Fidel Castro

Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz 13 August 1926 25 November 2016 was a Cuban revolutionary and politician who served as Prime Minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976 and President from 1976 to 2008 Ideologically a MarxistLeninist and Cuban nationalist he also served as the First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba from 1961 until 2011 Under his administration Cuba became a oneparty communist state industry and business were nationalized and state socialist reforms were implemented throughout society Born in Birán Oriente the son of a wealthy Spanish farmer Castro adopted leftist and antiimperialist ideas while studying law at the University of Havana After participating in rebellions against rightwing 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 years imprisonment Castro traveled 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 Batistas forces from the Sierra Maestra After Batistas overthrow in 1959 Castro assumed military and political power as Cubas Prime Minister The United States came to oppose Castros government and unsuccessfully attempted to remove him by assassination economic blockade and counterrevolution 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 MarxistLeninist model of development Castro converted Cuba into a oneparty 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 antiimperialist 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 Castros leadership of the NonAligned Movement from 1979 to 1983 and Cubas medical internationalism increased Cubas profile on the world stage Following the Soviet Unions dissolution in 1991 Castro led Cuba through the economic downturn of the Special Period embracing environmentalist and antiglobalization ideas In the 2000s Castro forged alliances in the Latin American pink tide namely with Hugo Chávezs 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 Description above from the Wikipedia article Fidel Castro licensed under CCBYSA full list of contributors on Wikipedia