Fidel Castro is a famous Cuban revolutionary, state, political and party leader who ruled Cuba for 49 years - from 1959 to 2008.
Castro was a very controversial person and became a legend during his lifetime. Some admired him, considering him the savior of the nation, while others called him a dictator.
Fidel Castro
At the same time, his life was under constant threat, since over the years of his biography, the most sophisticated attempts were made on him more than 600 times. However, he lived happily to the age of 90, outliving most of his enemies.
So, here is a short biography of Fidel Castro .
Biography of Castro
Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz was born on August 13, 1926 in the Cuban village of Biran. He grew up in a simple working-class family.
His father Angel Castro Argis was a poor farmer. Later he managed to get rich and acquire a large sugar plantation. Fidel's mother, Lina Rus Gonzalez, worked as a cook.
Childhood and youth
Despite the fact that Fidel Castro's parents were poorly educated people, they were able to give their children a good education. An interesting fact is that the future revolutionary had an excellent memory and was the best student at school.
Fidel Castro in his youth
Already at an early age, Castro showed leadership qualities and revolutionary sentiments. When he was 13 years old, he participated in a workers' revolt on his father's plantation.
Fidel's friends claimed that he was distinguished by his courage and always strived to achieve his goal.
In 1941, Fidel Castro graduated from school with honors, after which he continued to study at an elite college. During this period of his biography, he was distinguished by pride and did not miss a single fight.
After graduating from college, he entered the University of Havana. Fidel studied with great interest the works of Lenin and Stalin, Trotsky and Mussolini. An interesting fact is that initially he was neutral towards the politics of communism.
Having received a legal education, the future comandante opened a private practice. Castro provided legal assistance to poor and needy people. He helped his compatriots for free, which earned him great authority.
Special features of Fidel Castro
Death of a Cuban legend
Information about Castro's health problems began to appear in July 2006 - the revolutionary was hospitalized with gastrointestinal bleeding. For several months, doctors fought for his life. During this period, the leadership of the country passed into the hands of Raul Castro. The media reported with enviable regularity about the death of Fidel Castro.
In August 2021, the whole country celebrated the 90th anniversary of the country's ex-leader on a grand scale.
The date of death of Fidel Castro is November 25, 2021. It was on this day that Raul Castro announced the death of his brother on the local federal channel. The cause of Fidel Castro’s death was not officially announced, but anonymous sources claim that in recent months the intestinal disease has been actively progressing.
When it became known that Fidel Castro had died, 9 days of mourning were declared in Cuba. In his will, the Cuban leader asked to cremate his remains - after the official part of the farewell, he wanted his ashes to be transported to Santiago de Cuba, completely repeating the route taken in 1959.
The farewell ceremony on November 29 was attended by more than a million people from 50 countries, including the leaders of most Latin American countries. After the official part, the urn with the ashes of the Comandante went along the route that he had bequeathed. Many people are interested in where Fidel Castro is buried? At the cemetery of St. Iphigenia. Raul Castro solemnly promised that he would be a worthy successor to his brother’s work.
The news of the death of Fidel Castro conditionally divided the world into two camps. Some (for example, Cuban emigrants in the United States) received this with jubilation and mass celebrations. Donald Trump said that Castro was a brutal dictator who subjected the people to terrible repression for more than 60 years. Others believe that with the death of the revolutionary, an entire era ended, because Fidel was a great politician, a role model, an idol.
The leader of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, Gennady Zyuganov, calls Castro a titan, the founder of the politics of morals, a policy that put the well-being of ordinary people and a happy world first
Policy
At the beginning of his political career, Fidel Castro found himself in the Party of the Cuban People, seeking to gain a seat in parliament. However, having failed, the guy decided to take radical measures.
Castro became the leader of the fighters against the dictatorship. In 1953, he, together with like-minded people, organized a conspiracy against the current President Fulgencio Batista.
However, Batista Castro and his associates failed to overthrow, which dramatically changed Fidel’s biography. Moreover, as a result of the clashes, many revolutionaries died, and Castro himself miraculously survived. He was captured and sentenced to 15 years in prison. After spending less than 2 years in prison, he was released under an amnesty.
Upon his release, Fidel Castro went to Mexico, where he began to create a new revolutionary association, the “26 July Movement,” named after the victims who died against the Batista regime.
The association included many famous revolutionaries, including Ernesto Che Guevara and Fidel’s brother Raul.
Che Guevara (left) and Fidel Castro
Having secured the support of his comrades and been well armed, Castro returned to Cuba with an army of like-minded people, where he was able to overthrow Batista and his entourage.
Castro personally supervised all rebel activities, and later took the position of prime minister of the state.
Fidel Castro political leader
Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz (Charismatic Leadership) born August 13, 1926 is a Cuban revolutionary, statesman, political and party leader, comandante, Chairman of the State Council of Cuba from 1976 to 2008. Hero of the Soviet Union (1963). F. Castro is not just an outstanding political figure in Cuba or developing countries. People of this magnitude belong to the political history of the whole world.
For many decades, Fidel has been a generator of ideas, the brain and heart of the revolutionary process developing in Cuba. He, like a locomotive, pulls the Cuban revolution on the shoulders of his mighty will against all winds. Carries the torch of freedom lit by the first fighters for independence. At the same time, the deeper the process develops, the more its activities merge and dissolve in the life of Cuban society, in the work of an extensive network of political, state and mass organizations. And yet, Fidel never gets lost in their shadow. As a born leader, F. Castro is always in dynamic movement on the political scene.
The creation by Fidel in the 50s of a militant revolutionary political organization, devoid of dogmatism, made it possible to rouse the people to fight and overthrow the pro-American regime of F. Batista. The unity of all Cuban revolutionaries around F. Castro made it possible to consolidate the people's victory and repel the first attacks of the forces of internal and external counter-revolution in the early 60s.
“Fidel Castro is one of the most paradoxical and creative politicians of our time. When looking at his more than half-century path in politics, full of unexpected turns and unpredictable maneuvers, one involuntarily recalls the words of the outstanding Russian philosopher of politics N.V. Ustryalov: “politics generally does not know eternal truths. In it, in Heraclitean style, “everything flows,” everything depends on the current “situation,” “conjuncture,” “real balance of forces.” Only its most general, supreme goal can claim stability and relative immutability.”
The highest goal for the politician Fidel Castro has always been and remains freedom, independence, original development and prosperity of Cuba as a social people's state. To achieve this goal, he found and is finding means that cause at least surprise among those who are accustomed to seeing in politics only technology, that is, following ready-made schemes within the framework of a certain worldview, be it Marxist or liberal.
Born on August 13, 1926 in the village of Biran, Oriente province, into the family of a Spanish immigrant Castro and a maid Rus, who were officially married when they already had three sons and a daughter. Fidel managed to experience the regime of austerity in the family, when his father made his own fortune with his own labor, which allowed him to become the owner of a sugar plantation. He sent his son to study at a Jesuit college in order to somehow discipline the impulsive young man.
In 1945, Fidel was enrolled in the Faculty of Law at the University of Havana. In 1947, he took part in an expedition to a neighboring island in the Dominican Republic with the aim of assisting in the overthrow of the Trujillo dictatorship. He managed to avoid arrest after the failure of the adventure by swimming, armed in hand, through the Nipe Strait, and returned to Havana. In 1948, as a student leader, he went to Colombia for the anti-imperialist and anti-colonial student congress, sponsored by Argentine President Peron. After a meeting of the Cuban delegation with the leader of the Liberal Party of Colombia, Gaitan, the latter was shot, which caused a powerful protest and the expulsion of foreigners from the country.
At the end of his studies, Castro completed a one-year postgraduate course, after which in 1950. received a doctorate in law. For some time he practiced law, handled the cases of the poor for free, and joined the Party of the Cuban People (“Orthodox”), from the left wing of which in 1952 he ran for deputy of the National Congress of the country. However, the elections did not take place due to the coup d'etat carried out by General F. Batista on March 10, 1952.
July 26, 1953 F. Castro leads an armed attack by a group of young patriots on the Moncada barracks in Santiago de Cuba. After the defeat of the armed uprising, he was captured, tried and sentenced to 15 years in prison, to be served in solitary confinement on the marshy island of Pinos. At the trial, he gave a speech, “History will justify me,” in which he subjected Batista’s bloody dictatorship to scathing criticism and outlined a program for the national liberation struggle and revolutionary changes in Cuba. On May 15, 1955, under pressure from public opinion, he was released under an amnesty and emigrated to Mexico in July.
On December 2, 1956, together with 82 comrades, including Che Guevara, he landed on the yacht Granma on the coast of the province of Oriente. The operation was unsuccessful - only 12 people were saved, but they gained a foothold in the Sierra Maestra mountains, where a rebel army began to be created. In December 1958, the partisans launched an attack on Havana. Dictator Batista fled and on January 1, 1959, F. Castro proclaimed the victory of the revolution, while ordering the execution of many henchmen of the losing regime.
Having become prime minister of Cuba in February 1959, Castro turned to the USSR for loans, weapons and food. Soon he carried out the expropriation of the property of foreign companies and collectivization in agriculture. In response, the United States canceled all trade relations with Cuba in 1960. Mass emigration began from the island. Among those who left for the United States were Fidel's sister and his first wife, Juana Mirta Balart, from whom he left a son, Fidel Diaz. The second wife of the Cuban leader was Trinidadian Dalia Castro - she bore him three sons: Alex, Alexis and Alejandro, but the marriage would be registered only after the death of her fighting childless friend Celia Sanchez in 1980.
The defeat of the landing of Americans and Cuban emigrants in April 1961 on Playa Giron, the successful overcoming of the Cuban Missile Crisis in October 1962, and the measures taken after several failed assassination attempts contributed to the growth of Castro’s popularity. An ardent supporter of revolutionary movements in Latin America and national liberation movements in Africa, he gained enormous authority in the countries of the Third World, becoming the head of the Non-Aligned Movement.
In 1989 F. Castro launched a preemptive strike against the internal opposition, accusing the commander of Cuban troops in Africa, General Ochoa, of plotting a coup. This helped him resist when, due to the dissolution of the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance and the collapse of the USSR, Cuba faced difficult problems. In 1991, a strict austerity regime was introduced in the republic under the slogan: “If I cannot make people equally rich, then I will make them equally poor.” In 1994, Fidel suffered a personal tragedy when his daughter with Nati Revuelta, Alina Fernandez, left Cuba, asking for political asylum in the United States.
In 1962, Castro was excommunicated by Pope John XXIII on the basis of the Decree against Communism of Pope Pius XII for organizing the communist revolution in Cuba.
His sister Juanita Castro fled Cuba in 1964 and settled in Florida upon arriving in the United States; even before that, in the early sixties, she began collaborating with the US Central Intelligence Agency.
During the revolutionary years, Fidel often added two more zeros to the amount of the reward announced for his head.
Fidel Castro entered the Guinness Book of Records as the most fiery speaker - his speech to the UN on September 29, 1960 lasted 4 hours 29 minutes. According to Reuters: Castro's longest speech was delivered at the Third Congress of the Cuban Communist Party in 1986 and lasted 7 hours and 10 minutes. However, according to AN Cuba-vision, this speech lasted 27 hours.
Fidel Castro played in at least two American films, including the quite famous one at the time, “School for Mermaids.”
Castro has always been a fan of Rolex watches. In many photographs he can be seen with two Rolex Submariners on his wrist.
The NBO company, which ordered Stone's film Comandante, considered it a propaganda film praising Cuba and its leader. The film was banned from showing in the United States, and Oliver Stone again went to Cuba to investigate the situation with human rights on Liberty Island. Ironically, in 2006, American authorities fined the Finding Fidel film crew for “violating the economic embargo” against Cuba, prompting ridicule from Cubans about the “price of freedom of speech.”
At the end of April 2010, Fidel started a microblog on Twitter (https://twitter.com/reflexionfidel), intending to surpass Barack Obama, Sebastian Piñera and Benjamin Netanyahu in the number of readers, but in the first weeks their number only grew to a couple of tens of thousands, and During the same time, Hugo Chavez received 10 times more “votes.”
At the beginning of August 2010, the first part of Fidel's memoirs, La Victoria Estratégica, was published for the first time in Cuba. He is currently working on the second part of La contraofensiva estratégica final.
Fidel Castro has been an Arsenal fan since the Gunners' double in 1970/71
In the computer games "Call of Duty: Black Ops" and "The Godfather 2" there is an operation to eliminate Castro. Both operations end in failure, which again hints at his “invulnerability.”
Fidel Castro entered the Guinness Book of Records for surviving 638 different assassination attempts, including poison in cigars and a bomb in a baseball.
Chairman of the State Council of Cuba
During the 20 years of ruling Cuba (see interesting facts about Cuba), Fidel Castro achieved great heights in a variety of areas. The country prospered before our eyes and experienced incredible economic growth. Cubans now had the right to free healthcare.
In addition, the level of education in the state has increased significantly. A reform concerning the nationalization of private firms was adopted. It is worth noting that Cuba set a course for developing friendly relations with the Soviet Union, which determined not only the further biography of Fidel Castro, but also the history of the development of Cuba for many years to come.
In 1962, Castro agreed to place Soviet nuclear weapons on the island. This not only led to a deterioration in relations between Cuba and the United States, but also created an acute political crisis. The world was on the brink of nuclear war.
This period of history is called the Cuban Missile Crisis. Due to the current situation, many of the commander’s comrades left the country and went over to the side of the United States.
However, this did not stop Fidel Castro from achieving his goal. He continued to fight against global capitalism and supported various unrest in African and Asian states.
In the early 80s, the USSR stopped providing material assistance to Cuba, which led to an economic crisis. In a short period of time, Cuba has become one of the poorest countries in the world.
Many people began to emigrate to America. Along with this, various associations began to emerge aimed at overthrowing the current government.
In 2006, Fidel Castro's health condition deteriorated significantly. For this reason, he transferred control of the state to his brother Raoul. In 2 years, Raul Castro will become the full-fledged ruler of Cuba.
Fidel Castro's policies
Government system in Cuba
Cuba is the only socialist state in the Western Hemisphere. The form of government is a socialist republic.
According to the 1976 constitution and its new version in 1992, Cuba is a “socialist state.”
The National Assembly of People's Power, elected by universal suffrage for a five-year term, is declared the highest body of power. The Assembly elects from among its members the Council of State, which represents it between its sessions, carries out its decisions and performs other functions.
The Council is responsible and reports to the Assembly.
The Chairman of the State Council is vested with extremely broad powers. He heads the government and at the same time is the Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces, convenes and directs meetings of the State Council and the Council of Ministers, issues laws, decrees, other decrees and regulations approved by the State Council, the Council of Ministers or its executive committee.
In accordance with the constitution, in conditions of martial law, war, general mobilization or a state of emergency, the leadership of the country passes to the National Defense Council.
The highest executive body is the Council of Ministers.
Its members are nominated by the Chairman of the State Council and approved by the National Assembly.
Administratively, Cuba is divided into 14 provinces and a special municipality - Isla Juventud (Island of Youth). The provinces, in turn, are divided into municipalities. Local government bodies are provincial and municipal assemblies elected by general vote.
The term of office of provincial bodies is 5 years, municipal – 2.5 years.
An important role is played locally by the “Committees for the Defense of the Revolution,” created after 1960. They constantly monitor the situation and maintain order, organize vaccination of the population, maintain cleanliness, etc.
The judicial system includes the Supreme People's Court and courts at various levels.
The courts are independent from local authorities, but are subordinate to the National Assembly and the Council of State.
The Supreme People's Court is the highest judicial body, carries out legislative initiatives, issues judicial rules and instructions, etc.
Control over compliance with the law is exercised by the State Prosecutor's Office, which reports directly to the National Assembly and the State Council. Local prosecutors are independent from the relevant state bodies and are subordinate to the General Prosecutor's Office.
Party system
After 1959, political parties opposed to the government of Fidel Castro were dissolved.
Officially, the activities of only three pro-government organizations continued - the July 26 Movement, led by F. Castro himself, the People's Socialist Party (Communist) and the March 13 Revolutionary Directorate. In 1961 they merged into the United Revolutionary Organizations, transformed in 1962–1963 into the United Party of the Socialist Revolution of Cuba (EPSRK).
Since then, Cuba has had a one-party regime.
Communist Party of Cuba (CPC) - formed in October 1965 on the basis of the EPSRK, but its first congress was held only in 1975, the second in 1980. The ideology of the CPC is based on the “ideas of José Martí” and Marxism-Leninism. According to the constitution, the party plays a leading role in society and the political system. Trade unions, youth, women's and all other public organizations operate under its control.
The official program of the CCP was adopted at the third congress in 1986.
The Fourth Congress, which was held in 1991 in the context of the collapse of the USSR and other states of “real socialism”, spoke in favor of economic reforms while maintaining command positions for the state, opened access to the party for believers and endowed the Central Committee with emergency powers. The new program of the CPC, in essence, was the document “The Party of Unity, Democracy and Human Rights, which we defend,” adopted by the fifth congress in 1997.
The ultimate goal of the Cuban Communist Party, in accordance with the current program, is the construction of communism, and the historical goal at the present stage is the completion of the construction of socialism.
The 1997 Congress reaffirmed one-party rule as "the fundamental principle of the Cuban Revolution."
According to the leadership of the CPC, the one-party regime is a more perfect model than “formal bourgeois democracy,” and civil liberties cannot operate “contrary to the existence and goals of the socialist state... Violation of this principle is punishable.”
In 1985, Cuba passed a law on associations. In accordance with it, the Social Democratic Party of Cuba, the Cuban Party for Human Rights, etc. tried to register, but they were all refused.
The opposition in Cuba (human rights, social democratic, pacifist, liberal, anarchist, etc.) operates illegally and is persecuted.
Assassinations and health
It seems incredible, but according to the official version, 638 attempts were planned and carried out on Fidel Castro’s life. Their organizers were both American and Cuban groups.
They tried to poison Fidel, blow him up, shoot him, or set up some kind of accident. Castro himself looked at everything that was happening with irony. In an interview, he said that if staying alive after assassination attempts was an Olympic discipline, he would have won a gold medal.
When Fidel's health suddenly deteriorated in 2006, any information about his health remained classified. However, rumors began to appear in the press about several illnesses of the commander.
It is known that since 1998, Castro developed Parkinson's disease. If you believe the words of a Cuban doctor who escaped from the island, the politician had colon cancer. In addition, in the late 80s, after a cerebral hemorrhage, Fidel underwent surgery.
Information has repeatedly appeared in the press that he died. In such cases, Castro immediately made public statements proving the opposite.
In 2014, Fidel Castro had a conversation with the head of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Sergei Lavrov. The latter said that although the Comandante is physically weak, he still has a revolutionary spirit.
Last years
At the end of July 2006, the commander's health deteriorated sharply. Doctors note that the reasons for this deterioration could be:
- advanced age;
- rapid progression of a malignant tumor;
- stress due to the unstable political situation in the country;
- smoking and not following the recommended diet.
When Castro felt that he could no longer effectively govern the state due to illness, he appointed his brother Raul as his successor. Fidel officially stated that he completely trusts his brother and expects successful leadership from him. The Comandante planned not to leave his leadership post “until the bitter end,” but doctors prescribed absolute rest for Fidel.
Statements by Dr. Marcelo Fernandez
Dr. Marcelo Fernandez, who urgently emigrated from Liberty Island for political reasons, discovered the Cuban leader’s secret: it turns out that Castro had been suffering from cancer since 1989.
The diagnosis was made when Fidel was operated on to eliminate the effects of a cerebral hemorrhage. However, the incurable disease was deliberately kept silent for a long time so that Cubans would not panic.
False death reports
It is known that Fidel, like some other famous politicians, was “buried” prematurely several times. Journalists repeatedly spread newspaper rumors about his death in order to increase the circulation of their publications. Such reports appeared in the media at least four times: in 1986, 1994, 2007 and 2009.
The politician himself put an end to these rumors when in 2010 he visited a research center in the Cuban capital, Havana. By this, Fidel made it clear to all ill-wishers that he was still alive, and rumors about his death were greatly exaggerated.
Last public appearances
In 2015 - 2021, the commandant, according to doctors, felt unwell, but still tried to find the strength to periodically appear in public. During Castro’s “public appearances”:
- took walks accompanied by family and friends;
- attended various celebrations and public events;
- visited research institutions and enterprises in Cuba.
Eyewitnesses claim that recently he has had virtually no contact with fellow politicians and has not participated in meetings or meetings. The Comandante always had a heart for his country, but a sharp deterioration in his health no longer allowed him to lead a rich political life.
Personal life
In the biography of Fidel Castro there were 3 women whom he truly loved. They gave him seven children, of whom only one boy was born in an official marriage.
An interesting fact is that the revolutionary’s first wife, Mirta Diaz Balart, was the daughter of a minister from Batista’s entourage. It was she who bore him a legitimate heir named Fidelito.
Fidel's second wife was Nati Revuelta, who was one of the most beautiful girls in Cuba. The result of their relationship was the birth of a girl, Alina. An interesting fact is that when she grew up, she emigrated to the USA. If you believe her words, then Castro has at least 5 more children born from his mistress Deliv Soto.
The Comandante's third wife was Celia Sanchez, who supported Fidel in everything and was a reliable support for him. However, in 1985 she committed suicide.
According to Forbes, in 2006 Fidel Castro's fortune was estimated at almost $1 billion. The politician himself denied his income from state-owned enterprises.
At the same time, he loved to live beautifully, as evidenced by his expensive cars, yachts, mansions and numerous security guards. An interesting fact is that Castro’s children lived very modestly. They were only provided with the necessary food and security.
