-42542-3 }} |
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*{{cite book |title=Fidel: A Biography of Fidel Castro |url=https://archive.org/details/fidelbiographyof0000bour |url-access=registration |last=Bourne |first=Peter G. |authorlink=Peter Bourne |year=1986 |publisher=Dodd, Mead & Company |location=New York City |isbn=978-0-396-08518-8 }} |
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*{{cite book |title=The Fighting Never Stopped: A Comprehensive Guide to World Conflicts Since 1945 |last=Brogan |first=Patrick |year=1989 |publisher=Vintage Books |location=New York |isbn=0679720332 }} |
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*{{cite book |title=My Life: A Spoken Autobiography |last= Castro |first=Fidel |others=Ramonet, Ignacio (interviewer) |year=2009 |publisher=Scribner |location=New York |isbn=978-1-4165-6233-7 |ref={{harvid|Castro|Ramonet|2009}}}} |
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*{{cite book |title=The Real Fidel Castro |url=https://archive.org/details/realfidelcastro00colt_0 |url-access=registration |last=Coltman |first=Leycester |authorlink=Arthur Leycester Scott Coltman |year=2003 |publisher=Yale University Press |location=New Haven and London |isbn=978-0-300-10760-9 }} |
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*{{cite book |title=Castroism: Theory and Practice |url=https://archive.org/details/castroismtheoryp0000drap |url-access=registration |last=Draper |first=Theodore |location=New York |publisher=Praeger |year=1965 |oclc=485708 }} |
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*{{cite news |title=A Deeper Shade of Green: The Evolution of Cuban Environmental Law and Policy |last=Evenson |first=Fredric |year=2010 |journal=Golden Gate University Law Review |volume=28 |number=3 |url=http://digitalcommons.law.ggu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1733&context=ggulrev |pages=489–525 |oclc=61312828 |access-date=26 February 2015 |archive-date=27 February 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150227014219/http://digitalcommons.law.ggu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1733&context=ggulrev |url-status=live }} |
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*{{cite book |title=Castro's Daughter, An Exile's Memoir of Cuba |last=Fernández |first=Alina | authorlink = Alina Fernández |publisher=[[St. Martin's Press]] |year=1997 |isbn=978-0-312-24293-0}} |
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*{{cite book |title=Family Portrait with Fidel |url=https://archive.org/details/familyportraitwi0000fran |url-access=registration |last=Franqui |first=Carlos |year=1984 |publisher=Random House First Vintage Books |location=New York |isbn=978-0-394-72620-5 }} |
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*{{cite news |title=We Now Know Rethinking Cold War History |last=Gaddis |first=John Lewis|year=1997|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=Oxford|isbn=0-19-878071-0}} |
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*{{cite book |title=The Cuban Intervention in Angola, 1965–1991: From Che Guevara to Cuito Cuanavale|last=George |first=Edward |year=2004 |publisher=Routledge |location=London|isbn=1134269323 }} |
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*{{cite book |title=Guerrilla Prince: The Untold Story of Fidel Castro |last=Geyer |first=Georgie Anne |year=1991 |publisher=Little, Brown and Company |location=New York City |isbn=978-0-316-30893-9 |url=https://archive.org/details/guerrillaprinceu00geye }} |
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*{{cite book |title=Cuba: A New History |last=Gott |first=Richard |authorlink=Richard Gott |year=2004 |publisher=Yale University Press |location=New Haven and London |isbn=978-0-300-10411-0 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/cubanewhistory0000gott }} |
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*{{cite book |title=Visions of Power in Cuba: Revolution, Redemption, and Resistance, 1959–1971 |last=Guerra |first=Lillian |year=2012 |publisher=University of North Carolina Press |location=Chapel Hill |isbn=978-1-4696-1886-9 }} |
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*{{cite book |title=Cuba on My Mind: The Secret Lives of Watergate Burglar Frank Sturgis |last1=Hunt |first1=Jim |last2=Risch |first2=Bob |year=2009 |publisher=Baronakers Publications |location=Amelia, OH |isbn=978-1-4500-0779-5}} |
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*{{cite journal |title=Jose Marti and Fidel Castro |last=Lecuona |first=Rafael A. |journal=International Journal on World Peace |volume=8 |number=1 |year=1991 |pages=45–61 |jstor=20751650 }} |
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*{{cite book |title=Competitive Authoritarianism: Hybrid Regimes after the Cold War |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NZDI05p1PDgC |last1=Levitsky |first1=Steven |author1-link=Steven Levitsky |last2=Way |first2=Lucan A. |year=2010 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-139-49148-8 |language=en |access-date=17 July 2021 |archive-date=9 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230209040625/https://books.google.com/books?id=NZDI05p1PDgC |url-status=live }} |
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*{{cite book |title=Covering Castro: Rise and Decline of Cuba's Communist Dictator |last=Mallin |first=Jay |year=1994 |publisher=Transaction Publishers |location=Piscataway |isbn=978-1-56000-156-0 }} |
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*{{cite book |title=Hugo Chávez: The Definitive Biography of Venezuela's Controversial President |last1=Marcano |first1=Christina |last2=Barrera Tyszka |first2=Alberto |year=2007 |publisher=Random House |location=New York |isbn=978-0-679-45666-7 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/hugochvezthedefi0000marc }} |
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* {{Cite book|title=Historieta de Venezuela: De Macuro a Maduro|last1=Márquez|first1=Laureano|last2=Sanabria|first2=Eduardo|publisher=Gráficas Pedrazas|year=2018|isbn=978-1-7328777-1-9|edition=1st|authorlink=Laureano Márquez}} |
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*{{cite book |title=Fidel Castro |last=Quirk |first=Robert E. |authorlink=Robert E. Quirk |year=1993 |publisher=W.W. Norton & Company |location=New York and London |isbn=978-0-393-03485-1 |url=https://archive.org/details/fidelcastro00robe }} |
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*{{cite book |title=El Clandestinaje y la Lucha Armada Contra Castro |last=Ros |first=Enrique |year=2006 |publisher=Ediciones Universal |location=Miami |isbn=978-1-59388-079-8 }} |
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*{{Cite book |title=Mandela: The Authorised Biography |publisher=HarperCollins |last=Sampson |first=Anthony |authorlink=Anthony Sampson |year=1999 |isbn= 978-0-00-638845-6 |title-link=Mandela: The Authorised Biography }} |
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*{{cite book |title=The Double Life of Fidel Castro: My 17 Years as Personal Bodyguard to El Lider Maximo |last=Sánchez |first=Juan Reinaldo |year=2015 |publisher=[[Penguin Press]] |location=New York |isbn=978-1250068767 |edition=First U.S.}} |
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*{{cite book |title=Fidel Castro: A Biography |last=Skierka |first=Volker |year=2006 |publisher=Polity |location=Cambridge |isbn=978-0-7456-4081-5}} |
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*{{cite book |title=Evo Morales: The Extraordinary Rise of the First Indigenous President of Bolivia |last=Sivak |first=Martín |authorlink=Martín Sivak |year=2010 |publisher= Palgrave MacMillan |location= New York |isbn=978-0-230-62305-7 }} |
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*{{cite journal |doi=10.1017/S0022216X00015868 |title=Totalitarian and Authoritarian Dictators: A Comparison of Fidel Castro and Alfredo Stroessner |first=Paul C. |last=Sondrol |s2cid=144333167 |journal=Journal of Latin American Studies |volume=23 |issue=3 |pages=599–620 |year=1991 |jstor=157386}} |
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*{{cite book |title=The Ethiopian Revolution: War in the Horn of Africa|last=Tareke|first=Gebru |year=2009 |publisher=Yale University Press |location=New Haven |isbn=978-0300156157 }} |
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*{{cite book |title=Red Heat: Conspiracy, Murder, and the Cold War in the Caribbean |last=Von Tunzelmann |first=Alex |authorlink=Alex von Tunzelmann |year=2011 |publisher=Henry Holt and Company |location=New York City |isbn=978-0-8050-9067-3 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/redheatconspirac0000vont }} |
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*{{cite news |title=Protecting Cuba's Environment: Efforts to Design and Implement Effective Environmental Laws and Policies in Cuba |last1=Whittle |first1=Daniel |last2=Rey Santos |first2=Orlando |journal=Cuban Studies |volume=37 |year=2006 |url=http://www.upress.pitt.edu/htmlSourceFiles/pdfs/9780822942917exr.pdf |pages=73–103 |issn=1548-2464 |access-date=5 December 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160819105945/http://www.upress.pitt.edu/htmlSourceFiles/pdfs/9780822942917exr.pdf |archive-date=19 August 2016 |url-status=dead }} |
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*{{cite book |title=Exploring Revolution: Essays on Latin American Insurgency and Revolutionary Theory |last=Wickham-Crowley |first=Timothy P. |year=1990 |publisher=M.E. Sharpe |location=Armonk and London |isbn=978-0-87332-705-3 }} |
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{{refend}} |
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==Further reading== |
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* {{cite book |title=The United States and the Origins of the Cuban Revolution: An Empire of Liberty in an Age of National Liberation |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tjXDKPVUoy0C&q=The+United+States+and+the+Origins+of+the+Cuban+Revolution |last=Benjamin |first=Jules R. |year=1992 |publisher=Princeton University Press |location=Princeton, New Jersey |isbn=978-0-691-02536-0}} |
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* {{cite book |title=The Castro Obsession: U.S. Covert Operations Against Cuba, 1959–1965 |url=https://archive.org/details/castroobsessionu0000bohn |url-access=registration |last=Bohning |first=Don |year=2005 |publisher=Potomac Books, Inc |location=Washington, D.C. |isbn=978-1-57488-676-4}} |
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* {{cite book |first=Peter |last=Roman |year=2003 |title=People's Power: Cuba's Experience with Representative Government |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |isbn=978-0742525658 |url=https://archive.org/details/peoplespowercuba0000roma_l7q3}} |
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* {{cite book |last1=Fabian |first1=Escalante |title=CIA Targets Fidel: The Secret Assassination Report |date=1996 |publisher=Ocean Press |location=PO Bo 1015, North Melbourne, Victoria 3051, Australia |isbn=978-1-875284-90-0 |url=https://spartacus-educational.com/JFKescalante.htm |access-date=22 May 2024}} |
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==External links== |
==External links== |
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{{ |
* {{C-SPAN|15537}} |
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*[http://www. |
* [http://www.cuba.cu/gobierno/discursos/ Fidel Castro's speeches] |
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* [https://www.marxists.org/history/cuba/archive/castro/ Fidel Castro History Archive] at ''[[Marxists Internet Archive]]'' |
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*[http://www.freeinfosociety.com/site.php?postnum=48 Fidel Castro Biography] |
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* {{IMDb name|4242}} |
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*[http://www.socialistworld.net/publications/Cuba/index2.html?/publications/Cuba/cuapp1.html Cuba: Socialism and Democracy by Peter Taaffe] |
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* [https://web.archive.org/web/20161219054644/http://www.imdb.com/character/ch0028277/ Fidel Castro (Character)] on [[IMDb]] |
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*[http://lanic.utexas.edu/la/cb/cuba/castro.html For a collection of Castro's speeches] |
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* [https://vault.fbi.gov/fidel-castro Fidel Castro Records] at FBI Records: The Vault |
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*[http://www.state.gov/p/wha/ci/14776.htm Zenith and Eclipse: A Comparative Look at Socio-Economic Conditions in Pre-Castro and Present Day Cuba], Bureau of Inter-American Affairs, February 9, 1998 |
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* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_pictures/4392634.stm Fidel Castro: A Life in Pictures] – slideshow by ''[[BBC News]]'' |
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*[http://www.vitral.org Vitral magazine editorials] - Magazine published in English and Spanish from Cuba by Cubans independent from Castro's government by the Service of the Civic and Religious Education Center of Pinar del Rio. |
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* [https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5598311 Fidel Castro: From Rebel to El Presidente] – timeline by ''[[NPR]]'' |
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*[http://www.hrw.org/reports/1999/cuba/ Human Rights Watch] - Publication by Human Rights Watch comments about Cuba. |
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* [https://www.cidob.org/lider-politico/fidel-castro-ruz Fidel Castro] – extended biography by ''[[Barcelona Centre for International Affairs]]'' {{in lang|es}} |
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*[http://www.parascope.com/mx/articles/castroreport.htm CIA Inspector General's Report on Plots to Assassinate Castro] |
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* [https://americanarchive.org/catalog/cpb-aacip_15-84mkmc9h Say Brother; 914; Invitation From Cuba] Date N/A, National Records and Archives Administration, [[American Archive of Public Broadcasting]] |
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*[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opposition_to_Castro Opposition to Castro] |
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*[http://www.freedomhouse.org/research/freeworld/2003/countryratings/cuba.htm Political and other freedoms in Cuba] - a report by US-based FreedomHouse. |
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{{Fidel Castro}} |
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==Footnotes== |
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{{s-bef|before=[[Blas Roca Calderio]]|years=1933–1961}} |
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{{s-ttl|title=[[First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba]]<br/><small>Incapacitated in 2006</small>|years=1961–2011}} |
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1. ''San Francisco Chronicle'', 10 January 1977 |
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{{s-bef|before=[[José Miró Cardona]]}} |
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{{s-ttl|title=[[Prime Minister of Cuba]]|years=1959–1976}} |
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{{s-aft|after=Himself<br/><small>(as President of Council of Ministers)</small>}} |
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{{s-bef|before=[[Osvaldo Dorticós Torrado]]|as=[[President of Cuba]]}} |
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2. Bill Schaap, "The 1981 Cuba Dengue Epidemic," Covert Action Information Bulletin, No. 17, Summer 1982, pp 28-31 |
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{{s-ttl|title=[[Council of State (Cuba)|President of the Council of State of Cuba]]<br/><small>Incapacitated in 2006</small>|years=1976–2008}} |
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{{s-aft|after=[[Raúl Castro]]|rows=2}} |
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{{s-bef|before=Himself|as=Prime Minister}} |
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3. ''San Francisco Chronicle'', 29 October 1980, p.15 |
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{{s-ttl|title=[[Council of Ministers (Cuba)|President of the Council of Ministers of Cuba]]<br/><small>Incapacitated in 2006</small>|years=1976–2008}} |
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{{s-mil}} |
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4. Covert Action Information Bulletin, No. 22, Fall 1984, the trial of Eduardo Victor Arocena Perez, Federal District Court for the Southern District of New York, transcript of 10 September 1984, pp. 2187-89 |
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{{s-new|office}} |
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{{s-ttl|title=[[Cuban Revolutionary Armed Forces|Commander-in-Chief of the Revolutionary Armed Forces]]<br/><small>Incapacitated in 2006</small>|years=1959–2008}} |
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{{s-aft|after=[[Raúl Castro]]}} |
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5. Jack Barnes, "Selected Speeches of Fidel Castro." New York: Pathfinder, pp. 11-40 |
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{{s-bef|before=[[J. R. Jayewardene|Junius Richard Jayewardene]]}} |
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{{s-ttl|title=[[Non-Aligned Movement|Secretary-General of the Non-Aligned Movement]]|years=1979–1983}} |
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{{s-aft|after=[[Abdullah Ahmad Badawi]]}} |
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{{s-bef|before=[[Neelam Sanjiva Reddy]]}} |
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{{s-ttl|title=[[Non-Aligned Movement|Secretary-General of the Non-Aligned Movement]]<br/><small>Incapacitated in 2006</small>|years=2005–2008}} |
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[[Category:Presidents of Cuba|Castro, Fidel]] |
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Latest revision as of 07:43, 27 August 2024
![]() | This article may be too long to read and navigate comfortably. When this tag was added, its readable prose size was 18,000 words. (January 2024) |
El Comandante Fidel Castro | |
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![]() Castro c. 1959 | |
First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba | |
In office 3 October 1965 – 19 April 2011 | |
Deputy | Raúl Castro |
Preceded by | Blas Roca Calderio |
Succeeded by | Raúl Castro |
15th President of the Council of State of Cuba | |
In office 2 December 1976 – 24 February 2008[a] | |
Vice President | Raúl Castro |
Preceded by | Osvaldo Dorticós Torrado |
Succeeded by | Raúl Castro |
15th President of the Council of Ministers of Cuba | |
In office 2 December 1976 – 24 February 2008[a] | |
Vice President | Raúl Castro |
Preceded by | Himself (as prime minister) |
Succeeded by | Raúl Castro |
15th Prime Minister of Cuba | |
In office 16 February 1959 – 2 December 1976 | |
President |
|
Preceded by | José Miró Cardona |
Succeeded by | Himself (as president of the Council of Ministers) |
7th and 23rd Secretary-General of the Non-Aligned 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 | J. R. Jayewardene |
Succeeded by | Neelam Sanjiva Reddy |
Personal details | |
Born | Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz 13 August 1926 Birán, Oriente, Cuba |
Died | 25 November 2016 (aged 90) Havana, Cuba |
Resting place | Santa Ifigenia Cemetery, Santiago de Cuba |
Political party | PCC (from 1965) |
Other political affiliations | |
Spouses | |
Domestic partner | Natalia Revuelta Clews (1955–1959) |
Children | 11, including Alina and Fidelito |
Parent |
|
Relatives | |
Alma mater | University of Havana |
Occupation |
|
Awards | Full list |
Signature | ![]() |
Nicknames |
|
Military service | |
Allegiance | Republic of Cuba |
Branch/service | Revolutionary Armed Forces |
Years of service | 1953–2016 |
Rank | Comandante en Jefe |
Unit | 26th of July Movement |
Battles/wars | |
a. ^ For medical reasons, presidential powers were transferred to the Vice President from 31 July 2006. | |
Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz (/ˈkæstroʊ/ KASS-troh,[1] Latin American Spanish: [fiˈðel aleˈxandɾo ˈkastɾo ˈrus]; 13 August 1926 – 25 November 2016) was a Cuban revolutionary and politician who was the leader of Cuba from 1959 to 2008, serving as the prime minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976 and president from 1976 to 2008. Ideologically a Marxist–Leninist and Cuban nationalist, he also served as the first secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba from 1965 until 2011. Under his administration, Cuba became a one-party communist state; industry and business were nationalized, and socialist reforms were implemented throughout society.
Born in Birán, the son of a wealthy Spanish farmer, Castro adopted leftist and anti-imperialist ideas while studying law at the University of Havana. After participating in rebellions against right-wing governments in the Dominican Republic and Colombia, he planned the overthrow of Cuban president Fulgencio Batista, launching a failed attack on the Moncada Barracks in 1953. After a year's imprisonment, Castro travelled to Mexico where he formed a revolutionary group, the 26th of July Movement, with his brother Raúl Castro and Ernesto "Che" Guevara. Returning to Cuba, Castro took a key role in the Cuban Revolution by leading the Movement in a guerrilla war against Batista's forces from the Sierra Maestra. After Batista's overthrow in 1959, Castro assumed military and political power as Cuba's prime minister. The United States came to oppose Castro's government and unsuccessfully attempted to remove him by assassination, economic embargo, and counter-revolution, including the Bay of Pigs Invasion of 1961. Countering these threats, Castro aligned with the Soviet Union and allowed the Soviets to place nuclear weapons in Cuba, resulting in the Cuban Missile Crisis—a defining incident of the Cold War—in 1962.
Adopting a Marxist–Leninist model of development, Castro converted Cuba into a one-party, socialist state under Communist Party rule, the first in the Western Hemisphere. Policies introducing central economic planning and expanding healthcare and education were accompanied by state control of the press and the suppression of internal dissent. Abroad, Castro supported anti-imperialist revolutionary groups, backing the establishment of Marxist governments in Chile, Nicaragua, and Grenada, as well as sending troops to aid allies in the Yom Kippur, Ogaden, and Angolan Civil War. These actions, coupled with Castro's leadership of the Non-Aligned Movement from 1979 to 1983 and Cuban medical internationalism, increased Cuba's profile on the world stage. Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, Castro led Cuba through the economic downturn of the "Special Period", embracing environmentalist and anti-globalization ideas. In the 2000s, Castro forged alliances in the Latin American "pink tide"—namely with Hugo Chávez's Venezuela—and formed the Bolivarian Alliance for the Americas. In 2006, Castro transferred his responsibilities to Vice President Raúl Castro, who was elected to the presidency by the National Assembly in 2008.
The longest-serving non-royal head of state in the 20th and 21st centuries, Castro polarized world opinion. His supporters view him as a champion of socialism and anti-imperialism whose revolutionary government advanced economic and social justice while securing Cuba's independence from American hegemony. His critics view him as a dictator whose administration oversaw human rights abuses, the exodus of many Cubans, and the impoverishment of the country's economy.
Early life and career
Youth: 1926–1947
Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz was born out of wedlock at his father's farm on 13 August 1926.[2] His father, Ángel Castro y Argiz, a veteran of the Spanish–American War,[3] was a migrant to Cuba from Galicia, in the northwest of Spain.[4] He had become financially successful by growing sugarcane at Las Manacas farm in Birán, then in Oriente Province (now Holguín Province).[5] After the collapse of his first marriage he took his household servant, Lina Ruz González (1903–1963)—of Canarian ancestry—as his mistress and later second wife; together they had seven children, among them Fidel.[6] At age six, Castro was sent to live with his teacher in Santiago de Cuba,[7] before being baptized into the Roman Catholic Church at the age of eight.[8] Being baptized enabled Castro to attend the La Salle boarding school in Santiago, where he regularly misbehaved; he was next sent to the privately funded, Jesuit-run Dolores School in Santiago.[9]
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/52/Fidelcastro_colegio_de_belen_1943._Havana_Cuba.jpg/220px-Fidelcastro_colegio_de_belen_1943._Havana_Cuba.jpg)
In 1942, Castro transferred to the Jesuit-run El Colegio de Belén in Havana.[10] Although Castro took an interest in history, geography, and debate at Belén, he did not excel academically, instead devoting much of his time to playing sports.[11] In 1945, Castro began studying law at the University of Havana.[12] Admitting he was "politically illiterate", Castro became embroiled in student activism[13] and the violent gangsterismo culture within the university.[14] After becoming passionate about anti-imperialism and opposing US intervention in the Caribbean,[15] he unsuccessfully campaigned for the presidency of the Federation of University Students on a platform of "honesty, decency and justice".[16] Castro became critical of the corruption and violence of President Ramón Grau's government, delivering a public speech on the subject in November 1946 that received coverage on the front page of several newspapers.[17]
In 1947, Castro joined the Party of the Cuban People (or Orthodox Party; Partido Ortodoxo), founded by veteran politician Eduardo Chibás. A charismatic figure, Chibás advocated social justice, honest government, and political freedom, while his party exposed corruption and demanded reform. Though Chibás came third in the 1948 general election, Castro remained committed to working on his behalf.[18] Student violence escalated after Grau employed gang leaders as police officers, and Castro soon received a death threat urging him to leave the university. However, he refused to do so and began to carry a gun and surround himself with armed friends.[19] In later years, anti-Castro dissidents accused him of committing gang-related assassinations at the time, but these accusations remain unproven.[20] The American historian John Lewis Gaddis wrote that Castro "began his career as a revolutionary with no ideology at all: he was a student politician turned street fighter turned guerrilla, a voracious reader, an interminable speaker, and a pretty good baseball player".[21]
Rebellion and Marxism: 1947–1950
I joined the people; I grabbed a rifle in a police station that collapsed when it was rushed by a crowd. I witnessed the spectacle of a totally spontaneous revolution ... [T]hat experience led me to identify myself even more with the cause of the people. My still incipient Marxist ideas had nothing to do with our conduct—it was a spontaneous reaction on our part, as young people with Martí-an, anti-imperialist, anti-colonialist and pro-democratic ideas.
– Fidel Castro on the Bogotazo, 2009[22]
In June 1947, Castro learned of a planned expedition to overthrow the right-wing government of Rafael Trujillo, a US ally, in the Dominican Republic.[23] Being President of the University Committee for Democracy in the Dominican Republic, Castro joined the expedition.[24] The military force consisted of around 1,200 troops, mostly Cubans and exiled Dominicans, and they intended to sail from Cuba in July 1947. Grau's government stopped the invasion under US pressure, although Castro and many of his comrades evaded arrest.[25] Returning to Havana, Castro took a leading role in student protests against the killing of a high school pupil by government bodyguards.[26] The protests, accompanied by a crackdown on those considered communists, led to violent clashes between activists and police in February 1948, in which Castro was badly beaten.[27] At this point, his public speeches took on a distinctly leftist slant by condemning social and economic inequality in Cuba. In contrast, his former public criticisms had centered on condemning corruption and US imperialism.[27]
In April 1948, Castro travelled to Bogotá, Colombia, leading a Cuban student group sponsored by President Juan Perón's Argentine government. There, the assassination of popular leftist leader Jorge Eliécer Gaitán Ayala led to widespread rioting and clashes between the governing Conservatives—backed by the army—and leftist Liberals.[28] Castro joined the Liberal cause by stealing guns from a police station, but subsequent police investigations concluded that he had not been involved in any killings.[28] In April 1948, the Organization of American States was founded at a summit in Bogotá, leading to protests, which Castro joined.[29]
Returning to Cuba, Castro became a prominent figure in protests against government attempts to raise bus fares.[30] That year, he married Mirta Díaz Balart, a student from a wealthy family, through whom he was exposed to the lifestyle of the Cuban elite. The relationship was a love match, disapproved of by both families, but Díaz Balart's father gave them tens of thousands of dollars, along with Batista,[31] to spend on a three-month New York City honeymoon.[32]
Marxism taught me what society was. I was like a blindfolded man in a forest, who doesn't even know where north or south is. If you don't eventually come to truly understand the history of the class struggle, or at least have a clear idea that society is divided between the rich and the poor, and that some people subjugate and exploit other people, you're lost in a forest, not knowing anything.
– Fidel Castro on discovering Marxism, 2009[33]
That same year, Grau decided not to stand for re-election, which was instead won by his Partido Auténtico's new candidate, Carlos Prío Socarrás.[34] Prío faced widespread protests when members of the MSR, now allied to the police force, assassinated Justo Fuentes, a socialist friend of Castro's. In response, Prío agreed to quell the gangs, but found them too powerful to control.[35] Castro had moved further to the left, influenced by the Marxist writings of Karl Marx, Friedrich Engels, and Vladimir Lenin. He came to interpret Cuba's problems as an integral part of capitalist society, or the "dictatorship of the bourgeoisie", rather than the failings of corrupt politicians, and adopted the Marxist view that meaningful political change could only be brought about by proletariat revolution. Visiting Havana's poorest neighbourhoods, he became active in the student anti-racist campaign.[36]
In September 1949, Mirta gave birth to a son, Fidelito, so the couple moved to a larger Havana flat.[37] Castro continued to put himself at risk, staying active in the city's politics and joining the 30 September Movement, which contained within it both communists and members of the Partido Ortodoxo. The group's purpose was to oppose the influence of the violent gangs within the university; despite his promises, Prío had failed to control the situation, instead offering many of their senior members jobs in government ministries.[38] Castro volunteered to deliver a speech for the Movement on 13 November, exposing the government's secret deals with the gangs and identifying key members. Attracting the attention of the national press, the speech angered the gangs and Castro fled into hiding, first in the countryside and then in the US.[39] Returning to Havana several weeks later, Castro laid low and focused on his university studies, graduating as a Doctor of Law in September 1950.[40]
Career in law and politics: 1950–1952
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/99/BatistaDC1938.jpg/220px-BatistaDC1938.jpg)
Castro co-founded a legal partnership that primarily catered to poor Cubans, although it proved a financial failure.[41] Caring little for money or material goods, Castro failed to pay his bills; his furniture was repossessed and electricity cut off, distressing his wife.[42] He took part in a high school protest in Cienfuegos in November 1950, fighting with police to protest the Education Ministry's ban on student associations; he was arrested and charged for violent conduct, but the magistrate dismissed the charges.[43] His hopes for Cuba still centered on Chibás and the Partido Ortodoxo, and he was present at Chibás' politically motivated suicide in 1951.[44] Seeing himself as Chibás' heir, Castro wanted to run for Congress in the June 1952 elections, though senior Ortodoxo members feared his radical reputation and refused to nominate him.[45] He was instead nominated as a candidate for the House of Representatives by party members in Havana's poorest districts and began campaigning.[45] The Ortodoxo had considerable support and was predicted to do well in the election.[46]
During his campaign, Castro met with General Fulgencio Batista, the former president who had returned to politics with the Unitary Action Party. Batista offered him a place in his administration if he was successful; although both opposed Prío's administration, their meeting never got beyond polite generalities.[47] On 10 March 1952, Batista seized power in a military coup, with Prío fleeing to Mexico. Declaring himself president, Batista cancelled the planned presidential elections, describing his new system as "disciplined democracy"; Castro was deprived of being elected in his run for office by Batista's move, and like many others, considered it a one-man dictatorship.[48] Batista moved to the right, solidifying ties with both the wealthy elite and the United States, severing diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union, suppressing trade unions and persecuting Cuban socialist groups.[49] Intent on opposing Batista, Castro brought several legal cases against the government, but these came to nothing, and Castro began thinking of alternate ways to oust the regime.[50]
Cuban Revolution
The Movement and the Moncada Barracks attack: 1952–1953
Castro formed a group called "The Movement" which operated along a clandestine cell system, publishing underground newspaper El Acusador (The Accuser), while arming and training anti-Batista recruits.[51] From July 1952 they went on a recruitment drive, gaining around 1,200 members in a year, the majority from Havana's poorer districts.[52] Although a revolutionary socialist, Castro avoided an alliance with the communist Popular Socialist Party (PSP), fearing it would frighten away political moderates, but kept in contact with PSP members like his brother Raúl.[53] Castro stockpiled weapons for a planned attack on the Moncada Barracks, a military garrison outside Santiago de Cuba, Oriente. Castro's militants intended to dress in army uniforms and arrive at the base on 25 July, seizing control and raiding the armoury before reinforcements arrived.[54] Supplied with new weaponry, Castro intended to spark a revolution among Oriente's impoverished cane cutters and promote further uprisings.[55] Castro's plan emulated those of the 19th-century Cuban independence fighters who had raided Spanish barracks; Castro saw himself as the heir to independence leader José Martí.[56]
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/17/Fidel_Castro_under_arrest_after_the_Moncada_attack.jpg/220px-Fidel_Castro_under_arrest_after_the_Moncada_attack.jpg)
Castro gathered 165 revolutionaries for the mission,[57] ordering his troops not to cause bloodshed unless they met armed resistance.[58] The attack took place on 26 July 1953, but ran into trouble; 3 of the 16 cars that had set out from Santiago failed to get there. Reaching the barracks, the alarm was raised, with most of the rebels pinned down by machine gun fire. Four were killed before Castro ordered a retreat.[59] The rebels suffered 6 fatalities and 15 other casualties, whilst the army suffered 19 dead and 27 wounded.[60] Meanwhile, some rebels took over a civilian hospital; subsequently stormed by government soldiers, the rebels were rounded up, tortured and 22 were executed without trial.[61] Accompanied by 19 comrades, Castro set out for Gran Piedra in the rugged Sierra Maestra mountains several kilometres to the north, where they could establish a guerrilla base.[62] Responding to the attack, Batista's government proclaimed martial law, ordering a violent crackdown on dissent, and imposing strict media censorship.[63] The government broadcast misinformation about the event, claiming that the rebels were communists who had killed hospital patients, although news and photographs of the army's use of torture and summary executions in Oriente soon spread, causing widespread public and some governmental disapproval.[63]
Over the following days, the rebels were rounded up; some were executed and others—including Castro—transported to a prison north of Santiago.[64] Believing Castro incapable of planning the attack alone, the government accused Ortodoxo and PSP politicians of involvement, putting 122 defendants on trial on 21 September at the Palace of Justice, Santiago.[65] Acting as his own defence counsel, Castro cited Martí as the intellectual author of the attack and convinced the three judges to overrule the army's decision to keep all defendants handcuffed in court, proceeding to argue that the charge with which they were accused—of "organizing an uprising of armed persons against the Constitutional Powers of the State"—was incorrect, for they had risen up against Batista, who had seized power in an unconstitutional manner.[66] The trial embarrassed the army by revealing that they had tortured suspects, after which they tried unsuccessfully to prevent Castro from testifying any further, claiming he was too ill.[67] The trial ended on 5 October, with the acquittal of most defendants; 55 were sentenced to prison terms of between 7 months and 13 years. Castro was sentenced on 16 October, during which he delivered a speech that would be printed under the title of History Will Absolve Me.[68] Castro was sentenced to 15 years' imprisonment in the hospital wing of the Model Prison (Presidio Modelo), a relatively comfortable and modern institution on the Isla de Pinos.[69]
Imprisonment and 26 July Movement: 1953–1955
Imprisoned with 25 comrades, Castro renamed his group the "26th of July Movement" (MR-26-7) in memory of the Moncada attack's date, and formed a school for prisoners.[70] He read widely, enjoying the works of Marx, Lenin, and Martí but also reading books by Freud, Kant, Shakespeare, Munthe, Maugham, and Dostoyevsky, analysing them within a Marxist framework.[71] Corresponding with supporters, he maintained control over the Movement and organized the publication of History Will Absolve Me.[72] Initially permitted a relative amount of freedom within the prison, he was locked up in solitary confinement after inmates sang anti-Batista songs on a visit by the president in February 1954.[73] Meanwhile, Castro's wife Mirta gained employment in the Ministry of the Interior, something he discovered through a radio announcement. Appalled, he raged that he would rather die "a thousand times" than "suffer impotently from such an insult".[74] Both Fidel and Mirta initiated divorce proceedings, with Mirta taking custody of their son Fidelito; this angered Castro, who did not want his son growing up in a bourgeois environment.[74]
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5d/Fidel_Castro_and_his_men_in_the_Sierra_Maestra.jpg/220px-Fidel_Castro_and_his_men_in_the_Sierra_Maestra.jpg)
In 1954, Batista's government held presidential elections, but no politician stood against him; the election was widely considered fraudulent. It had allowed some political opposition to be voiced, and Castro's supporters had agitated for an amnesty for the Moncada incident's perpetrators. Some politicians suggested an amnesty would be good publicity, and the Congress and Batista agreed. Backed by the US and major corporations, Batista believed Castro to be no threat, and on 15 May 1955, the prisoners were released.[75] Returning to Havana, Castro gave radio interviews and press conferences; the government closely monitored him, curtailing his activities.[76] Now divorced, Castro had sexual affairs with two female supporters, Naty Revuelta and Maria Laborde, each conceiving him a child.[77] Setting about strengthening the MR-26-7, he established an 11-person National Directorate but retained autocratic control, with some dissenters labelling him a caudillo (dictator); he argued that a successful revolution could not be run by committee and required a strong leader.[78]
In 1955, bombings and violent demonstrations led to a crackdown on dissent, with Castro and Raúl fleeing the country to evade arrest.[79] Castro sent a letter to the press, declaring that he was "leaving Cuba because all doors of peaceful struggle have been closed to me ... As a follower of Martí, I believe the hour has come to take our rights and not beg for them, to fight instead of pleading for them."[80] The Castros and several comrades travelled to Mexico,[81] where Raúl befriended an Argentine doctor and Marxist–Leninist named Ernesto "Che" Guevara, who was working as a journalist and photographer for "Agencia Latina de Noticias".[82] Fidel liked him, later describing him as "a more advanced revolutionary than I was".[83] Castro also associated with the Spaniard Alberto Bayo, who agreed to teach Castro's rebels the necessary skills in guerrilla warfare.[84] Requiring funding, Castro toured the US in search of wealthy sympathizers, there being monitored by Batista's agents, who allegedly orchestrated a failed assassination attempt against him.[85] Castro kept in contact with the MR-26-7 in Cuba, where they had gained a large support base in Oriente.[86] Other militant anti-Batista groups had sprung up, primarily from the student movement; most notable was the Directorio Revolucionario Estudiantil (DRE), founded by José Antonio Echeverría. Antonio met with Castro in Mexico City, but Castro opposed the student's support for indiscriminate assassination.[87]
After purchasing the decrepit yacht Granma, on 25 November 1956, Castro set sail from Tuxpan, Veracruz, with 81 armed revolutionaries.[88] The 1,900-kilometre (1,200 mi) crossing to Cuba was harsh, with food running low and many suffering seasickness. At some points, they had to bail water caused by a leak, and at another, a man fell overboard, delaying their journey.[89] The plan had been for the crossing to take five days, and on the Granma's scheduled day of arrival, 30 November, MR-26-7 members under Frank País led an armed uprising in Santiago and Manzanillo. However, the Granma's journey ultimately lasted seven days, and with Castro and his men unable to provide reinforcements, País and his militants dispersed after two days of intermittent attacks.[90]
Guerrilla war: 1956–1959
The Granma ran aground in a mangrove swamp at Playa Las Coloradas, close to Los Cayuelos, on 2 December 1956. Fleeing inland, its crew headed for the forested mountain range of Oriente's Sierra Maestra, being repeatedly attacked by Batista's troops.[92] Upon arrival, Castro discovered that only 19 rebels had made it to their destination, the rest having been killed or captured.[93] Setting up an encampment, the survivors included the Castros, Che Guevara, and Camilo Cienfuegos.[94] They began launching raids on small army posts to obtain weaponry, and in January 1957 they overran the outpost at La Plata, treating any soldiers that they wounded but executing Chicho Osorio, the local mayoral (land company overseer), who was despised by the local peasants and who boasted of killing one of Castro's rebels.[95] Osorio's execution aided the rebels in gaining the trust of locals, although they largely remained unenthusiastic and suspicious of the revolutionaries.[96] As trust grew, some locals joined the rebels, although most new recruits came from urban areas.[97] With volunteers boosting the rebel forces to over 200, in July 1957 Castro divided his army into three columns, commanded by himself, his brother, and Guevara.[98] The MR-26-7 members operating in urban areas continued agitation, sending supplies to Castro, and on 16 February 1957, he met with other senior members to discuss tactics; here he met Celia Sánchez, who would become a close friend.[99]
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Across Cuba, anti-Batista groups carried out bombings and sabotage; police responded with mass arrests, torture, and extrajudicial executions.[100] In March 1957, the DRE launched a failed attack on the presidential palace, during which Antonio was shot dead.[100] Batista's government often resorted to brutal methods to keep Cuba's cities under control. In the Sierra Maestra mountains, Castro was joined by Frank Sturgis who offered to train Castro's troops in guerrilla warfare. Castro accepted the offer, but he also had an immediate need for guns and ammunition, so Sturgis became a gunrunner. Sturgis purchased boatloads of weapons and ammunition from Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) weapons expert Samuel Cummings' International Armament Corporation in Alexandria, Virginia. Sturgis opened a training camp in the Sierra Maestra mountains, where he taught Che Guevara and other 26 July Movement rebel soldiers guerrilla warfare.[101] Frank País was also killed, leaving Castro the MR-26-7's unchallenged leader.[102] Although Guevara and Raúl were well known for their Marxist–Leninist views, Castro hid his, hoping to gain the support of less radical revolutionaries.[103] In 1957 he met with leading members of the Partido Ortodoxo, Raúl Chibás and Felipe Pazos, authoring the Sierra Maestra Manifesto, in which they demanded that a provisional civilian government be set up to implement moderate agrarian reform, industrialization, and a literacy campaign before holding multiparty elections.[103] As Cuba's press was censored, Castro contacted foreign media to spread his message; he became a celebrity after being interviewed by Herbert Matthews, a journalist from The New York Times.[104] Reporters from CBS and Paris Match soon followed.[105]
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4f/Luis_Korda_02.jpg/220px-Luis_Korda_02.jpg)
Castro's guerrillas increased their attacks on military outposts, forcing the government to withdraw from the Sierra Maestra region, and by spring 1958, the rebels controlled a hospital, schools, a printing press, slaughterhouse, land-mine factory and a cigar-making factory.[106] By 1958, Batista was under increasing pressure, a result of his military failures coupled with increasing domestic and foreign criticism surrounding his administration's press censorship, torture, and extrajudicial executions.[107] Influenced by anti-Batista sentiment among their citizens, the US government ceased supplying him with weaponry.[107] The opposition called a general strike, accompanied by armed attacks from the MR-26-7. Beginning on 9 April, it received strong support in central and eastern Cuba, but little elsewhere.[108]
Batista responded with an all-out-attack, Operation Verano, in which the army aerially bombarded forested areas and villages suspected of aiding the militants, while 10,000 soldiers commanded by General Eulogio Cantillo surrounded the Sierra Maestra, driving north to the rebel encampments.[109] Despite their numerical and technological superiority, the army had no experience with guerrilla warfare, and Castro halted their offensive using land mines and ambushes.[109] Many of Batista's soldiers defected to Castro's rebels, who also benefited from local popular support.[110] In the summer, the MR-26-7 went on the offensive, pushing the army out of the mountains, with Castro using his columns in a pincer movement to surround the main army concentration in Santiago. By November, Castro's forces controlled most of Oriente and Las Villas, and divided Cuba in two by closing major roads and rail lines, severely disadvantaging Batista.[111]
The US instructed Cantillo to oust Batista due to fears in Washington that Castro was a socialist,[112] which were exacerbated by the association between nationalist and communist movements in Latin America and the links between the Cold War and decolonization.[113] By this time the great majority of Cuban people had turned against the Batista regime. Ambassador to Cuba, E. T. Smith, who felt the whole CIA mission had become too close to the MR-26-7 movement,[114] personally went to Batista and informed him that the US would no longer support him and felt he no longer could control the situation in Cuba. General Cantillo secretly agreed to a ceasefire with Castro, promising that Batista would be tried as a war criminal;[112] however, Batista was warned, and fled into exile with over US$300 million on 31 December 1958.[115] Cantillo entered Havana's Presidential Palace, proclaimed the Supreme Court judge Carlos Piedra to be president, and began appointing the new government.[116] Furious, Castro ended the ceasefire,[117] and ordered Cantillo's arrest by sympathetic figures in the army.[118] Accompanying celebrations at news of Batista's downfall on 1 January 1959, Castro ordered the MR-26-7 to prevent widespread looting and vandalism.[119] Cienfuegos and Guevara led their columns into Havana on 2 January, while Castro entered Santiago and gave a speech invoking the wars of independence.[120] Heading toward Havana, he greeted cheering crowds at every town, giving press conferences and interviews.[121] Castro reached Havana on 9 January 1959.[122]
Provisional government: 1959
At Castro's command, the politically moderate lawyer Manuel Urrutia Lleó was proclaimed provisional president but Castro announced (falsely) that Urrutia had been selected by "popular election". Most of Urrutia's cabinet were MR-26-7 members.[123] Entering Havana, Castro proclaimed himself Representative of the Rebel Armed Forces of the Presidency, setting up home and office in the penthouse of the Havana Hilton Hotel.[124] Castro exercised a great deal of influence over Urrutia's regime, which was now ruling by decree. He ensured that the government implemented policies to cut corruption and fight illiteracy and that it attempted to remove Batistanos from positions of power by dismissing Congress and barring all those elected in the rigged elections of 1954 and 1958 from future office. He then pushed Urrutia to issue a temporary ban on political parties; he repeatedly said that they would eventually hold multiparty elections.[125] Although repeatedly denying that he was a communist to the press, he began clandestinely meeting members of the PSP to discuss the creation of a socialist state.[126]
We are not executing innocent people or political opponents. We are executing murderers and they deserve it.
– Castro's response to his critics regarding the mass executions, 1959[127]
In suppressing the revolution, Batista's government had killed thousands of Cubans; Castro and influential sectors of the press put the death toll at 20,000, but a list of victims published shortly after the revolution contained only 898 names—over half of them combatants.[128] More recent estimates place the death toll between 1,000[129] and 4,000.[130] In response to popular uproar, which demanded that those responsible be brought to justice, Castro helped to set up many trials, resulting in hundreds of executions. Although popular domestically, critics—in particular the US press, argued that many were not fair trials. Castro responded that "revolutionary justice is not based on legal precepts, but on moral conviction."[131] Acclaimed by many across Latin America, he travelled to Venezuela where he met with President-elect Rómulo Betancourt, unsuccessfully requesting a loan and a new deal for Venezuelan oil.[132] Returning home, an argument between Castro and senior government figures broke out. He was infuriated that the government had left thousands unemployed by closing down casinos and brothels. As a result, Prime Minister José Miró Cardona resigned, going into exile in the US and joining the anti-Castro movement.[133]
Premiership
Consolidating leadership: 1959–1960
On 16 February 1959, Castro was sworn in as Prime Minister of Cuba.[134] In April, he visited the US on a charm offensive where President Dwight D. Eisenhower would not meet with him, but instead sent Vice President Richard Nixon, whom Castro instantly disliked.[135] After meeting Castro, Nixon described him to Eisenhower: "The one fact we can be sure of is that Castro has those indefinable qualities which made him a leader of men. Whatever we may think of him he is going to be a great factor in the development of Cuba and very possibly in Latin American affairs generally. He seems to be sincere. He is either incredibly naive about Communism or under Communist discipline-my guess is the former...His ideas as to how to run a government or an economy are less developed than those of almost any world figure I have met in fifty countries. But because he has the power to lead...we have no choice but at least try to orient him in the right direction".[136]
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fe/Ren%C3%A9_L%C3%A9vesque_Fidel_Castro_Montreal_1959.jpg/220px-Ren%C3%A9_L%C3%A9vesque_Fidel_Castro_Montreal_1959.jpg)
Proceeding to Canada,[137][138][139] Trinidad, Brazil, Uruguay and Argentina, Castro attended an economic conference in Buenos Aires, unsuccessfully proposing a $30 billion US-funded "Marshall Plan" for Latin America.[140] In May 1959, Castro signed into law the First Agrarian Reform, setting a cap for landholdings to 993 acres (402 ha) per owner and prohibiting foreigners from obtaining Cuban land ownership. Around 200,000 peasants received title deeds as large land holdings were broken up; popular among the working class, it alienated the richer landowners, including Castro's own mother,[141] whose farmlands were taken.[142] Within a year, Castro and his government had effectively redistributed 15 per cent of the nation's wealth, declaring that "the revolution is the dictatorship of the exploited against the exploiters."[143]
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c5/Sukarno_and_Fidel%2C_1960.jpg/220px-Sukarno_and_Fidel%2C_1960.jpg)
Castro appointed himself president of the National Tourist Industry, introducing unsuccessful measures to encourage African-American tourists to visit, advertising Cuba as a tropical paradise free of racial discrimination.[144] Judges and politicians had their pay reduced while low-level civil servants saw theirs raised,[145] and in March 1959, Castro declared rents for those who paid less than $100 a month halved.[146] The Cuban government also began to expropriate the casinos and properties from mafia leaders and taking millions in cash. Before he died Meyer Lansky said Cuba "ruined" him.[147]
In the summer of 1959, Fidel began nationalizing plantation lands owned by American investors as well as confiscating the property of foreign landowners. He also seized property previously held by wealthy Cubans who had fled.[148][149][150] He nationalized sugar production and oil refinement, over the objection of foreign investors who owned stakes in these commodities.[151][152]
Although then refusing to categorize his regime as socialist and repeatedly denying being a communist, Castro appointed Marxists to senior government and military positions. Most significantly, Che Guevara became Governor of the Central Bank and then Minister of Industries. President Urrutia increasingly expressed concern with the rising influence of Marxism. Angered, Castro in turn announced his resignation as prime minister on 18 July—blaming Urrutia for complicating government with his "fevered anti-Communism". Over 500,000 Castro-supporters surrounded the Presidential Palace demanding Urrutia's resignation, which he submitted. On 23 July, Castro resumed his premiership and appointed Marxist Osvaldo Dorticós as president.[153]
Castro's government emphasised social projects to improve Cuba's standard of living, often to the detriment of economic development.[154] Major emphasis was placed on education, and during the first 30 months of Castro's government, more classrooms were opened than in the previous 30 years. The Cuban primary education system offered a work-study program, with half of the time spent in the classroom, and the other half in a productive activity.[155] Health care was nationalized and expanded, with rural health centers and urban polyclinics opening up across the island to offer free medical aid. Universal vaccination against childhood diseases was implemented, and infant mortality rates were reduced dramatically.[154] A third part of this social program was the improvement of infrastructure. Within the first six months of Castro's government, 1,000 km (600 mi) of roads were built across the island, while $300 million was spent on water and sanitation projects.[154] Over 800 houses were constructed every month in the early years of the administration in an effort to cut homelessness, while nurseries and day-care centers were opened for children and other centers opened for the disabled and elderly.[154]
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/dd/CheLaCoubreMarch.jpg/220px-CheLaCoubreMarch.jpg)
Castro used radio and television to develop a "dialogue with the people", posing questions and making provocative statements.[156] His regime remained popular with workers, peasants, and students, who constituted the majority of the country's population,[157] while opposition came primarily from the middle class; thousands of doctors, engineers and other professionals emigrated to Florida in the US, causing an economic brain drain.[158] Productivity decreased and the country's financial reserves were drained within two years.[146] After conservative press expressed hostility towards the government, the pro-Castro printers' trade union disrupted editorial staff, and in January 1960 the government ordered them to publish a "clarification" written by the printers' union at the end of articles critical of the government.[159] Castro's government arrested hundreds of counter-revolutionaries,[160] many of whom were subjected to solitary confinement, rough treatment, and threatening behaviour.[161] Militant anti-Castro groups, funded by exiles, the CIA, and the Dominican government, undertook armed attacks and set up guerrilla bases in Cuba's mountains, leading to the six-year Escambray Rebellion.[162]
At the time, 1960, the Cold War raged between two superpowers: the United States, a capitalist liberal democracy, and the Soviet Union (USSR), a Marxist–Leninist socialist state ruled by the Communist Party. Expressing contempt for the US, Castro shared the ideological views of the USSR, establishing relations with several Marxist–Leninist states.[163] Meeting with Soviet First Deputy Premier Anastas Mikoyan, Castro agreed to provide the USSR with sugar, fruit, fibres, and hides in return for crude oil, fertilizers, industrial goods, and a $100 million loan.[164] Cuba's government ordered the country's refineries—then controlled by the US corporations Shell and Esso—to process Soviet oil, but under US pressure they refused. Castro responded by expropriating and nationalizing the refineries. Retaliating, the US cancelled its import of Cuban sugar, provoking Castro to nationalize most US-owned assets on the island, including banks and sugar mills.[165]
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Relations between Cuba and the US were further strained following the explosion of a French vessel, the La Coubre, in Havana harbour in March 1960. The ship carried weapons purchased from Belgium, and the cause of the explosion was never determined, but Castro publicly insinuated that the US government was guilty of sabotage. He ended this speech with "¡Patria o Muerte!" ("Fatherland or Death"), a proclamation that he made much use of in ensuing years.[166] Inspired by their earlier success with the 1954 Guatemalan coup d'état, in March 1960, US President Eisenhower authorized the CIA to overthrow Castro's government. He provided them with a budget of $13 million and permitted them to ally with the Mafia, who were aggrieved that Castro's government closed down their brothel and casino businesses in Cuba.[167] On 13 October 1960, the US prohibited the majority of exports to Cuba, initiating an economic embargo. In retaliation, the National Institute for Agrarian Reform INRA took control of 383 private-run businesses on 14 October, and on 25 October a further 166 US companies operating in Cuba had their premises seized and nationalized.[168] On 16 December, the US ended its import quota of Cuban sugar, the country's primary export.[169]
United Nations
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In September 1960, Castro flew to New York City for the General Assembly of the United Nations. Staying at the Hotel Theresa in Harlem, he met with journalists and anti-establishment figures like Malcolm X. Castro had decided to stay in Harlem as a way of expressing solidarity with the poor African-American population living there, thus leading to an assortment of world leaders such as Nasser of Egypt and Nehru of India having to drive out to Harlem to see him.[170] He also met Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev, with the two publicly condemning the poverty and racism faced by Americans in areas like Harlem.[170] Relations between Castro and Khrushchev were warm; they led the applause to one another's speeches at the General Assembly.[171] The opening session of the United Nations General Assembly in September 1960 was a highly rancorous one with Khrushchev famously banging his shoe against his desk to interrupt a speech by Filipino delegate Lorenzo Sumulong, which set the general tone for the debates and speeches.[170] Castro delivered the longest speech ever held before the United Nations General Assembly, speaking for four and a half hours in a speech mostly given over to denouncing American policies towards Latin America.[172][173] Subsequently, visited by Polish first secretary Władysław Gomułka, Bulgarian first secretary Todor Zhivkov, Egyptian president Gamal Abdel Nasser, and Indian premier Jawaharlal Nehru,[174] Castro also received an evening's reception from the Fair Play for Cuba Committee.[175]
Back in Cuba, Castro feared a US-backed coup; in 1959 his regime spent $120 million on Soviet, French, and Belgian weaponry and by early 1960 had doubled the size of Cuba's armed forces.[176] Fearing counter-revolutionary elements in the army, the government created a People's Militia to arm citizens favourable to the revolution, training at least 50,000 civilians in combat techniques.[177] In September 1960, they created the Committees for the Defense of the Revolution (CDR), a nationwide civilian organization which implemented neighbourhood spying to detect counter-revolutionary activities as well as organizing health and education campaigns, becoming a conduit for public complaints. By 1970, a third of the population would be involved in the CDR, and this would eventually rise to 80%.[178]
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Despite the fear of a coup, Castro garnered support in New York City. On 18 February 1961, 400 people—mainly Cubans, Puerto Ricans, and college students—picketed in the rain outside of the United Nations rallying for Castro's anti-colonial values and his effort to reduce the United States' power over Cuba. The protesters held up signs that read, "Mr. Kennedy, Cuba is Not For Sale.", "Viva Fidel Castro!" and "Down With Yankee Imperialism!". Around 200 policemen were on the scene, but the protesters continued to chant slogans and throw pennies in support of Fidel Castro's socialist movement. Some Americans disagreed with President John F. Kennedy's decision to ban trade with Cuba, and outwardly supported his nationalist revolutionary tactics.[179]
Castro proclaimed the new administration a direct democracy, in which Cubans could assemble at demonstrations to express their democratic will. As a result, he rejected the need for elections, claiming that representative democratic systems served the interests of socio-economic elites.[180] US Secretary of State Christian Herter announced that Cuba was adopting the Soviet model of rule, with a one-party state, government control of trade unions, suppression of civil liberties, and the absence of freedom of speech and press.[181]
Bay of Pigs Invasion and "Socialist Cuba": 1961–1962
There was ... no doubt about who the victors were. Cuba's stature in the world soared to new heights, and Fidel's role as the adored and revered leader among ordinary Cuban people received a renewed boost. His popularity was greater than ever. In his own mind he had done what generations of Cubans had only fantasized about: he had taken on the United States and won.
– Peter Bourne, Castro biographer, 1986[182]
In January 1961, Castro ordered Havana's US Embassy to reduce its 300-member staff, suspecting that many of them were spies. The US responded by ending diplomatic relations, and it increased CIA funding for exiled dissidents; these militants began attacking ships that traded with Cuba, and bombed factories, shops, and sugar mills.[183] Both President Eisenhower and his successor President Kennedy supported a CIA plan to aid a dissident militia, the Democratic Revolutionary Front, to invade Cuba and overthrow Castro; the plan resulted in the Bay of Pigs Invasion in April 1961. On 15 April, CIA-supplied B-26s bombed three Cuban military airfields; the US announced that the perpetrators were defecting Cuban air force pilots, but Castro exposed these claims as false flag misinformation.[184] Fearing invasion, he ordered the arrest of between 20,000 and 100,000 suspected counter-revolutionaries,[185] publicly proclaiming, "What the imperialists cannot forgive us, is that we have made a Socialist revolution under their noses", his first announcement that the government was socialist.[186]
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The CIA and the Democratic Revolutionary Front had based a 1,400-strong army, Brigade 2506, in Nicaragua. On the night of 16 to 17 April, Brigade 2506 landed along Cuba's Bay of Pigs and engaged in a firefight with a local revolutionary militia. Castro ordered Captain José Ramón Fernández to launch the counter-offensive, before taking personal control of it. After bombing the invaders' ships and bringing in reinforcements, Castro forced the Brigade to surrender on 20 April.[187] He ordered the 1189 captured rebels to be interrogated by a panel of journalists on live television, personally taking over the questioning on 25 April. Fourteen were put on trial for crimes allegedly committed before the revolution, while the others were returned to the US in exchange for medicine and food valued at US$25 million.[188] Castro's victory reverberated around the world, especially in Latin America, but it also increased internal opposition primarily among the middle-class Cubans who had been detained in the run-up to the invasion. Although most were freed within a few days, many fled to the US, establishing themselves in Florida.[189]
Consolidating "Socialist Cuba", Castro united the MR-26-7, PSP and Revolutionary Directorate into a governing party based on the Leninist principle of democratic centralism: the Integrated Revolutionary Organizations (Organizaciones Revolucionarias Integradas – ORI), renamed the United Party of the Cuban Socialist Revolution (PURSC) in 1962.[190] Although the USSR was hesitant regarding Castro's embrace of socialism,[191] relations with the Soviets deepened. Castro sent Fidelito for a Moscow schooling,[192] Soviet technicians arrived on the island,[192] and Castro was awarded the Lenin Peace Prize.[193] In December 1961, Castro admitted that he had been a Marxist–Leninist for years, and in his Second Declaration of Havana he called on Latin America to rise up in revolution.[194] In response, the US successfully pushed the Organization of American States to expel Cuba; the Soviets privately reprimanded Castro for recklessness, although he received praise from China.[195] Despite their ideological affinity with China, in the Sino-Soviet split, Cuba allied with the wealthier Soviets, who offered economic and military aid.[196]
The ORI began shaping Cuba using the Soviet model, persecuting political opponents and perceived social deviants such as prostitutes and homosexuals; Castro considered same-sex sexual activity a bourgeois trait.[197] Gay men were forced into the Military Units to Aid Production (Unidades Militares de Ayuda a la Producción – UMAP); after many revolutionary intellectuals decried this move, the UMAP camps were closed in 1967, although gay men continued to be imprisoned.[198] By 1962, Cuba's economy was in steep decline, a result of poor economic management and low productivity coupled with the US trade embargo. Food shortages led to rationing, resulting in protests in Cárdenas.[199] Security reports indicated that many Cubans associated austerity with the "Old Communists" of the PSP, while Castro considered a number of them—namely Aníbal Escalante and Blas Roca—unduly loyal to Moscow. In March 1962 Castro removed the most prominent "Old Communists" from office, labelling them "sectarian".[200] On a personal level, Castro was increasingly lonely, and his relations with Guevara became strained as the latter became increasingly anti-Soviet and pro-Chinese.[201]
Cuban Missile Crisis and furthering socialism: 1962–1968
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Militarily weaker than NATO, Khrushchev wanted to install Soviet R-12 MRBM nuclear missiles on Cuba to even the power balance.[202] Although conflicted, Castro agreed, believing it would guarantee Cuba's safety and enhance the cause of socialism.[203] Undertaken in secrecy, only the Castro brothers, Guevara, Dorticós and security chief Ramiro Valdés knew the full plan.[204] Upon discovering it through aerial reconnaissance, in October the US implemented an island-wide quarantine to search vessels headed to Cuba, sparking the Cuban Missile Crisis. The US saw the missiles as offensive; Castro insisted they were for defence only.[205] Castro urged that Khrushchev should launch a nuclear strike on the US if Cuba were invaded, but Khrushchev was desperate to avoid nuclear war.[206][207] Castro was left out of the negotiations, in which Khrushchev agreed to remove the missiles in exchange for a US commitment not to invade Cuba and an understanding that the US would remove their MRBMs from Turkey and Italy.[208] Feeling betrayed by Khrushchev, Castro was furious and soon fell ill.[209] Proposing a five-point plan, Castro demanded that the US end its embargo, withdraw from Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, cease supporting dissidents, and stop violating Cuban air space and territorial waters. He presented these demands to U Thant, visiting Secretary-General of the United Nations, but the US ignored them. In turn Castro refused to allow the UN's inspection team into Cuba.[210]
In May 1963, Castro visited the USSR at Khrushchev's personal invitation, touring 14 cities, addressing a Red Square rally, and being awarded both the Order of Lenin and an honorary doctorate from Moscow State University.[211] Castro returned to Cuba with new ideas; inspired by Soviet newspaper Pravda, he amalgamated Hoy and Revolución into a new daily, Granma,[212] and oversaw large investment into Cuban sport that resulted in an increased international sporting reputation.[213] Seeking to further consolidate control, in 1963 the government cracked down on Protestant sects in Cuba, with Castro labelling them counter-revolutionary "instruments of imperialism"; many preachers were found guilty of illegal US links and imprisoned.[214] Measures were implemented to force perceived idle and delinquent youths to work, primarily through the introduction of mandatory military service.[215] In September, the government temporarily permitted emigration for anyone other than males aged between 15 and 26, thereby ridding the government of thousands of critics, most of whom were from upper and middle-class backgrounds.[216] In 1963, Castro's mother died. This was the last time his private life was reported in Cuba's press.[217] In January 1964, Castro returned to Moscow, officially to sign a new five-year sugar trade agreement, but also to discuss the ramifications of the assassination of John F. Kennedy.[218] Castro was deeply concerned by the assassination, believing that a far-right conspiracy was behind it but that the Cubans would be blamed.[219] In October 1965, the Integrated Revolutionary Organizations was officially renamed the "Cuban Communist Party" and published the membership of its Central Committee.[220]
The greatest threat presented by Castro's Cuba is as an example to other Latin American states which are beset by poverty, corruption, feudalism, and plutocratic exploitation ... his influence in Latin America might be overwhelming and irresistible if, with Soviet help, he could establish in Cuba a Communist utopia.
– Walter Lippmann, Newsweek, 27 April 1964[221]
Despite Soviet misgivings, Castro continued to call for global revolution, funding militant leftists and those engaged in national liberation struggles. Cuba's foreign policy was strongly anti-imperialist, believing that every nation should control its own natural resources.[222] He supported Che Guevara's "Andean project", an unsuccessful plan to set up a guerrilla movement in the highlands of Bolivia, Peru and Argentina. He allowed revolutionary groups from around the world, from the Viet Cong to the Black Panthers, to train in Cuba.[223] He considered Western-dominated Africa to be ripe for revolution and sent troops and medics to aid Ahmed Ben Bella's socialist regime in Algeria during the Sand War. He also allied with Alphonse Massamba-Débat's socialist government in Congo-Brazzaville. In 1965, Castro authorized Che Guevara to travel to Congo-Kinshasa to train revolutionaries against the Western-backed government.[224] Castro was personally devastated when Guevara was killed by CIA-backed troops in Bolivia in October 1967 and publicly attributed it to Guevara's disregard for his own safety.[225]
In 1966, Castro staged a Tri-Continental Conference of Africa, Asia and Latin America in Havana, further establishing himself as a significant player on the world stage.[226] From this conference, Castro created the Latin American Solidarity Organization (OLAS), which adopted the slogan of "The duty of a revolution is to make revolution", signifying Havana's leadership of Latin America's revolutionary movement.[227]
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Castro's increasing role on the world stage strained his relationship with the USSR, now under the leadership of Leonid Brezhnev. Asserting Cuba's independence, Castro refused to sign the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, declaring it a Soviet-US attempt to dominate the Third World.[228] Diverting from Soviet Marxist doctrine, he suggested that Cuban society could evolve straight to pure communism rather than gradually progress through various stages of socialism.[229] In turn, the Soviet-loyalist Aníbal Escalante began organizing a government network of opposition to Castro, though in January 1968, he and his supporters were arrested for allegedly passing state secrets to Moscow.[230] Recognising Cuba's economic dependence on the Soviets, Castro relented to Brezhnev's pressure to be obedient, and in August 1968 he denounced the leaders of the Prague Spring and praised the Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia.[231][232]
Influenced by China's Great Leap Forward, in 1968 Castro proclaimed a Great Revolutionary Offensive, closing all remaining privately owned shops and businesses and denouncing their owners as capitalist counterrevolutionaries.[233] The severe lack of consumer goods for purchase led productivity to decline, as large sectors of the population felt little incentive to work hard.[234] This was exacerbated by the perception that a revolutionary elite had emerged, consisting of those connected to the administration; they had access to better housing, private transportation, servants, and the ability to purchase luxury goods abroad.[235]
Economic stagnation and Third World politics: 1969–1974
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Castro publicly celebrated his administration's 10th anniversary in January 1969; in his celebratory speech he warned of sugar rations, reflecting the nation's economic problems.[236] The 1969 crop was heavily damaged by a hurricane, and to meet its export quota, the government drafted in the army, implemented a seven-day working week, and postponed public holidays to lengthen the harvest.[237] When that year's production quota was not met, Castro offered to resign during a public speech, but assembled crowds insisted he remain.[238] Despite the economic issues, many of Castro's social reforms were popular, with the population largely supportive of the "Achievements of the Revolution" in education, medical care, housing, and road construction, as well as the policies of "direct democratic" public consultation.[239] Seeking Soviet help, from 1970 to 1972 Soviet economists re-organized Cuba's economy, founding the Cuban-Soviet Commission of Economic, Scientific and Technical Collaboration, while Soviet premier Alexei Kosygin visited in October 1971.[240] In July 1972, Cuba joined the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (Comecon), an economic organization of socialist states, although this further limited Cuba's economy to agricultural production.[241]
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In May 1970, the crews of two Cuban fishing boats were kidnapped by Florida-based dissident group Alpha 66, who demanded that Cuba release imprisoned militants. Under US pressure, the hostages were released, and Castro welcomed them back as heroes.[242] In April 1971, Castro was internationally condemned for ordering the arrest of dissident poet Heberto Padilla who had been arrested 20 March; Padilla was freed, but the government established the National Cultural Council to ensure that intellectuals and artists supported the administration.[243]
In November 1971, Castro visited Chile, where Marxist President Salvador Allende had been elected as the head of a left-wing coalition. Castro supported Allende's socialist reforms but warned him of right-wing elements in Chile's military. In 1973, the military led a coup d'état and established a military junta led by Augusto Pinochet.[244] Castro proceeded to Guinea to meet socialist President Sékou Touré, praising him as Africa's greatest leader, and there received the Order of Fidelity to the People.[245] He then went on a seven-week tour visiting leftist allies: Algeria, Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, East Germany, Czechoslovakia and the Soviet Union, where he was given further awards. On each trip, he was eager to visit factory and farm workers, publicly praising their governments; privately, he urged the regimes to aid revolutionary movements elsewhere, particularly those fighting the Vietnam War.[246]
In September 1973, he returned to Algiers to attend the Fourth Summit of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM). Various NAM members were critical of Castro's attendance, claiming that Cuba was aligned to the Warsaw Pact and therefore should not be at the conference.[247] At the conference he publicly broke off relations with Israel, citing its government's close relationship with the US and its treatment of Palestinians during the Israel–Palestine conflict. This earned Castro respect throughout the Arab world, in particular from the Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, who became a friend and ally.[248] As the Yom Kippur War broke out in October 1973 between Israel and an Arab coalition led by Egypt and Syria, Cuba sent 4,000 troops to aid Syria.[249] Leaving Algiers, Castro visited Iraq and North Vietnam.[250]
Cuba's economy grew in 1974 as a result of high international sugar prices and new credits with Argentina, Canada, and parts of Western Europe.[251] A number of Latin American states called for Cuba's re-admittance into the Organization of American States (OAS), with the US finally conceding in 1975 on Henry Kissinger's advice.[252] Cuba's government underwent a restructuring along Soviet lines, claiming that this would further democratization and decentralize power away from Castro. Officially announcing Cuba's identity as a socialist state, the first National Congress of the Cuban Communist Party was held, and a new constitution drafted that abolished the position of president and prime minister. Castro remained the dominant figure in governance, taking the presidency of the newly created Council of State and Council of Ministers, making him both head of state and head of government.[253]
Presidency
Foreign wars and NAM Presidency: 1975–1979
Castro considered Africa to be "the weakest link in the imperialist chain", and at the request of Agostinho Neto he ordered 230 military advisers into Angola in November 1975 to aid Neto's Marxist MPLA in the Angolan Civil War. When the US and South Africa stepped up their support of the opposition FLNA and UNITA, Castro ordered a further 18,000 troops to Angola, which played a major role in forcing a South African and UNITA retreat.[254] The decision to intervene in Angola has been a controversial one, all the more so as Castro's critics have charged that it was not his decision at all, contending that the Soviets ordered him to do so.[255] Castro always maintained that he took the decision to launch Operation Carlota himself in response to an appeal from Neto and that the Soviets were in fact opposed to Cuban intervention in Angola, which took place over their opposition.[256]
Traveling to Angola, Castro celebrated with Neto, Sékou Touré and Guinea-Bissaun president Luís Cabral, where they agreed to support Mozambique's Marxist–Leninist government against RENAMO in the Mozambican Civil War.[257] In February, Castro visited Algeria and then Libya, where he spent ten days with Gaddafi and oversaw the establishment of the Jamahariya system of governance, before attending talks with the Marxist government of South Yemen. From there he proceeded to Somalia, Tanzania, Mozambique and Angola where he was greeted by crowds as a hero for Cuba's role in opposing apartheid South Africa.[258] Throughout much of Africa he was hailed as a friend to national liberation from foreign dominance.[259] This was followed with visits to East Berlin and Moscow.[260]
There is often talk of human rights, but it is also necessary to talk of the rights of humanity. Why should some people walk barefoot, so that others can travel in luxurious cars? Why should some live for thirty-five years, so that others can live for seventy years? Why should some be miserably poor, so that others can be hugely rich? I speak on behalf of the children in the world who do not have a piece of bread. I speak on the behalf of the sick who have no medicine, of those whose rights to life and human dignity have been denied.
– Fidel Castro's message to the UN General Assembly, 1979[261]
In 1977, the Ogaden War broke out over the disputed Ogaden region as Somalia invaded Ethiopia; although a former ally of Somali president Siad Barre, Castro had warned him against such action, and Cuba sided with Mengistu Haile Mariam's Marxist government of Ethiopia. In a desperate attempt to stop the war, Castro had a summit with Barre where he proposed a federation of Ethiopia, Somalia, and South Yemen as an alternative to war.[262] Barre who saw seizing the Ogaden as the first step towards creating a greater Somalia that would unite all of the Somalis into one state rejected the federation offer and decided upon war.[262] Castro sent troops under the command of General Arnaldo Ochoa to aid the overwhelmed Ethiopian army. Mengistu's regime was barely hanging on by 1977, having lost one-third of its army in Eritrea at the time of the Somali invasion.[263] The intervention of 17,000 Cuban troops into the Ogaden was by all accounts decisive in altering a war that Ethiopia was on the brink of losing into a victory.[264]
After forcing back the Somalis, Mengistu then ordered the Ethiopians to suppress the Eritrean People's Liberation Front, a measure Castro refused to support.[265] Castro extended support to Latin American revolutionary movements, namely the Sandinista National Liberation Front in its overthrow of the Nicaraguan rightist government of Anastasio Somoza Debayle in July 1979.[266] Castro's critics accused the government of wasting Cuban lives in these military endeavours; the anti-Castro Center for a Free Cuba has claimed that an estimated 14,000 Cubans were killed in foreign Cuban military actions.[267] When American critics claimed that Castro had no right to interfere in these nations, he countered that Cuba had been invited into them, pointing out the US's own involvement in various foreign nations.[268] Between 1979 and 1991 about 370,000 Cuban troops together with 50,000 Cuban civilians (mostly teachers and doctors) served in Angola, representing about 5% of Cuba's population.[269] The Cuban intervention in Angola was envisioned as a short-term commitment, but the Angolan government used the profits from the oil industry to subsidize Cuba's economy, making Cuba as economically dependent upon Angola as Angola was militarily dependent upon Cuba.[269]
In the late 1970s, Cuba's relations with North American states improved during the period with Mexican president Luis Echeverría, Canadian prime minister Pierre Trudeau,[270] and US president Jimmy Carter in power. Carter continued criticizing Cuba's human rights abuses but adopted a respectful approach which gained Castro's attention. Considering Carter well-meaning and sincere, Castro freed certain political prisoners and allowed some Cuban exiles to visit relatives on the island, hoping that in turn Carter would abolish the economic embargo and stop CIA support for militant dissidents.[271] Conversely, his relationship with China declined, as he accused Deng Xiaoping's Chinese government of betraying their revolutionary principles by initiating trade links with the US and attacking Vietnam.[272] In 1979, the Conference of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) was held in Havana, where Castro was selected as NAM president, a position he held until 1982. In his capacity as both president of the NAM and of Cuba he appeared at the United Nations General Assembly in October 1979 and gave a speech on the disparity between the world's rich and poor. His speech was greeted with much applause from other world leaders,[273] though his standing in NAM was damaged by Cuba's refusal to condemn the Soviet intervention in Afghanistan.[274]
Reagan and Gorbachev: 1980–1991
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By the 1980s, Cuba's economy was again in trouble, following a decline in the market price of sugar and 1979's decimated harvest.[275] For the first time, unemployment became a serious problem in Castro's Cuba, with the government sending unemployed youth to other countries, primarily East Germany, to work there.[276] Desperate for money, Cuba's government secretly sold off paintings from national collections and illicitly traded for US electronic goods through Panama.[277] Increasing numbers of Cubans fled to Florida but were labelled "scum" and "lumpen" by Castro and his CDR supporters.[278] In one incident, 10,000 Cubans stormed the Peruvian Embassy requesting asylum, and so the US agreed that it would accept 3,500 refugees. Castro conceded that those who wanted to leave could do so from Mariel port. In what was known as the Mariel boatlift, hundreds of boats arrived from the US, leading to a mass exodus of 120,000; Castro's government took advantage of the situation by loading criminals, the mentally ill, and homosexuals onto the boats destined for Florida.[279] The event destabilized Carter's administration, and later, in 1980, Ronald Reagan was elected US president.
Reagan's administration adopted a hard-line approach against Castro, making its desire to overthrow his regime clear.[280] In late 1981, Castro publicly accused the US of biological warfare against Cuba by orchestrating a dengue fever epidemic.[281] Cuba's economy became even more dependent on Soviet aid, with Soviet subsidies (mainly in the form of supplies of low-cost oil and voluntarily buying Cuban sugar at inflated prices) averaging $4–5 billion a year by the late 1980s.[282] This accounted for 30–38% of the country's entire GDP.[283] Soviet economic assistance had not helped Cuba's long-term growth prospects by promoting diversification or sustainability. Although described as a "relatively highly developed Latin American export economy" in 1959 and the early 1960s, Cuba's basic economic structure changed very little between then and the 1980s. Tobacco products such as cigars and cigarettes were the only manufactured products among Cuba's leading exports and were produced using an expensive and labor-intensive pre-industrial process. The Cuban economy remained highly inefficient and over-specialized in a few highly subsidized commodities exported primarily to the Soviet bloc countries.[284]
Although despising Argentina's right-wing military junta, Castro supported them in the 1982 Falklands War against Britain and offered military aid to the Argentinians.[285] Castro supported the leftist New Jewel Movement that seized power in Grenada in 1979, befriending Grenadine president Maurice Bishop and sending doctors, teachers, and technicians to aid the country's development. When Bishop was executed in a Soviet-backed coup by hard-line Marxist Bernard Coard in October 1983, Castro condemned the killing but cautiously retained support for Grenada's government. However, the US used the coup as a basis for invading the island. Cuban soldiers died in the conflict, with Castro denouncing the invasion and comparing the US to Nazi Germany.[286] In a July 1983 speech marking the 30th anniversary of the Cuban Revolution, Castro condemned Reagan's administration as a "reactionary, extremist clique" who were waging an "openly warmongering and fascist foreign policy".[287] Castro feared a US invasion of Nicaragua and sent Ochoa to train the governing Sandinistas in guerrilla warfare but received little support from the USSR.[288]
In 1985, Mikhail Gorbachev became Secretary-General of the Soviet Communist Party; a reformer, he implemented measures to increase freedom of the press (glasnost) and economic decentralization (perestroika) in an attempt to strengthen socialism. Like many orthodox Marxist critics, Castro feared that the reforms would weaken the socialist state and allow capitalist elements to regain control.[289] Gorbachev conceded to US demands to reduce support for Cuba,[290] with Soviet-Cuban relations deteriorating.[291] On medical advice given him in October 1985, Castro gave up regularly smoking Cuban cigars, helping to set an example for the rest of the populace.[292] Castro became passionate in his denunciation of the Third World debt problem, arguing that the Third World would never escape the debt that First World banks and governments imposed upon it. In 1985, Havana hosted five international conferences on the world debt problem.[277]
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By November 1987, Castro began spending more time on the Angolan Civil War, in which the Marxist MPLA government had fallen into retreat. Angolan president José Eduardo dos Santos successfully appealed for more Cuban troops, with Castro later admitting that he devoted more time to Angola than to the domestic situation, believing that a victory would lead to the collapse of apartheid. In response to the siege of Cuito Cuanavale in 1987–1988 by South African–UNITA forces, Castro sent an additional 12,000 Cuban Army troops to Angola in late 1987.[293] From afar in Havana, Castro was closely involved in the decision-making about the defence of Cuito Cuanavle and came into conflict with Ochoa, whom he criticized for almost losing Cuito Cuanavle to a South African-UNITA assault on 13 January 1988 despite warning for almost two months prior that such an attack was coming.[294] On 30 January 1988, Ochoa was summoned to a meeting with Castro in Havana where he was told that Cuito Cuanavale must not fall and to execute Castro's plans for a pull-back to more defensible positions over the objections of the Angolans.[295] The Cuban troops played a decisive role in the relief of Cuito Cuanavale, breaking the siege in March 1988, which led to the withdrawal of most of the South African troops from Angola.[293] Cuban propaganda turned the siege of Cuito Cuanavle into a decisive victory that changed the course of African history and Castro awarded 82 soldiers medals of the newly created Medal of Merit for the Defense of Cuito Cuanavle on 1 April 1988.[296] Tensions were increased with the Cubans advancing close to the border of Namibia, which led to warnings from the South African government that they considered this an extremely unfriendly act, causing South Africa to mobilize and call up its reserves.[293] In the spring of 1988, the intensity of South African-Cuban fighting drastically increased with both sides taking heavy losses.[297]
The prospect of an all-out Cuban-South African war served to concentrate minds in both Moscow and Washington and led to an increased push for a diplomatic solution to the Angolan war.[293] The cost of Cuba's wars in Africa were paid for with Soviet subsidies at a time when the Soviet economy was badly hurt by low oil prices while the apartheid government of South Africa had by the 1980s become a very awkward American ally as much of the American population, especially black Americans, objected to apartheid. From the viewpoint of both Moscow and Washington, having both Cuba and South Africa disengage in Angola was the best possible outcome.[293] The low oil prices of the 1980s had also changed the Angolan attitude about subsidizing the Cuban economy as dos Santos found the promises made in the 1970s when oil prices were high to be a serious drain upon Angola's economy in the 1980s.[269] South African whites were vastly outnumbered by South African blacks, and accordingly the South African Army could not take heavy losses with its white troops as that would fatally weaken the ability of the South African state to uphold apartheid.[298] The Cubans had also taken heavy losses while the increasing difficult relations with dos Santos who become less generous in subsidizing the Cuban economy suggested that such losses were not worth the cost.[299] Gorbachev called for a negotiated end to the conflict and in 1988 organized a quadripartite talk between the USSR, US, Cuba and South Africa; they agreed that all foreign troops would pull out of Angola while South Africa agreed to grant independence to Namibia. Castro was angered by Gorbachev's approach, believing that he was abandoning the plight of the world's poor in favour of détente.[300]
When Gorbachev visited Cuba in April 1989, he informed Castro that perestroika meant an end to subsidies for Cuba.[301] Ignoring calls for liberalization in accordance with the Soviet example, Castro continued to clamp down on internal dissidents and in particular kept tabs on the military, the primary threat to the government. A number of senior military officers, including Ochoa and Tony de la Guardia, were investigated for corruption and complicity in cocaine smuggling, tried, and executed in 1989, despite calls for leniency.[302] In Eastern Europe, socialist governments fell to capitalist reformers between 1989 and 1991 and many Western observers expected the same in Cuba.[303] Increasingly isolated, Cuba improved relations with Manuel Noriega's right-wing government in Panama—despite Castro's personal hatred of Noriega—but it was overthrown in a US invasion in December 1989.[304] In February 1990, Castro's allies in Nicaragua, President Daniel Ortega and the Sandinistas, were defeated by the US-funded National Opposition Union in an election.[305] With the collapse of the Soviet bloc, the US secured a majority vote for a resolution condemning Cuba's human rights violations at the United Nations Human Rights Commission in Geneva, Switzerland. Cuba asserted that this was a manifestation of US hegemony and refused to allow an investigative delegation to enter the country.[306]
Special Period: 1992–2000
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With favourable trade from the Soviet bloc ended, Castro publicly declared that Cuba was entering a "Special Period in Time of Peace". Petrol rations were dramatically reduced, Chinese bicycles were imported to replace cars, and factories performing non-essential tasks were shut down. Oxen began to replace tractors; firewood began being used for cooking and electricity cuts were introduced that lasted 16 hours a day. Castro admitted that Cuba faced the worst situation short of open war, and that the country might have to resort to subsistence farming.[307] By 1992, Cuba's economy had declined by over 40% in under two years, with major food shortages, widespread malnutrition and a lack of basic goods.[308] Castro hoped for a restoration of Marxism–Leninism in the USSR but refrained from backing the 1991 coup in that country.[309] When Gorbachev regained control, Cuba-Soviet relations deteriorated further, and Soviet troops were withdrawn in September 1991.[310] In December, the Soviet Union was officially dissolved as Boris Yeltsin abolished the Soviet Communist Party and introducing a capitalist multiparty democracy. Yeltsin despised Castro and developed links with the Miami-based Cuban American National Foundation.[311] Castro tried improving relations with the capitalist nations. He welcomed Western politicians and investors to Cuba, befriended Manuel Fraga and took a particular interest in Margaret Thatcher's policies in the UK, believing that Cuban socialism could learn from her emphasis on low taxation and personal initiative.[312] He ceased support for foreign militants, refrained from praising FARC on a 1994 visit to Colombia and called for a negotiated settlement between the Zapatistas and Mexican government in 1995. Publicly, he presented himself as a moderate on the world stage.[313]
In 1991, Havana hosted the Pan American Games, which involved construction of a stadium and accommodation for the athletes; Castro admitted that it was an expensive error, but it was a success for Cuba's government. Crowds regularly shouted "Fidel! Fidel!" in front of foreign journalists, while Cuba became the first Latin American nation to beat the US to the top of the gold-medal table.[314] Support for Castro remained strong, and although there were small anti-government demonstrations, the Cuban opposition rejected the exile community's calls for an armed uprising.[315] In August 1994, Havana witnessed the largest anti-Castro demonstration in Cuban history, as 200 to 300 young men threw stones at police, demanding that they be allowed to emigrate to Miami. A larger pro-Castro crowd confronted them, who were joined by Castro; he informed media that the men were anti-socials misled by the US. The protests dispersed with no recorded injuries.[316] Fearing that dissident groups would invade, the government organized the "War of All the People" defence strategy, planning a widespread guerrilla warfare campaign, and the unemployed were given jobs building a network of bunkers and tunnels across the country.[317]
We do not have a smidgen of capitalism or neo-liberalism. We are facing a world completely ruled by neo-liberalism and capitalism. This does not mean that we are going to surrender. It means that we have to adopt to the reality of that world. That is what we are doing, with great equanimity, without giving up our ideals, our goals. I ask you to have trust in what the government and party are doing. They are defending, to the last atom, socialist ideas, principles and goals.
– Fidel Castro explaining the reforms of the Special Period[318]
Castro believed in the need for reform if Cuban socialism was to survive in a world now dominated by capitalist free markets. In October 1991, the Fourth Congress of the Cuban Communist Party was held in Santiago, at which a number of important changes to the government were announced. Castro would step down as head of government, to be replaced by the much younger Carlos Lage, although Castro would remain the head of the Communist Party and commander-in-chief of the armed forces. Many older members of government were to be retired and replaced by their younger counterparts. A number of economic changes were proposed, and subsequently put to a national referendum. Free farmers' markets and small-scale private enterprises would be legalized in an attempt to stimulate economic growth, while US dollars were also made legal tender. Certain restrictions on emigration were eased, allowing more discontented Cuban citizens to move to the United States. Further democratization was to be brought in by having the National Assembly's members elected directly by the people, rather than through municipal and provincial assemblies. Castro welcomed debate between proponents and opponents of the economics reforms—although over time he began to increasingly sympathise with the opponent's positions, arguing that such reforms must be delayed.[319]
Castro's government diversified its economy into biotechnology and tourism, the latter outstripping Cuba's sugar industry as its primary source of revenue in 1995.[320] The arrival of thousands of Mexican and Spanish tourists led to increasing numbers of Cubans turning to prostitution; officially illegal, Castro refrained from cracking down on prostitution in Cuba, fearing a political backlash.[321] Economic hardship led many Cubans toward religion, both in the form of Roman Catholicism and Santería. Although long thinking religious belief to be backward, Castro softened his approach to religious institutions and religious people were permitted for the first time to join the Communist Party.[322] Although he viewed the Roman Catholic Church as a reactionary, pro-capitalist institution, Castro organized a visit to Cuba by Pope John Paul II for January 1998; it strengthened the position of both the Cuban Church and Castro's government.[323]
In the early 1990s Castro embraced environmentalism, campaigning against global warming and the waste of natural resources and accusing the US of being the world's primary polluter.[324] In 1994 a ministry dedicated to the environment was established, and new laws established in 1997 that promoted awareness of environmental issues throughout Cuba and stressed the sustainable use of natural resources.[325] By 2006, Cuba was the world's only nation which met the United Nations Development Programme's definition of sustainable development, with an ecological footprint of less than 1.8 hectares per capita and a Human Development Index of over 0.8.[326] Castro also became a proponent of the anti-globalization movement, criticizing US global hegemony and the control exerted by multinationals.[324] Castro maintained his strong stance against apartheid, and at the 26 July celebrations in 1991, he was joined onstage by Nelson Mandela, recently released from prison. Mandela praised Cuba's involvement in battling South Africa during the Angolan Civil War and thanked Castro personally.[327] Castro later attended Mandela's inauguration as President of South Africa in 1994.[328] In 2001, Castro attended the Conference Against Racism in South Africa at which he lectured on the global spread of racial stereotypes through US film.[324]
Pink tide: 2000–2006
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Mired in economic problems, Cuba was aided by the election of Hugo Chávez to the Venezuelan Presidency in 1999. Castro and Chávez developed a close friendship, with the former acting as a mentor and father-figure to the latter,[329] and together they built an alliance that had repercussions throughout Latin America.[330] In 2000, they signed an agreement through which Cuba would send 20,000 medics to Venezuela, in return receiving 53,000 barrels of oil per day at preferential rates; in 2004, this trade was stepped up, with Cuba sending 40,000 medics and Venezuela providing 90,000 barrels a day.[331][332] Some economic problems remained; in 2004, Castro shut down 118 factories, including steel plants, sugar mills and paper processors to compensate for a critical shortage of fuel.[333] In September 2005, Castro established a group of medical professionals, known as the Henry Reeve Brigade, with the mission of international medical solidarity. The group were sent throughout the world to carry out humanitarian missions on behalf of the Cuban government.[334]
Cuba and Venezuela were the founding members of the Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas (ALBA).[330] ALBA's origins lay in a December 2004 agreement signed between the two countries and was formalized through a People's Trade Agreement also signed by Evo Morales' Bolivia in April 2006. Castro had also been calling for greater Caribbean integration since the late 1990s, saying that only strengthened cooperation between Caribbean countries would prevent their domination by rich nations in a global economy.[335][336] 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.[337]
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In contrast to the improved relations between Cuba and a number of leftist Latin American states, in 2004 it broke off diplomatic ties with Panama after centrist President Mireya Moscoso pardoned four Cuban exiles accused of attempting to assassinate Castro in 2000. Diplomatic ties were reinstalled in 2005 following the election of leftist President Martín Torrijos.[338] Castro's improving relations across Latin America were accompanied by continuing animosity towards the US. However, after massive damage caused by Hurricane Michelle in 2001, Castro successfully proposed a one-time cash purchase of food from the US while declining its government's offer of humanitarian aid.[339] Castro expressed solidarity with the US following the 2001 September 11 attacks, condemning Al-Qaeda and offering Cuban airports for the emergency diversion of any US planes. He recognized that the attacks would make US foreign policy more aggressive, which he believed was counterproductive.[340] Castro criticized the 2003 invasion of Iraq, saying that the US-led war had imposed an international "law of the jungle".[341]
Meanwhile, in 1998, Canadian prime minister Jean Chrétien arrived in Cuba to meet Castro and highlight their close ties. He was the first Canadian government leader to visit the island since Pierre Trudeau was in Havana in 1976.[342] In 2002, former US president Jimmy Carter visited Cuba, where he highlighted the lack of civil liberties in the country and urged the government to pay attention to the Varela Project of Oswaldo Payá.[343]
Final years
Stepping down: 2006–2008
Castro underwent surgery for intestinal bleeding, and on 31 July 2006, delegated his presidential duties to Raúl Castro.[344] In February 2007, Raúl announced that Fidel's health was improving and that he was taking part in important issues of government.[345] Later that month, Fidel called into Hugo Chávez's radio show Aló Presidente.[346] On 21 April, Castro met Wu Guanzheng of the Chinese Communist Party's Politburo Standing Committee,[347] with Chávez visiting in August,[348] and Morales in September.[349] That month, the Non-Aligned Movement held its 14th Summit in Havana, there agreeing to appoint Castro as the organization's president for a year's term.[350]
Commenting on Castro's recovery, US president George W. Bush said: "One day the good Lord will take Fidel Castro away." Hearing about this, the atheist Castro replied: "Now I understand why I survived Bush's plans and the plans of other presidents who ordered my assassination: the good Lord protected me." The quote was picked up on by the world's media.[351]
In a February 2008 letter, Castro announced that he would not accept the positions of President of the Council of State and Commander in Chief at that month's National Assembly meetings,[352] remarking, "It would betray my conscience to take up a responsibility that requires mobility and total devotion, that I am not in a physical condition to offer".[353] On 24 February 2008, the National Assembly of People's Power unanimously voted Raúl as president.[354] Describing his brother as "not substitutable", Raúl proposed that Fidel continue to be consulted on matters of great importance, a motion unanimously approved by the 597 National Assembly members.[355]
Retirement and final years: 2008–2016
Following his retirement, Castro's health deteriorated; international press speculated that he had diverticulitis, but Cuba's government refused to corroborate this.[356] He continued to interact with the Cuban people, published an opinion column titled "Reflections" in Granma, used a Twitter account, and gave occasional public lectures.[356] In January 2009 Castro asked Cubans not to worry about his lack of recent news columns and failing health, and not to be disturbed by his future death.[357] He continued meeting foreign leaders and dignitaries, and that month photographs were released of Castro's meeting with Argentine president Cristina Fernández.[358]
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a9/Enrique_Pe%C3%B1a_Nieto_y_Fidel_Castro.jpg/220px-Enrique_Pe%C3%B1a_Nieto_y_Fidel_Castro.jpg)
In July 2010, he made his first public appearance since falling ill, greeting science center workers and giving a television interview to Mesa Redonda in which he discussed US tensions with Iran and North Korea.[359] On 7 August 2010, Castro gave his first speech to the National Assembly in four years, urging the US not to take military actions against those nations and warning of a nuclear holocaust.[360] When asked whether 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."[361]
On 19 April 2011, Castro resigned from the Communist Party central committee,[362] thus stepping down as First Secretary. Raúl was selected as his successor.[363] Now without any official role in the country's government, he took on the role of an elder statesman. In March 2011, Castro condemned the NATO-led military intervention in Libya.[364] In March 2012, Pope Benedict XVI visited Cuba for three days, during which time he briefly met with Castro despite the Pope's vocal opposition to Cuba's government.[356][365] Later that year it was revealed that along with Hugo Chávez, Castro had played a significant behind-the-scenes role in orchestrating peace talks between the Colombian government and the far left FARC guerrilla movement to end the conflict which had raged since 1964.[366] During the North Korea crisis of 2013, he urged both the North Korean and US governments to show restraint. Calling the situation "incredible and absurd", he maintained that war would not benefit either side, and that it represented "one of the gravest risks of nuclear war" since the Cuban missile crisis.[367]
In December 2014, Castro was awarded the Chinese Confucius Peace Prize for seeking peaceful solutions to his nation's conflict with the US and for his post-retirement efforts to prevent nuclear war.[368] In January 2015, he publicly commented on the "Cuban Thaw", an increased normalization between Cuba-US relations, by stating that while it was a positive move for establishing peace in the region, he mistrusted the US government.[369] He did not meet with US president Barack Obama on the latter's visit to Cuba in March 2016, although sent him a letter stating that Cuba "has no need of gifts from the empire".[370] That April, he gave his most extensive public appearance in many years when addressing the Communist Party. Highlighting that he was soon to turn 90 years old, he noted that he would die in the near future but urged those assembled to retain their communist ideals.[371] In September 2016, Castro was visited at his Havana home by the Iranian president Hassan Rouhani,[372] and later that month was visited by Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe.[373] In late October 2016, Castro met with the Portuguese president Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, who became one of the last foreign leaders to meet him.[374]
Death
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Castro died in Havana on the night of 25 November 2016.[375][376] The cause of death was not disclosed.[377] His brother, President Raúl Castro, confirmed the news in a brief speech: "The commander in chief of the Cuban revolution died at 22:29 [EST] this evening."[378] His death came nine months after his older brother Ramón died at the age of 91 in February. Fidel Castro was cremated the next day.[378] A funeral procession travelled 900 kilometres (560 mi) along the island's central highway from Havana to Santiago de Cuba, tracing in reverse the route of the "Freedom Caravan" of January 1959. After nine days of public mourning, his ashes were entombed in the Santa Ifigenia Cemetery in Santiago de Cuba.[379]
Ideology
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Castro proclaimed himself to be "a Socialist, a Marxist, and a Leninist",[380] and publicly identified as a Marxist–Leninist from December 1961 onward.[381] As a Marxist, Castro sought to transform Cuba from a capitalist state to a socialist society and ultimately to a communist society. Influenced by Guevara, he suggested that Cuba could evade most stages of socialism and progress straight to communism.[229] The Cuban Revolution nevertheless did not meet the Marxist assumption that socialism would be achieved through proletariat revolution, for most of the forces involved in Batista's overthrow were led by members of the Cuban middle-class.[382] According to Castro, a country could be regarded as socialist if its means of production were controlled by the state. In this way, his understanding of socialism was less about who controlled power in a country and more about the method of distribution.[383]
Castro's government was also nationalistic, with Castro declaring, "We are not only Marxist-Leninists, but also nationalists and patriots".[384] In this it drew upon a longstanding tradition of Cuban nationalism.[385] Castro biographer Sebastian Balfour noted that "the vein of moral regeneration and voluntarism that runs through" Castro's thought owes far more to "Hispanic nationalism" than European socialism or Marxism–Leninism.[385] Historian Richard Gott remarked that one of the keys to Castro's success was his ability to use the "twin themes of socialism and nationalism" and keep them "endlessly in play".[386] Castro described Karl Marx and Cuban nationalist José Martí as his main political influences,[387] although Gott believed that Martí ultimately remained more important than Marx in Castro's politics.[386] Castro described Martí's political ideas as "a philosophy of independence and an exceptional humanistic philosophy",[388] and his supporters and apologists repeatedly claimed that there were great similarities between the two figures.[389]
Biographer Volker Skierka described Castro's government as a "highly individual, socialist-nationalist 'fidelista' system",[390] with Theodore Draper terming his approach "Castroism", viewing it as a blend of European socialism with the Latin American revolutionary tradition.[391] Political scientist Paul C. Sondrol has described Castro's approach to politics as "totalitarian utopianism",[392] with a style of leadership that drew upon the wider Latin American phenomenon of the caudillo.[393] He drew inspiration from the wider Latin American anti-imperialist movements of the 1930s and 1940s, including Argentina's Perón and Guatemala's Jacobo Árbenz.[394] Castro took a relatively socially conservative stance on many issues, opposing drug use, gambling, and prostitution, which he viewed as moral evils. Instead, he advocated hard work, family values, integrity, and self-discipline.[395] Although his government repressed homosexual activity for decades, later in his life he took responsibility for this persecution, regretting it as a "great injustice", as he himself put it.[396]
Personal and public life
Personality
Juan Reynaldo Sánchez, Castro's former bodyguard, detailed much of his personal and private life in his book The Double Life of Fidel Castro. He described Castro as "Nothing ordinary about him at all, he is unique, special, and different."[397] He profiled him as an egocentric who loved being the center of attention and, with his almost electric charisma, grabbed the attention of the people around him. He was also highly manipulative; with his formidable intelligence, he could easily manipulate a person or group of people. In addition, he was repetitive and obsessive. In discussions with his colleagues or foreigners, he would repeat the same things repeatedly until they were convinced he was right. It was impossible to contradict him on any subject whatsoever. Anyone who attempted to convince him that he was wrong or even made a suggestion that it could be improved slightly was making a "fatal error." Fidel would then make a mental mark of the individual as an "idiot" and wait for the right time to retaliate against them.[398] Nobody, not even Raúl was exempt from this; despite being the minister of the armed forces, he would bring seemingly minor military decisions to Castro for his final approval to avoid inadvertently contradicting him.[399] Sánchez believed that General Arnaldo Ochoa's downfall was significantly related to his willingness to contradict Fidel's orders in Angola.[400]
Biographer Leycester Coltman described Castro as "fiercely hard-working, dedicated, loyal ... generous and magnanimous" but noted that he could be "vindictive and unforgiving." He asserted that Castro "always had a keen sense of humor and could laugh at himself" but could equally be "a bad loser" who would act with "ferocious rage if he thought that he was being humiliated." [401] Publicly, he was known for throwing tantrums and could make "snap judgments," which he refused to back down from.[402] In private, though, Castro was skilled at keeping his anger in check and not allowing it to affect his judgment, simply becoming cold and withdrawn; Sánchez stated that in 17 years, he had only seen Castro explode in anger twice, one upon being informed of his daughter Alina's defection in 1993.[403]
Castro was known for working long hours; he primarily woke up late—rarely before ten or eleven in the morning—and started his working day around noon, and would work until late at night, often only going to bed at 3 or 4 am.[404] He preferred to meet foreign diplomats in these early hours, believing that they would be tired and he could gain the upper hand in negotiations.[405] Castro liked to meet with ordinary citizens, both in Cuba and abroad, but took a particularly paternal attitude toward Cubans, treating them as if "they were a part of his own giant family." [406] British historian Alex von Tunzelmann commented that "though ruthless, [Castro] was a patriot, a man with a profound sense that it was his mission to save the Cuban people." Political scientist Paul C. Sondrol characterized Castro as "quintessentially totalitarian in his charismatic appeal, utopian functional role and public, transformative utilisation of power."[407][408]
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/ae/Fidel_castro_angel_1954.jpg/220px-Fidel_castro_angel_1954.jpg)
Balfour described Castro as having a "voracity for knowledge" and "elephantine memory" that allowed him to speak for hours on various subjects.[409] His hero was Alexander the Great, whose Spanish equivalent Alejandro he adopted as his nom de guerre.[410] Castro was a voracious reader; amongst his favorite authors were Ernest Hemingway, Franz Kafka, William Shakespeare, and Maxim Gorky. He named For Whom the Bell Tolls his favorite book, committing several portions of the novel to memory and using some of its lessons as a guerrilla fighter.[411] He enjoyed art and photography and was known as a patron of both within Cuba but was uninterested in music and disliked dancing.[292][397] He was also an avid fan of cinema, particularly Soviet films. His favorite film was the five-hour long 1967 adaption of Leo Tolstoy's War and Peace.[412] Castro had a lifelong passion, almost obsession, with cows and, starting in 1966, with bovine genetics and breeding. State media frequently published details of his attempts to breed cows with increased milk yields.[413] This interest reached its peak in 1982 when a cow that Fidel had bred, "Ubre Blanca", broke the Guinness World Record for producing 29 gallons of milk live on national television. She was promoted into a national celebrity and propaganda tool, and when the cow died in 1985, Granma published an official obituary for her on the front page, and the postal service issued stamps in her honor.[413]
Fidel Castro's religious beliefs have been a matter of some debate; he was baptized and raised as a Roman Catholic. He criticized the use of the Bible to justify the oppression of women and Africans,[414] but commented that Christianity exhibited "a group of very humane precepts" which gave the world "ethical values" and a "sense of social justice," relating, "If people call me Christian, not from the standpoint of religion but from the standpoint of social vision, I declare that I am a Christian."[415] During a visit of American minister and activist Jesse Jackson, Castro accompanied him to a Methodist church service where he even spoke from the pulpit with a Bible before him, an event that marked a beginning of increased openness towards Christianity in Cuba.[416] He promoted the idea that Jesus Christ was a communist, citing the feeding of the 5,000 and the story of Jesus and the rich young man as evidence.[417]
Public image
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/23/Castro_sign.jpg/220px-Castro_sign.jpg)
Within Cuba, Castro was primarily referred to by his official military title Comandante En Jefe; he was usually addressed as Comandante (The Commander) in general discourse as well as in person but could also be addressed as El Jefe (the Chief) in the third person, particularly within the party and military command.[418] Castro was often nicknamed "El Caballo" ("The Horse"), a label attributed to Cuban entertainer Benny Moré, which alludes to Castro's well-known philandering during the 1950s and early 1960s.[419][420][421]
With his logorrheic oratorical abilities and profound charisma, Castro was highly skilled at manipulation and deception, quickly whipping up his audience and entire population segments into support. Large throngs of supporters gathered to cheer at Castro's fiery speeches, which typically lasted for hours (even outdoors in inclement weather) and without the use of written notes.[422] During speeches, Castro regularly cited reports and books he had read on various subjects, including military matters, plant cultivation, filmmaking, and chess strategies.[423] Officially, the Cuban government did maintain a cult of personality. However, unlike other Soviet-era leaders and his allies, it was less widespread and took on a more subtle and discreet form.[424] There were no statues or large portraits of him but rather signs with "thoughts" of the Comandante. His popularity among segments of the Cuban populace led to one development without the government's involvement. It would be used to judge each individual's devotion to his "revolutionary cause." [425] Indeed, by 2006, Castro's image could frequently be found in Cuban stores, classrooms, taxicabs, and on national television.[426] In private, however, Castro hated such idolization campaigns and believed that he had intellectual ascendancy over leaders who engaged in such behavior, such as his friend Kim Il Sung of North Korea whose cult of personality he considered excessive, outlandish and unreasonable.[427]
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/8e/Fidel_Castro_2012.jpg/220px-Fidel_Castro_2012.jpg)
He gave no importance to his appearance or clothing; for 37 years, he wore only his trademark olive-green military fatigues or the standard MINFAR dress uniform for formal events and special occasions, emphasizing his role as the perpetual revolutionary, but in the mid-1990s began wearing dark civilian suits and guayabera in public.[428] At over 6 feet 3 inches (1.91 m) tall with a few inches added from his combat boots, Castro usually towered over most foreign leaders he met with, giving him a dominating presence in any room or photo that was taken, which he used to his advantage (for comparison, Abraham Lincoln and Charles de Gaulle, both well known for their tall heights, stood at 6'4" and 6'5", respectively). Until his uprising against Batista, Castro typically kept a pencil-thin mustache and combed back hair, typical of upper-class Cuban men in the 1950s, but grew out both during his years as a guerrilla fighter and retained them afterward. Castro also disliked worrying about his appearance and hated shaving, making the beard and uniform all the more convenient for him.[429] His uniform was also kept simple; he never wore any medals or decorations, and his only marker of rank was the Comandante El Jefe insignia stitched on the shoulder straps. Until the 1990s, he wore combat boots, but he abandoned them for sneakers and tennis shoes instead due to orthopedic issues. Around his waist, he often carried a 9mm Browning pistol in a brown leather holster with three additional magazines.[430] His weapon of choice was a 7.62 Kalashnikov AKM, which Castro occasionally carried with him during the 1960s but was later kept stored in a suitcase carried by one of the members of his escort or kept placed between his feet while driving along with five cartridges; he frequently used it during shooting exercises and practice.[431] Castro had a lifelong love of guns and was considered an expert sharpshooter, impressing foreign visitors and even holding up against members of his elite bodyguards who engaged in frequent competition with him.[432]
Castro's most iconic public feature eventually became the Cuban cigar he smoked daily. Introduced to it by his father at the age of 15, Castro continued the habit for almost 44 years except for a brief period during the 1950s while he was a guerrilla fighter and boycotting against Batista-linked tobacco firms.[433] Castro claimed that he quit around 1985 during an anti-smoking campaign promoted by the Communist Party. Sánchez disputes this, saying that his doctor had Castro reduce his cigar usage starting in 1980 and quit entirely in 1983 after a cancerous ulcer was found in his intestine.[434] Prior to the Revolution, Castro smoked various brands including Romeo y Julieta Churchill, H. Upmann, Bauza, and Partagás. In the early 1960s, Castro saw one of his bodyguards smoking a noticeably aromatic but unbranded cigar. Castro and the bodyguard located the cigar maker, Eduardo Ribera, who agreed to establish the El Laguito Factory and branded the cigars as Cohiba which became Castro's signature brand and elevating its profile internationally.[433] Initially restricted for his private use and other members of the Politburo, it was later presented as diplomatic gifts for allied countries and friends of Castro, most notably seen smoked by Che Guevara, Josip Broz Tito, Houari Boumédiène, Sukarno, and Saddam Hussein.[433]
Lifestyle
Castro's primary residence was at Punto Cero, a large and vegetative estate approximately 6 km from the Palacio de la Revolution in the Siboney neighborhood.[435] The main house is an L-shaped two-story family mansion with a 600-square-yard footprint, a 50-foot-long swimming pool, six greenhouses providing fruit and vegetables for Fidel's and Raúl's families as well as their bodyguard units, and a large lawn with free-range chickens and cows. Close by is a second two-story building that houses the bodyguards and the domestic staff.[435] The house was decorated in a classical Caribbean style, with local wicker and wood furniture, porcelain plates, watercolor paintings, and art books. Sánchez described the estate as naturally beautiful and tastefully decorated, and while considered luxurious for the average Cuban, was not lavish or over-the-top compared to the residences of the Somoza clan or the Kim dynasty of North Korea.[436] Raúl and Vilma's house La Rinconada is located close by on 222nd street. Raúl usually hosted large family barbecues on Sundays, where Fidel would sometimes come, giving his extended family, sisters, and elder brother Ramón a rare opportunity to see him.[437] Next to Punto Cero is Unit 160 which was the base of Fidel's bodyguard units. The base was over five acres large and surrounded by high walls, essentially a "city within a city" consisting of support personnel for transportation, communications, electronics, and food, and an extensive armory of Kalashnikovs, Makarovs, and Brownings. Members of that unit also assisted in Fidel's passion for Bovine breeding, and a stable was kept for some of Fidel's most prized cows.[438]
In addition to "Punto Cero," Castro had five other residences in Havana: Casa Cojimar, his initial home after 1959 but disused by the 1970s; a house on 160th Street near the Playa district; Casa Carbonell, maintained by Cuban Intelligence for his covert meetings with representatives of foreign groups or intelligence assets; A beach house in Santa Maria del Mar (next to the Tropico Hotel); and two houses retrofitted with air-raid shelters and connected to the MINFAR command bunkers for use in war: Casa Punta Brava (Dalia's old house before meeting Fidel) and Casa Gallego, near the bodyguards base at Unit 160. In the west of Cuba, he had three residences: Casa Americana (confiscated from an American businessman connected to Batista); Rancho la Tranquilidad in the locality of Mil Cumbres; and La Deseada, a hunting lodge utilized in the winter for duck hunting and fishing trips. He also had two homes in Matanzas, one in Ciego de Avila, a horse ranch Hacienda San Cayetano in Camagüey along with another house in a vacation compound for the Politburo nearby, Casa Guardalavaca in Holguin, and two residences in Santiago de Cuba (one of which is shared with Ramiro Valdes).[439]
Castro's main vacation destination was Cayo de Piedra, a small key island formerly the site of a lighthouse, approximately a mile long and divided into two by a cyclone in the 1960s. He came upon the island by accident while reviewing the region in the aftermath of the failed Bay of Pigs invasion. Instantly falling in love with the island, he ordered it closed off and had the lighthouse demolished.[440] Osmany Cienfuegos designed the private bungalow, guesthouse, bridge, marina, and a building for the use of the bodyguards and support staff.[441] He arrived from his inaccessible private marina near the Bay of Pigs, La Caleta del Rosario, which also housed another residence and guesthouse.[442] Castro used two yachts, Aquarama I, confiscated from a Batista Government official and later in the 1970s, the 90-foot white hull Aquarama II. Aquarama II, which was decorated with wood donated from Angola, had two double cabins, one for Fidel's personal use, a main sitting room, two bathrooms, a bar, a secure communications suite, and was equipped with four Osa-class missile boat engines gifted from Brezhnev allowing for top speeds of over 42 Knots.[443] Aquarama II had two companion speedboats used by his escort, Pioniera I and Pioniera II; one was equipped with a large cache of weapons, and another was equipped with medical equipment.[444]
Castro also had a keen interest in gastronomy and was known to wander into his kitchen to discuss cookery with his chefs.[292] His diet was quintessentially Cuban, based on traditional pescatarian cuisine and the additional influence from his father's native Galicia. All of his food was sourced from Punto Cero or fished from his private island of Cayo Piedra, except for cases of Algerian Red Wine gifted initially from Houari Boumediene and continued by successive Algerian governments and Iraqi figs and fruit jams from Saddam Hussein.[445] Castro, who typically woke up in the late morning, usually had tea or fish bouillon for breakfast accompanied by milk provided from one of the cows that grazed on Punto Cero; they were all bred to provide milk which suited Castro's demanding taste. His lunches were also frugal, consisting of fish or seafood soup with fresh produce. Dinner was his primary meal, consisting of grilled fish, chicken, mutton, or even pata negra ham on special occasions, along with a large serving of green vegetables. However, he was prevented from eating beef or coffee by his dietician. [446]
Until 1979, Castro's primary vehicle was a black ZiL limousine, first an armored convertible ZIL-111 from Khrushchev, a ZIL-114 and briefly a ZIL-4104 gifted to him by Leonid Brezhnev, while his escort would accompany him in several Alfa Romeo 1750s and 2000s.[447] In 1979, during the Non-Aligned Movement summit at Havana, Saddam Hussein gave Castro his Armored Mercedes-Benz 560 SEL, which he had brought from Baghdad and became his sole transport for the rest of his life. Subsequently, Fidel ordered two mechanics from his bodyguard unit to West Germany to purchase several second-hand Mercedes-Benz 500s to replace the obsolete Alfa Romeos.[447] Castro always traveled with at least fourteen guards and four of his aides, spread out over four vehicles: three Mercedes-Benz and one Soviet Lada, which trailed the main convoy (to keep the military presence at a minimal). Whenever he would leave Havana, a fifth Mercedes would join the procession carrying his doctor, nurse, and photographer.[448]
The "Forbes" magazine ranked Castro as the 7th wealthiest ruler in the world at an estimated personal wealth of approximately 900 million US dollars in 2006 (going from 550 million US dollars in their 2005 list). The estimate is based on the magazine's assumption that Castro had economic control over a network of state-owned companies, including CIMEX, Medicuba, the Havana Convention Palace, and the assumption that a portion of their profits went to Castro through investments.[449] Suggesting that Castro's fortune multiplied, growing from 103 million to 850 million euros (equivalent to 900 million dollars) in just three years,[450][451][452] the "Forbes" article also referred to rumours of Castro's Swiss bank accounts with "large stashes" of this fortune.[449] According to Juan Reinaldo Sánchez, a former personal bodyguard of Castro, his assets included Cayo Piedra, a private island; over twenty mansions; a marina with yachts; encrypted bank accounts; and a gold mine.[450][451][452]
Relationships
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/7b/Barbudos_-_Fidel_Castro_and_Camilo_Cienfuegos.jpg/220px-Barbudos_-_Fidel_Castro_and_Camilo_Cienfuegos.jpg)
In his personal life, Castro was known for being distant, withdrawn, and confided in very few people. His closest and most trusted friend was Raúl Castro, his younger brother by five years and longtime armed forces minister.[453] Although Raúl had a vastly contrasting, almost polar opposite personality to Castro, Sánchez described Raúl as complementing Castro's personality in all the ways that he is not. Whereas Fidel was "charismatic, energetic, visionary but extremely impulsive and disorganized," Raúl was described as a "natural, methodical, and uncompromising organizer." Castro spoke nearly daily with Raúl, met several times a week, and was a frequent visitor at Raúl and Vilma's house; Vilma was also considered close to Castro and often appeared publicly with him at national events.[454] Besides Raúl, Castro was not close to any of his other siblings, although he did have friendly relations with his elder brother Ramón and sister Angelita.[455] His sister Juanita Castro had been living in the United States since the early 1960s until her death in 2023 and was a public opponent of the Cuban regime.[456]
Outside his immediate family, Castro's closest friend was fellow revolutionary Celia Sánchez, who accompanied him everywhere during the 1960s and controlled almost all access to the leader.[457][453] Reynaldo Sánchez confirmed that Celia was indeed Castro's mistress and regarded her as the "true love of his life." [453] Castro provided a large apartment for Celia on 11th Street near Vedado, El Once whom Fidel visited every day before returning home. Over the years, Castro added an elevator, fitness room, and a bowling alley for his and Celia's personal use. He even provided bodyguards from his escort to Celia for her protection.[458]
Castro's closest male friends were the members of his immediate bodyguard unit, Escolta or the "Escort."[459] His security was provided by Department 1 of the Personal Security Directorate of MININT (Ministry of the Interior). Department 1 was for Fidel's security, Department 2 was for Raúl and Vilma's, and Department 3 was for the members of the Politburo and so on.[460] Unlike the other MININT Departments, his and Raúl's units bypassed the standard chain of command and reported to them directly. Castro's security consisted of three concentric anillos or rings. The third ring consisted of thousands of soldiers in MININT and MINFAR who supported Logistics, air defense, Intelligence, etc.; The second ring consisted of eighty to one hundred soldiers who provided the outer perimeter security; And the first ring, the Elite Escolta or "The Escort," provided his immediate security and consisted of two teams of 15 elite soldiers who worked 24-hour shifts, along with around ten support staff.[460]
A soldier at heart, Castro had more affinity with his escort than his civilian family. He spent most of his time under their protection and were usually his companions in his personal interests.[459] A sports fan, he also spent much of his time trying to keep fit, undertaking regular exercise such as hunting, fly fishing, underwater fishing, scuba diving, and playing basketball.[461] They were also his companions on special events, such as his birthday or national holidays, during which they regularly exchanged gifts and engaged in one-sided discussions with Castro where he would recall his life stories. The members of Escort Castro were closest to the former Mayor of Havana, Jose "Pepín" Naranjo, who became his official aide until he died in 1995, and his physician, Eugenio Selman. [418][462][463] Outside of his escort, Castro was also close to Manuel "Barbarroja" Pineiro, the head of the American Department of the DGI, Antonio Núñez Jiménez, and the Colombian novelist Gabriel García Márquez.[464][465]
Marital history
The Cuban government has never published an official marital history of Castro, with most information coming from defectors and scarce details published in state media and pieced together over the years.[466][467] In his earlier years in power, he showcased some of his family life, in particular his eldest son Fidelito to portray himself as a regular "family man" to the apprehensive American audience, but eventually abandoned that as he became more concerned about his safety.[468] Throughout his rule, Castro never named an official "First Lady" and when the need for such a public female companion was necessary, Celia Sánchez or Raúl's wife, Vilma Espín, would play such a role of la primera dama.[469]
Sánchez described Castro as a compulsive lover or "womanizer"; he was officially married twice but carried on numerous affairs, including many one-night stands.[397][470] Popular with women and often recognized as a sex symbol in Cuba,[462] Castro never had difficulty in finding love and seduction. Sánchez denies that Castro ever engaged in any unusual or un-consensual behavior.[397] Castro was also described as a poor father; often absent from their lives, he had little interest in his children's activities and was more interested in his work.[471] Raúl, who had much stronger paternal feelings towards his family, was often the one who played the role of surrogate father to Castro's children, in particular Fidelito and Alina.[472]
- Castro's first wife was Mirta Díaz-Balart, whom he married in October 1948. She is the only spouse of Castro acknowledged by the Cuban Government. Diaz-Balart, the daughter of a powerful Cuban politician and brother of Batista's Minister of Interior, was a student at the University of Havana, where she met and married Castro. She divorced him later, in 1955, while he was in prison due to the attacks on the Moncada Barracks. They had one son:
- Fidel Ángel "Fidelito" Castro Díaz-Balart, born in September 1949.[473] Fidelito grew up at various times between Havana and Miami; he later went to the Soviet Union to study nuclear physics. For a time, he ran Cuba's atomic-energy commission before being removed from the post by his father.[474] He took his own life in February 2018, over a year after his father's death.[475]
- During his first marriage, Castro briefly encountered Maria Laborde, an admirer from Camagüey, of whom very little is known and who has long been deceased. They had one son:
- While Castro was married to Mirta, he had an affair with Natalia "Naty" Revuelta Clews. Widely regarded in Havana for her beauty, Natalia was married to Dr. Orlando Fernandez but sympathized with the aims of the Revolutionary movement. She initially joined the movement as a friend of Castro but later became his mistress and visited him while imprisoned in Isla de Pinos.[479] She would give birth to his daughter:
- Alina Fernández Revuelta,[474] born in 1956, is Castro's only daughter. She did not know her true parentage until she was 10. Castro showed little interest in her but sent her to a boarding school in Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France. One of the few people willing to stand up to Castro, several defectors have described her personality as the most similar to her father. Alina became a public relations director for a State-owned fashion company and a model for Havana Club. Her father inadvertently found out about the latter job while reading Cuba magazine, coming across an advertisement showing Alina posing in a bikini on a boat with two other models; according to Sánchez he "nearly exploded with rage".[480] Alina left Cuba in 1993, disguised as a Spanish tourist,[481] and sought asylum in the US, from where she has criticized her father's policies.[482]
- Castro's second and longest marriage was with Dalia Soto Del Valle, another admirer who met Castro during a speech in Villa Clara in 1961. She was a teacher who was part of the Government's literacy campaign. She moved to Havana on Castro's initiative and later moved in with him at Punto Cero as his permanent family. Her relationship with Castro was kept secret until 2006 when she was photographed with an increasingly frail Castro during the Party Congress, although the Cuban Government has released no other information.[483] Castro and Dalia had five sons, each of them starting with the letter A and three of them a variation of "Alexander" (in homage to Alexander the Great, his pseudonym while a guerrilla fighter):[410]
- Alexis Castro Del Valle, born in 1962. Described as a loner with few friends, he eventually got a degree in computer science but has since become a mechanic.[484]
- Alex Castro Del Valle, born in 1963. Much more affable and outgoing, he was initially trained as an engineer as well but instead became a photographer and cameraman for Granma and Cubavisión, respectively. He later became the official photographer of his father and, published several books, and hosted the exhibition Fidel Castro: Photografia Intimidade.[485]
- Alejandro Castro Del Valle, born in 1969. Considered a "computer geek" like his brothers, he also studied computer science and engineering but was passionate about the subject. Around 1990, he wrote software that allowed Russian programs to be run on Japanese ones; the product was purchased by NEC of Japan, which raised his national profile in the engineering community of Cuba and even public praise from his father.[485]
- Antonio Castro Del Valle, born in 1971. A national youth baseball champion, he studied sports medicine at the University of Havana and became an Orthopedic surgeon. He is currently the head of the Surgery unit at the Elite Frank Pais Orthopedic Hospital, a Doctor to the National Baseball team, and President of the Cuban Baseball Federation.[486]
- Angelito Castro Del Valle, born in 1974. Considered spoiled by his parents from a young age, he was long considered the "trouble child" of the family. He was passionate about cars and frequently earned the ire of his father's escort unit for disrupting the mechanics' work. Angelito never obtained any higher education but later became the senior executive of the Mercedes-Benz concession of Cuba.[435]
- After the 1970s, Castro began a long relationship with Juanita Vera, a Colonel in the foreign intelligence service who joined his escort unit as his English interpreter. She often appeared in public with Castro, in particular in Oliver Stone's Comandante as his translator and interpreter. She and Castro had one son, Abel Castro Vera, born in 1983.[487]
Castro had another daughter, Francisca Pupo (born 1953), the result of a one-night affair. Pupo and her husband now live in Miami.[488] Another son known as Ciro was also born in the early 1960s, the result of another brief fling, his existence confirmed by Celia Sánchez.[477]
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/15/Family_Tree_of_Fidel_Castro.svg/660px-Family_Tree_of_Fidel_Castro.svg.png)
Reception and legacy
Within Cuba, Fidel's domination of every aspect of the government and the society remains total. His personal needs for absolute control seems to have changed little over the years. He remains committed to a disciplined society in which he is still determined to remake the Cuban national character, creating work-orientated, socially concerned individuals ... He wants to increase people's standard of living, the availability of material goods, and to import the latest technology. But the economic realities, despite rapid dramatic growth in the gross national product, severely limit what Cuba can buy on the world market.
– Peter Bourne, Castro biographer, 1986[489]
One of the most controversial political leaders of his era,[490] Castro both inspired and dismayed people around the world during his lifetime.[491] The London Observer stated that he proved to be "as divisive in death as he was in life", and that the only thing that his "enemies and admirers" agreed upon was that he was "a towering figure" who "transformed a small Caribbean island into a major force in world affairs".[492] The Daily Telegraph noted that around the world he was "either praised as a brave champion of the people, or derided as a power-mad dictator."[493]
According to political scientists, Castro ruled a single-party authoritarian regime in Cuba.[494][495][496] Political opposition was not permitted.[497][498] According to political scientists Steven Levitsky and Lucan Way, the Cuban regime entailed "full authoritarianism ... (like China and Saudi Arabia)", as there were "no viable channels... for opposition to contest legally for executive power."[499] Censorship of information was extensive,[500][501] and independent journalism was repressed.[502]
Despite its small size and limited economic weight, Castro's Cuba gained a large role in world affairs.[503] The Castro government relied heavily on its appeals to nationalistic sentiment, in particular the widespread hostility to the US government.[504] According to Balfour, Castro's domestic popularity stemmed from the fact that he symbolized "a long-cherished hope of national liberation and social justice" for much of the population.[505] Balfour also noted that throughout Latin America, Castro served as "a symbol of defiance against the continued economic and cultural imperialism of the United States".[506] Similarly, Wayne S. Smith—the former Chief of the United States Interests Section in Havana—noted that Castro's opposition to US dominance and transformation of Cuba into a significant world player resulted in him receiving "warm applause" throughout the Western Hemisphere.[507]
Various Western governments and human rights organizations nevertheless heavily criticized Castro and he was widely reviled in the US.[508] Following Castro's death, US president-elect Donald Trump called him a "brutal dictator",[509] while the Cuban-American politician Marco Rubio called him "an evil, murderous dictator" who turned Cuba into "an impoverished island prison".[510] Castro publicly rejected the "dictator" label, stating that he constitutionally held less power than most heads of state and insisting that his regime allowed for greater democratic involvement in policy making than Western liberal democracies.[511] Nevertheless, critics claim that Castro wielded significant unofficial influence aside from his official duties.[512] Quirk stated that Castro wielded "absolute power" in Cuba, albeit not in a legal or constitutional manner,[513] while Bourne claimed that power in Cuba was "completely invested" in Castro,[514] adding that it was very rare for "a country and a people" to have been so completely dominated by "the personality of one man".[515] Balfour stated that Castro's "moral and political hegemony" within Cuba diminished the opportunities for democratic debate and decision making.[516] Describing Castro as a "totalitarian dictator",[517] Sondrol suggested that in leading "a political system largely [of] his own creation and bearing his indelible stamp", Castro's leadership style warranted comparisons with totalitarian leaders like Mao Zedong, Hideki Tojo, Joseph Stalin, Adolf Hitler, and Benito Mussolini.[518]
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/57/Ben_Bella_a_la_Havane_-_Cuba.jpg/220px-Ben_Bella_a_la_Havane_-_Cuba.jpg)
Noting that there were "few more polarising political figures" than Castro, Amnesty International described him as "a progressive but deeply flawed leader". In their view, he should be "applauded" for his regime's "substantial improvements" to healthcare and education, but criticized for its "ruthless suppression of freedom of expression."[520] Human Rights Watch stated that his government constructed a "repressive machinery" which deprived Cubans of their "basic rights".[521] Castro defended his government's record on human rights, stating that the state was forced to limit the freedoms of individuals and imprison those involved in counter-revolutionary activities to protect the rights of the collective populace, such as the right to employment, education, and health care.[522]
Historian and journalist Richard Gott considered Castro to be "one of the most extraordinary political figures of the twentieth century", commenting that he had become a "world hero in the mould" of Giuseppe Garibaldi to people throughout the developing world for his anti-imperialist efforts.[523] Balfour stated that Castro's story had "few parallels in contemporary history", for there existed no other "Third World [sic] leader" in the second half of the twentieth century who held "such a prominent and restless part on the international stage" or remained head of state for such a long period.[490] Bourne described Castro as "an influential world leader" who commanded "great respect" from individuals of all political ideologies across the developing world.[489] Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau described Castro as a "remarkable leader" and a "larger than life leader who served his people."[524] The European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker said that Castro "was a hero for many."[525] Russian president Vladimir Putin described Castro as both "a sincere and reliable friend of Russia" and a "symbol of an era", while Chinese Communist Party general secretary Xi Jinping similarly referred to him as "a close comrade and a sincere friend" to China.[526] Indian prime minister Narendra Modi termed him "one of the most iconic personalities of the 20th century" and a "great friend", while South African president Jacob Zuma praised Castro for aiding black South Africans in "our struggle against apartheid".[526] He was awarded a wide variety of awards and honours from foreign governments and was cited as an inspiration for foreign leaders like Ahmed Ben Bella[519] and Nelson Mandela,[527] who subsequently awarded him South Africa's highest civilian award for foreigners, the Order of Good Hope.[528] The biographer Volker Skierka stated that "he will go down in history as one of the few revolutionaries who remained true to his principles".[529]
References
Citations
- ^ "Castro" Archived 5 August 2020 at the Wayback Machine. Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary.
- ^ Bourne 1986, p. 14; Coltman 2003, p. 3; Castro & Ramonet 2009, pp. 23–24.
- ^ "Fidel Castro (1926–) Archived 19 October 2006 at the Wayback Machine". Public Broadcasting Service (PBS). 2014.
- ^ Bourne 1986, pp. 14–15; Quirk 1993, pp. 7–8; Coltman 2003, pp. 1–2; Castro & Ramonet 2009, pp. 24–29.
- ^ Bourne 1986, pp. 14–15; Quirk 1993, p. 4; Coltman 2003, p. 3; Castro & Ramonet 2009, pp. 24–29.
- ^ Bourne 1986, pp. 16–17; Coltman 2003, p. 3; Castro & Ramonet 2009, pp. 31–32.
- ^ Quirk 1993, p. 6; Coltman 2003, pp. 5–6; Castro & Ramonet 2009, pp. 45–48, 52–57.
- ^ Bourne 1986, pp. 29–30; Coltman 2003, pp. 5–6; Castro & Ramonet 2009, pp. 59–60.
- ^ Quirk 1993, p. 13; Coltman 2003, pp. 6–7; Castro & Ramonet 2009, pp. 64–67.
- ^ Bourne 1986, pp. 14–15; Quirk 1993, p. 14; Coltman 2003, pp. 8–9.
- ^ Quirk 1993, pp. 12–13, 16–19; Coltman 2003, p. 9; Castro & Ramonet 2009, p. 68.
- ^ Bourne 1986, p. 13; Quirk 1993, p. 19; Coltman 2003, p. 16; Castro & Ramonet 2009, pp. 91–92.
- ^ Bourne 1986, pp. 9–10; Quirk 1993, pp. 20, 22; Coltman 2003, pp. 16–17; Castro & Ramonet 2009, pp. 91–93.
- ^ Bourne 1986, pp. 34–35; Quirk 1993, p. 23; Coltman 2003, p. 18.
- ^ Coltman 2003, p. 20.
- ^ Bourne 1986, pp. 32–33; Coltman 2003, pp. 18–19.
- ^ Bourne 1986, pp. 34–37, 63; Coltman 2003, pp. 21–24.
- ^ Bourne 1986, pp. 39–40; Quirk 1993, pp. 28–29; Coltman 2003, pp. 23–27; Castro & Ramonet 2009, pp. 83–85.
- ^ Coltman 2003, pp. 27–28; Castro & Ramonet 2009, pp. 95–97.
- ^ Bourne 1986, pp. 35–36, 54; Quirk 1993, pp. 25, 27; Coltman 2003, pp. 23–24, 37–38, 46; Von Tunzelmann 2011, p. 39.
- ^ Gaddis 1997, p. 180.
- ^ Castro & Ramonet 2009, p. 98.
- ^ Coltman 2003, p. 30; Von Tunzelmann 2011, pp. 30–33.
- ^ Bourne 1986, pp. 40–41; Quirk 1993, p. 23; Coltman 2003, p. 31.
- ^ Bourne 1986, pp. 41–42; Quirk 1993, p. 24; Coltman 2003, pp. 32–34.
- ^ Bourne 1986, p. 42; Coltman 2003, pp. 34–35.
- ^ a b Coltman 2003, pp. 36–37.
- ^ a b Bourne 1986, pp. 46–52; Quirk 1993, pp. 25–26; Coltman 2003, pp. 40–45; Castro & Ramonet 2009, pp. 98–99.
- ^ Gaddis 1997, p. 177.
- ^ Bourne 1986, pp. 54, 56; Coltman 2003, pp. 46–49.
- ^ Quirk 1993, p. 27.
- ^ Bourne 1986, p. 55; Quirk 1993, p. 27; Coltman 2003, pp. 47–48; Von Tunzelmann 2011, p. 41.
- ^ Castro & Ramonet 2009, p. 100.
- ^ Bourne 1986, pp. 54–55; Coltman 2003, p. 46.
- ^ Coltman 2003, p. 49.
- ^ Bourne 1986, p. 57; Coltman 2003, p. 50.
- ^ Quirk 1993, p. 29; Coltman 2003, p. 50.
- ^ Bourne 1986, p. 39; Coltman 2003, p. 51.
- ^ Coltman 2003, p. 51.
- ^ Bourne 1986, p. 57; Coltman 2003, p. 51; Castro & Ramonet 2009, p. 89.
- ^ Bourne 1986, pp. 57–58; Quirk 1993, p. 318; Coltman 2003, pp. 51–52.
- ^ Quirk 1993, p. 31; Coltman 2003, pp. 52–53.
- ^ Coltman 2003, p. 53.
- ^ Bourne 1986, pp. 58–59; Coltman 2003, pp. 46, 53–55; Castro & Ramonet 2009, pp. 85–87; Von Tunzelmann 2011, p. 44.
- ^ a b Bourne 1986, pp. 56–57, 62–63; Quirk 1993, p. 36; Coltman 2003, pp. 55–56.
- ^ Quirk 1993, pp. 33–34; Coltman 2003, p. 57.
- ^ Quirk 1993, p. 29; Coltman 2003, pp. 55–56.
- ^ Bourne 1986, pp. 64–65; Quirk 1993, pp. 37–39; Coltman 2003, pp. 57–62; Von Tunzelmann 2011, p. 44.
- ^ Coltman 2003, p. 64; Von Tunzelmann 2011, p. 44.
- ^ Quirk 1993, pp. 41, 45; Coltman 2003, p. 63.
- ^ Bourne 1986, pp. 68–69; Quirk 1993, pp. 50–52; Coltman 2003, p. 65.
- ^ Bourne 1986, p. 69; Coltman 2003, p. 66; Castro & Ramonet 2009, p. 107.
- ^ Bourne 1986, p. 73; Coltman 2003, pp. 66–67.
- ^ Coltman 2003, pp. 69–70, 73.
- ^ Coltman 2003, p. 74.
- ^ Bourne 1986, p. 76; Coltman 2003, pp. 71, 74.
- ^ Coltman 2003, pp. 75–76.
- ^ Coltman 2003, p. 78.
- ^ Bourne 1986, pp. 80–84; Quirk 1993, pp. 52–55; Coltman 2003, pp. 80–81.
- ^ Coltman 2003, p. 82.
- ^ Quirk 1993, p. 55; Coltman 2003, p. 82.
- ^ Bourne 1986, p. 83; Quirk 1993, p. 55; Coltman 2003, p. 83.
- ^ a b Bourne 1986, pp. 87–88; Quirk 1993, pp. 55–56; Coltman 2003, p. 84.
- ^ Bourne 1986, p. 86; Coltman 2003, p. 86.
- ^ Bourne 1986, p. 91; Quirk 1993, p. 57; Coltman 2003, p. 87.
- ^ Bourne 1986, pp. 91–92; Quirk 1993, pp. 57–59; Coltman 2003, p. 88.
- ^ Quirk 1993, p. 58; Coltman 2003, pp. 88–89.
- ^ Bourne 1986, p. 93; Quirk 1993, p. 59; Coltman 2003, p. 90.
- ^ Bourne 1986, p. 93; Quirk 1993, pp. 58–60; Coltman 2003, pp. 91–92.
- ^ Bourne 1986, pp. 94–95; Quirk 1993, p. 61; Coltman 2003, p. 93.
- ^ Bourne 1986, pp. 95–96; Quirk 1993, pp. 63–65; Coltman 2003, pp. 93–94.
- ^ Bourne 1986, pp. 98–100; Quirk 1993, p. 71; Coltman 2003, pp. 94–95.
- ^ Bourne 1986, pp. 97–98; Quirk 1993, pp. 67–71; Coltman 2003, pp. 95–96.
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Cited works
- Azicri, Max (2009). "The Castro-Chávez Alliance". Latin American Perspectives. Vol. 36, no. 1. pp. 99–110. ISSN 1552-678X. Archived from the original on 29 December 2015. Retrieved 27 February 2015.
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- Bourne, Peter G. (1986). Fidel: A Biography of Fidel Castro. New York City: Dodd, Mead & Company. ISBN 978-0-396-08518-8.
- Brogan, Patrick (1989). The Fighting Never Stopped: A Comprehensive Guide to World Conflicts Since 1945. New York: Vintage Books. ISBN 0679720332.
- Castro, Fidel (2009). My Life: A Spoken Autobiography. Ramonet, Ignacio (interviewer). New York: Scribner. ISBN 978-1-4165-6233-7.
- Coltman, Leycester (2003). The Real Fidel Castro. New Haven and London: Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0-300-10760-9.
- Draper, Theodore (1965). Castroism: Theory and Practice. New York: Praeger. OCLC 485708.
- Evenson, Fredric (2010). "A Deeper Shade of Green: The Evolution of Cuban Environmental Law and Policy". Golden Gate University Law Review. Vol. 28, no. 3. pp. 489–525. OCLC 61312828. Archived from the original on 27 February 2015. Retrieved 26 February 2015.
- Fernández, Alina (1997). Castro's Daughter, An Exile's Memoir of Cuba. St. Martin's Press. ISBN 978-0-312-24293-0.
- Franqui, Carlos (1984). Family Portrait with Fidel. New York: Random House First Vintage Books. ISBN 978-0-394-72620-5.
- Gaddis, John Lewis (1997). "We Now Know Rethinking Cold War History". Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-878071-0.
- George, Edward (2004). The Cuban Intervention in Angola, 1965–1991: From Che Guevara to Cuito Cuanavale. London: Routledge. ISBN 1134269323.
- Geyer, Georgie Anne (1991). Guerrilla Prince: The Untold Story of Fidel Castro. New York City: Little, Brown and Company. ISBN 978-0-316-30893-9.
- Gott, Richard (2004). Cuba: A New History. New Haven and London: Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0-300-10411-0.
- Guerra, Lillian (2012). Visions of Power in Cuba: Revolution, Redemption, and Resistance, 1959–1971. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press. ISBN 978-1-4696-1886-9.
- Hunt, Jim; Risch, Bob (2009). Cuba on My Mind: The Secret Lives of Watergate Burglar Frank Sturgis. Amelia, OH: Baronakers Publications. ISBN 978-1-4500-0779-5.
- Lecuona, Rafael A. (1991). "Jose Marti and Fidel Castro". International Journal on World Peace. 8 (1): 45–61. JSTOR 20751650.
- Levitsky, Steven; Way, Lucan A. (2010). Competitive Authoritarianism: Hybrid Regimes after the Cold War. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1-139-49148-8. Archived from the original on 9 February 2023. Retrieved 17 July 2021.
- Mallin, Jay (1994). Covering Castro: Rise and Decline of Cuba's Communist Dictator. Piscataway: Transaction Publishers. ISBN 978-1-56000-156-0.
- Marcano, Christina; Barrera Tyszka, Alberto (2007). Hugo Chávez: The Definitive Biography of Venezuela's Controversial President. New York: Random House. ISBN 978-0-679-45666-7.
- Márquez, Laureano; Sanabria, Eduardo (2018). Historieta de Venezuela: De Macuro a Maduro (1st ed.). Gráficas Pedrazas. ISBN 978-1-7328777-1-9.
- Quirk, Robert E. (1993). Fidel Castro. New York and London: W.W. Norton & Company. ISBN 978-0-393-03485-1.
- Ros, Enrique (2006). El Clandestinaje y la Lucha Armada Contra Castro. Miami: Ediciones Universal. ISBN 978-1-59388-079-8.
- Sampson, Anthony (1999). Mandela: The Authorised Biography. HarperCollins. ISBN 978-0-00-638845-6.
- Sánchez, Juan Reinaldo (2015). The Double Life of Fidel Castro: My 17 Years as Personal Bodyguard to El Lider Maximo (First U.S. ed.). New York: Penguin Press. ISBN 978-1250068767.
- Skierka, Volker (2006). Fidel Castro: A Biography. Cambridge: Polity. ISBN 978-0-7456-4081-5.
- Sivak, Martín (2010). Evo Morales: The Extraordinary Rise of the First Indigenous President of Bolivia. New York: Palgrave MacMillan. ISBN 978-0-230-62305-7.
- Sondrol, Paul C. (1991). "Totalitarian and Authoritarian Dictators: A Comparison of Fidel Castro and Alfredo Stroessner". Journal of Latin American Studies. 23 (3): 599–620. doi:10.1017/S0022216X00015868. JSTOR 157386. S2CID 144333167.
- Tareke, Gebru (2009). The Ethiopian Revolution: War in the Horn of Africa. New Haven: Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0300156157.
- Von Tunzelmann, Alex (2011). Red Heat: Conspiracy, Murder, and the Cold War in the Caribbean. New York City: Henry Holt and Company. ISBN 978-0-8050-9067-3.
- Whittle, Daniel; Rey Santos, Orlando (2006). "Protecting Cuba's Environment: Efforts to Design and Implement Effective Environmental Laws and Policies in Cuba" (PDF). Cuban Studies. Vol. 37. pp. 73–103. ISSN 1548-2464. Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 August 2016. Retrieved 5 December 2018.
- Wickham-Crowley, Timothy P. (1990). Exploring Revolution: Essays on Latin American Insurgency and Revolutionary Theory. Armonk and London: M.E. Sharpe. ISBN 978-0-87332-705-3.
Further reading
- Benjamin, Jules R. (1992). The United States and the Origins of the Cuban Revolution: An Empire of Liberty in an Age of National Liberation. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press. ISBN 978-0-691-02536-0.
- Bohning, Don (2005). The Castro Obsession: U.S. Covert Operations Against Cuba, 1959–1965. Washington, D.C.: Potomac Books, Inc. ISBN 978-1-57488-676-4.
- Roman, Peter (2003). People's Power: Cuba's Experience with Representative Government. Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 978-0742525658.
- Fabian, Escalante (1996). CIA Targets Fidel: The Secret Assassination Report. PO Bo 1015, North Melbourne, Victoria 3051, Australia: Ocean Press. ISBN 978-1-875284-90-0. Retrieved 22 May 2024.
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: CS1 maint: location (link)
External links
- Appearances on C-SPAN
- Fidel Castro's speeches
- Fidel Castro History Archive at Marxists Internet Archive
- Fidel Castro at IMDb
- Fidel Castro (Character) on IMDb
- Fidel Castro Records at FBI Records: The Vault
- Fidel Castro: A Life in Pictures – slideshow by BBC News
- Fidel Castro: From Rebel to El Presidente – timeline by NPR
- Fidel Castro – extended biography by Barcelona Centre for International Affairs (in Spanish)
- Say Brother; 914; Invitation From Cuba Date N/A, National Records and Archives Administration, American Archive of Public Broadcasting
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