Fidel Castro

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This name uses Spanish naming customs; the first or paternal family name is Castro and the second or maternal family name is Ruz.

Fidel Castro
Castro in front of a Havana statue of Cuban national hero José Martí in 2003.
First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba
In office July 1961 – April 19, 2011
Deputy	Raúl Castro
Preceded by	Blas Roca Calderio
Succeeded by	Raúl Castro
15th President of Cuba
In office December 2, 1976 – February 24, 2008*
Prime Minister	Himself
Vice President	Raúl Castro
Preceded by	Osvaldo Dorticós Torrado
Succeeded by	Raúl Castro
16th Prime Minister of Cuba
In office February 16, 1959 – February 24, 2008
President	Manuel Urrutia Lleó Osvaldo Dorticós Torrado Himself
Preceded by	José Miró Cardona
Succeeded by	Raúl Castro
7th and 23rd Secretary-General of the Non-Aligned Movement
In office September 16, 2006 – February 24, 2008
Preceded by	Abdullah Ahmad Badawi
Succeeded by	Raúl Castro
In office September 10, 1979 – March 6, 1983
Preceded by	Junius Richard Jayawardene
Succeeded by	Neelam Sanjiva Reddy
Personal details
Born	Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz August 13, 1926 (age 86) Birán, Oriente Province, Cuba
Political party	Communist Party of Cuba
Spouse(s)	Mirta Diaz-Balart (1948–1955) Dalia Soto del Valle (1980–present)
Relations	(siblings) Raúl Castro Ruz Emma Castro Ruz Agustina Castro Ruz Ramon Castro Ruz Angela Castro Ruz Juana Castro Ruz Pedro Emilio Castro Argota Manuel Castro Argota Lidia Castro Argota Antonia Maria Castro Argota Georgina Castro Argota
Children	Fidel Ángel Castro Diaz-Balart Alina Fernández-Revuelta Alexis Castro-Soto Alejandro Castro-Soto Antonio Castro-Soto Angel Castro-Soto Alex Castro-Soto Jorge Angel Castro Laborde Francisca Pupo
Alma mater	University of Havana
Profession	Lawyer
Religion	None (Agnosticism)
Signature
*Acting presidential powers were transferred to Raúl Castro from July 31, 2006.

Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz (Spanish: [fiˈðel ˈkastro]; born August 13, 1926) is a Cuban communist revolutionary and politician who was Prime Minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976, and President from 1976 to 2008. He also served as the Commander in Chief of the country’s armed forcesfrom 1959 to 2008, and as the First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba from 1961 until 2011. Politically a Marxist-Leninist, under his administration the Republic of Cuba became a one-party socialist state; industry and businesses were nationalized, and socialist reforms implemented in all areas of society. Internationally, Castro was the Secretary-General of the Non-Aligned Movement, from 1979 to 1983 and from 2006 to 2008.

The illegitimate son of a wealthy farmer, Castro adopted leftist anti-imperialist politics 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 the United States-backed military junta of Cuban president Fulgencio Batista, and served a year's imprisonment in 1953 after a failed attack on the Moncada Barracks. On release he traveled to Mexico, where he formed a revolutionary group with his brother Raúl and friend Che Guevara, the 26th of July Movement. Returning to Cuba, Castro led the Cuban Revolution which ousted Batista in 1959, and brought his own assumption of military and political power. Alarmed by his revolutionary credentials and friendly relations with the Soviet Union, the U.S. governments of Dwight D. Eisenhowerand John F. Kennedy unsuccessfully attempted to remove him, by economic blockade, assassination and counter-revolution, including the Bay of Pigs invasion of 1961. Countering these threats, Castro formed an economic and military alliance with the Soviets, and allowed them to place nuclear weapons on the island, sparking the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962.

In 1961 Castro proclaimed the socialist nature of his administration, with Cuba becoming a one-party state under Communist Party rule. Socialist reforms 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 foreign revolutionary groups in the hope of toppling world capitalism, sending Cuban troops to fight in the Yom Kippur War, Ogaden War, and Angolan Civil War. Following the Soviet Union's dissolution in 1991, Castro led Cuba into its economic "Special Period", before forging alliances in the Latin American Pink Tide – namely with Hugo Chávez's Venezuela – and joining theBolivarian Alliance for the Americas in 2006. Amid failing health, in 2006 he transferred his responsibilities to Vice-President Raúl Castro, who assumed full presidency in 2008.

Castro is a controversial and divisive world figure, lauded as a champion of anti-imperialism, humanitarianism, socialism and environmentalism by his supporters, but viewed as a dictator who has overseen multiple human rights abuses by his critics. Through his actions and his writings he has significantly influenced the politics of various individuals and groups across the world.