Fidel Castro
Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz 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 Cuban Revolutionary Armed Forces from 1959 to 2008, and as the First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba from 1961 until 2011. More
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. Eisenhower and 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.
Fidel Castro timeline
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Fidel Castro is born
Fidel Alejandro Vittore Castro Ruz was born on a sugar plantation in Birán, near Mayarí, in the modern-day province of Holguín – then a part of the... Read more
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Fidel Castro studies law at Havana University
In late 1945, Castro entered law school at the University of Havana. He became immediately embroiled in the political culture at the University,... Read more
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Fidel Castro joins Partido Ortodoxo a Cuban political party
In 1947, Castro joined the Partido Ortodoxo which had been newly formed by Eduardo Chibás. A charismatic figure, Chibás attracted many Cubans with... Read more
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Fidel Castro marries Mirta Diaz-Balart
By his first wife Mirta Díaz-Balart, whom he married on October 11, 1948, Castro has a son named Fidel Ángel "Fidelito" Castro Díaz-Balart, born on... Read more
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Fidel Castro graduates with a doctorate in law
Although Castro considered enrolling at Columbia University, a private university in Manhattan, he returned to Cuba to complete his degree. Castro... Read more
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Attack on Moncada Barracks in Cuba
As discontent over the Batista coup grew, Castro abandoned his law practice and formed an underground organization of supporters, including his... Read more
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Fidel Castro is sentenced to 15 years in jail
Castro led a failed attack on the Moncada Barracks in Santiago de Cuba in 1953; and in the trial following his capture made his famous "history... Read more
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Fidel Castro is released from jail
While he was being held at the prison for political activists on Isla de Pinos, he continued to plot Batista's overthrow, planning upon release to... Read more
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Fidel Castro starts the 26th of July Movement
Once in Mexico, Castro reunited with other Cuban exiles and founded the 26th of July Movement, named after the date of the failed attack on the... Read more
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Fidel Castro leads group in a rebellion to overthrow Fulgencio Batista
Since regular contacts with a KGB agent named Nikolai Sergeevich Leonov in Mexico City had not resulted in the hoped for weapon supply, they... Read more
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Fulgencio Batista launches Operation Verano
n May 1958, Batista launched Operation Verano aiming to crush Castro and other anti-government groups. It was called La Ofensiva ("The Offensive")... Read more
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Battle of Yaguajay
The Battle of Yaguajay (December 19 – December 30, 1958) was a decisive victory for the Cuban Revolutionaries over the soldiers of the Batista... Read more
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Battle of Santa Clara
The Battle of Santa Clara was a series of events in late December 1958 that led to the capture of the Cuban city of Santa Clara by revolutionaries... Read more
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Collapse of the Fulgencio Batista regime
After the loss at the Battle of Santa Clara, expecting betrayal by his own army and having lost all backup from the previously supportive US... Read more
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Fidel Castro assumes the post of Commander-in-Chief
On January 8, 1959, Castro's army rolled victoriously into Havana. As news of the fall of Batista's government spread through Havana, The New York... Read more
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Fidel Castro is sworn in as Prime Minister of Cuba
Fidel Castro sought to oust liberals and democrats, such as José Miró Cardona and Manuel Urrutia Lleó. In February professor José Miró Cardona had... Read more
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Fidel Castro signs First Agrarian Reform into law
The agrarian reform laws of Cuba sought to break up large landholdings and redistribute land to those peasants who worked it, to cooperatives, and... Read more
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United States B-26B Invader Bombers Attack Three Cuban Airfields
At about 06.00 Cuba local time on 15 April 1961, eight Douglas B-26B Invader bombers in three groups, simultaneously attacked three Cuban... Read more
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CIA/Brigade 2506 Invasion Fleet Converges on "Rendezvous Point Zulu" South of Cuba
Following the air strikes on airfields on April 15, 1961, the FAR managed to prepare for armed action at least four T-33s, four Sea Furies and five... Read more
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Bay of Pigs Invasion
The Bay of Pigs Invasion (known as La Batalla de Girón in Cuba), was an unsuccessful attempt by a U.S.-trained force of Cuban exiles to invade... Read more
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Second Day of Bay of Pigs Invasion
By about 10.30 on 18 April, Cuban troops and militia, supported by tanks, took Playa Larga after Brigade forces had fled towards Girón in the early... Read more
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Third Day of the Bay of Pigs Invasion
The final air attack mission (code-named Mad Dog Flight) comprised five B-26s, four of which were manned by American CIA contract air crews and... Read more
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Fourth Day of the Bay of Pigs Invasion
From 19 April until about 22 April, sorties were flown by A4D-2Ns to obtain visual intelligence over combat areas. Reconnaissance flights are also... Read more
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Fidel Castro declares Cuba a socialist state
On May 1, 1961, Castro declared Cuba as socialist state and officially abolished multiparty elections. Critics noted that Castro feared elections... Read more
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United States Economic Blockade Against Cuba Becomes Near-Total Embargo
The United States Embargo against Cuba (described in Cuba as el bloqueo, Spanish for "the blockade") is a commercial, economic, and financial... Read more