[352], Commenting on Castro's recovery, US President George W. Bush said: "One day the good Lord will take Fidel Castro away." In the Sierra Maestra mountains, Castro was joined by Frank Sturgis who offered to train Castro's troops in guerrilla warfare. [171], In September 1960, Castro flew to New York City for the General Assembly of the United Nations. He knew how to bear with integrity and without hesitation the sufferings that some of us involuntarily caused her. However, he refused to do so and began to carry a gun and surround himself with armed friends. [406], Castro was known for working long hours; he primarily woke up laterarely before 10 or 11amand started his working day around noon, and would work until late at night, often only going to bed at 3 or 4am. 1971, which means he was conceived just a few weeks after his parents got married (try not to . [328] Castro also became a proponent of the anti-globalization movement, criticizing US global hegemony and the control exerted by multinationals. [203], Militarily weaker than NATO, Khrushchev wanted to install Soviet R-12 MRBM nuclear missiles on Cuba to even the power balance. Food shortages led to rationing, resulting in protests in Crdenas. [166] Cuba's government ordered the country's refineriesthen controlled by the US corporations Shell and Essoto process Soviet oil, but under US pressure they refused. What was Fidel Castros personal life like? [163] 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. But these reforms were accompanied by more-suppressive ones: the elimination of a free press, the jailing of dissidents, and the implementation of a one-party state. [271], In the late 1970s, Cuba's relations with North American states improved during the period with Mexican President Luis Echeverra, Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau,[272] and US President Jimmy Carter in power. I am sure this would bring happiness to the Cuban people. 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. "[363], On 19 April 2011, Castro resigned from the Communist Party central committee,[364] thus stepping down as First Secretary. [136] 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. [431] At over 6feet 3inches (1.91m) 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). [267] 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. 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. During that year the Cuban government arrested dozens of independent journalists and activists in a renewed government crackdown on dissidents, and some 75 activists were convicted for conspiring with the United States to subvert the revolution. [179] 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. [288] 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". [300] 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. [420], Within Cuba, Castro was primarily referred to by his official military title Comandante El 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. Fig. There have been many dictators in human history but none like the Cuban war hero Fidel Castro. [333][334] 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. Political scientist Paul C. Sondrol has described Castro's approach to politics as "totalitarian utopianism",[394] with a style of leadership that drew upon the wider Latin American phenomenon of the caudillo. [451], In his personal life, Castro was known for being distant, withdrawn, and confided in very few people. 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. For the TV series, see, The Movement and the Moncada Barracks attack: 19521953, Imprisonment and 26 July Movement: 19531955, Bay of Pigs Invasion and "Socialist Cuba": 19611962, Cuban Missile Crisis and furthering socialism: 19621968, Economic stagnation and Third World politics: 19691974, Foreign wars and NAM Presidency: 19751979, First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba, President of the CouncilofStateofCuba, President of the CouncilofMinistersofCuba, Secretary-General of the NonAlignedMovement, Committees for the Defense of the Revolution, revolutionaries against the Western-backed government, Tri-Continental Conference of Africa, Asia and Latin America, Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, Fidel ngel "Fidelito" Castro Daz-Balart, List of awards and honours bestowed upon Fidel Castro, United States Interests Section in Havana, wide variety of awards and honours from foreign governments, Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, "Por vez primera en Mxico se exhibe el testimonio fotogrfico del Che Guevara", "Raul Antonio Chibs: Manifiesto Sierra Maestra", "The shadows of Cold War over Latin America: the US reaction to Fidel Castro's nationalism, 195659", "Setting Up the Scapegoat Who Will Be Blamed for Cuba? [324] 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. She was 95. [167], 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. Since the triumph of Fidel Castro's revolution in 1959, there has been a steady influx of Cubans into the United States, punctuated by four significant waves: 1959-1962; 1965-1974 . [10] Although Castro took an interest in history, geography, and debate at Beln, he did not excel academically, instead devoting much of his time to playing sports. [278] Desperate for money, Cuba's government secretly sold off paintings from national collections and illicitly traded for US electronic goods through Panama. [279], By November 1987, Castro began spending more time on the Angolan Civil War, in which the Marxist MPLA government had fallen into retreat. Fidel and Raul's parents, ngel Castro and Lina Ruz Gonzlez, are laid to rest at the Birn plantation. The most likely candidate, former rural guardsman Felipe Miraval, never denied nor confirmed the possibility. [231] In turn, the Soviet-loyalist Anbal 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. He also allied with Alphonse Massamba-Dbat's socialist government in Congo-Brazzaville. [425] During speeches, Castro regularly cited reports and books he had read on a wide variety of subjects, including military matters, plant cultivation, filmmaking, and chess strategies. [355] On 24 February 2008, the National Assembly of People's Power unanimously voted Ral as president. Fidel would then make a mental mark of the individual as an "idiot", and would wait for the right time to retaliate against them. [526] The biographer Volker Skierka stated that "he will go down in history as one of the few revolutionaries who remained true to his principles". The program was designed to protect Cuban children whose parents were being targeted by Fidel Castro's new regimeand to shield them from the Communist ideologies feared by the U.S. at the . Countering these threats, Castro aligned with the Soviet Union and allowed the Soviets to place nuclear weapons in Cuba, resulting in the Cuban Missile Crisisa defining incident of the Cold Warin 1962. [105] In 1957 he met with leading members of the Partido Ortodoxo, Ral Chibs 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. [113], The US instructed Cantillo to oust Batista due to fears in Washington that Castro was a socialist,[114] which were exacerbated by the association between nationalist and communist movements in Latin America and the links between the Cold War and decolonization. ("Fatherland or Death"), a proclamation that he made much use of in ensuing years. [315], 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. Also known as: Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz. 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. [303] 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. [57], Castro gathered 165 revolutionaries for the mission,[58] ordering his troops not to cause bloodshed unless they met armed resistance. It was the first time since the 1959 revolution that he ceded control. [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. In his early ages he took an interest . Most significantly, Che Guevara became Governor of the Central Bank and then Minister of Industries. In this way, his understanding of socialism was less about who controlled power in a country and more about the method of distribution. Within Cuba, Fidel's domination of every aspect of the government and the society remains total. [16] Castro became critical of the corruption and violence of President Ramn Grau's government, delivering a public speech on the subject in November 1946 that received coverage on the front page of several newspapers. 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. [453] Besides Ral, Castro was not close to any of his other siblings, although he did have friendly relations with his elder brother Ramn and sister Angelita. After bombing the invaders' ships and bringing in reinforcements, Castro forced the Brigade to surrender on 20 April. The Canadian government denied it, Cuba has never claimed it and Trudeau's parents never visited Cuba until several years after Justin Trudeau was born. 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. Shortly after, Castro assumed complete authority over Cubas new government. [170] On 16 December, the US ended its import quota of Cuban sugar, the country's primary export. In 1960 most economic ties between Cuba and the United States were severed, and the United States broke diplomatic relations with the island country in January 1961. The unlikely affair between the atheist and devout Catholic lasted 40 years. [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. [287] 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. [436] Castro claimed that he quit around 1985 during an anti-smoking campaign promoted by the Communist Party. [270] 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. [99] 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. [513] Balfour stated that Castro's "moral and political hegemony" within Cuba diminished the opportunities for democratic debate and decision making. [178] 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. As in '68 and '92, here in Oriente we will give the first cry of Liberty or Death! [301] Gorbachev called for a negotiated end to the conflict and in 1988 organized a quadripartite talks 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. However, the US used the coup as a basis for invading the island. [284] This accounted for 3038% of the country's entire GDP. [381], Castro proclaimed himself to be "a Socialist, a Marxist, and a Leninist",[382] and publicly identified as a MarxistLeninist from December 1961 onward. I would not be stopped by the hatred and ill will of a few thousand people, including some of my relatives, half the people I know, two-thirds of my fellow professionals, and four-fifths of my ex-schoolmates. Castro spoke nearly every day with Ral, met several times a week, and was a frequent visitor at Ral and Vilma's house; Vilma was also considered close to Castro and often appeared in public with him at national events. The New York Post reported that Castro had sex with at least two women a . Her brother, Rafael Diaz-Balart, whom Fidel Castro . [414] He enjoyed art and photography and was known as a patron of both within Cuba but was uninterested in music and disliked dancing. [205] Undertaken in secrecy, only the Castro brothers, Guevara, Dortics and security chief Ramiro Valds knew the full plan. Born in Birn, the son of a wealthy Spanish farmer, Castro adopted leftist and anti-imperialist ideas while studying law at the University of Havana. In 2011 Fidel stepped down as secretary-general of the Communist Party of Cuba and was succeeded by Ral. Within the first six months of Castro's government, 1,000km (600mi) of roads were built across the island, while $300million was spent on water and sanitation projects. [318] 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.[319]. Over 500,000 Castro-supporters surrounded the Presidential Palace demanding Urrutia's resignation, which he submitted. After his parents divorced, Fidelito's mother, Mirta, moved to Spain. [405] In private though, Castro was actually skilled at keeping his anger in check and not allowing it to affect his judgement, simply becoming cold and withdrawn; Snchez 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. Should the United States maintain its embargo against Cuba begun during the political rule of Fidel Castro? [73] Corresponding with supporters, he maintained control over the Movement and organized the publication of History Will Absolve Me. [218] In 1963, Castro's mother died. [59] 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. But because he has the power to leadwe have no choice but at least try to orient him in the right direction". 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 US hegemony. That is what we are doing, with great equanimity, without giving up our ideals, our goals. [410][411], Balfour described Castro as having a "voracity for knowledge" and "elephantine memory" that allowed him to speak for hours on a variety of different subjects. He ended this speech with "Patria o Muerte!" Fidel Castro slept with 35,000 women. Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students. Castro admitted that Cuba faced the worst situation short of open war, and that the country might have to resort to subsistence farming. In addition, he was repetitive and obsessive. These actions, coupled with Castro's leadership of the Non-Aligned Movement from 1979 to 1983 and Cuba's medical internationalism, increased Cuba's profile on the world stage. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). [142] In May 1959, Castro signed into law the First Agrarian Reform, setting a cap for landholdings to 993 acres (402ha) per owner and prohibiting foreigners from obtaining Cuban land ownership. I joined the people; I grabbed a rifle in a police station that collapsed when it was rushed by a crowd. 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. Castro had come to power with the support of most Cuban city dwellers on the basis of his promises to restore the 1940 constitution, create an honest administration, reinstate full civil and political liberties, and undertake moderate reforms. Petrol rations were dramatically reduced, Chinese bicycles were imported to replace cars, and factories performing non-essential tasks were shut down. By the 1980s Castro had emerged as one of the leaders of nonaligned countries, despite his ties to the Soviet Union. [437] Prior to the Revolution, Castro smoked various brands including Romeo y Julieta Churchill, H. Upmann, Bauza, and Partags. [387] 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". Backed by the US and major corporations, Batista believed Castro to be no threat, and on 15 May 1955, the prisoners were released. [109] Influenced by anti-Batista sentiment among their citizens, the US government ceased supplying him with weaponry. [207] Castro urged that Khrushchev should launch a nuclear strike on the US if Cuba were invaded, but Khrushchev was desperate to avoid nuclear war. [426] Officially, the Cuban government did maintain a cult of personality, but unlike other Soviet-era leaders and his allies, it was less widespread and took on a more subtle and discreet form. As a result, Prime Minister Jos Mir Cardona resigned, going into exile in the US and joining the anti-Castro movement. [441], 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. [161] Castro's government arrested hundreds of counter-revolutionaries,[162] many of whom were subjected to solitary confinement, rough treatment, and threatening behaviour. [428] Indeed, by 2006 Castro's image could frequently be found in Cuban stores, classrooms, taxicabs, and on national television. [235] The severe lack of consumer goods for purchase led productivity to decline, as large sectors of the population felt little incentive to work hard. [282] In late 1981, Castro publicly accused the US of biological warfare against Cuba by orchestrating a dengue fever epidemic. 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. The United States was alienated by these policies and offended by Castros fiery new anti-American rhetoric. With the help of growing numbers of revolutionary volunteers throughout the island, Fidel Castros forces won a string of victories over the Batista governments demoralized and poorly led armed forces. "[498] Censorship of information was extensive,[499][500] and independent journalism was repressed. [200] By 1962, Cuba's economy was in steep decline, a result of poor economic management and low productivity coupled with the US trade embargo. [72] He read widely, enjoying the works of Marx, Lenin, and Mart but also reading books by Freud, Kant, Shakespeare, Munthe, Maugham, and Dostoyevsky, analysing them within a Marxist framework. The people will back us in Oriente and in the whole island. By the 1980s, Cuba's economy was again in trouble, following a decline in the market price of sugar and 1979's decimated harvest. [524] 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[517] and Nelson Mandela,[525] who subsequently awarded him South Africa's highest civilian award for foreigners, the Order of Good Hope. [446] Aquarama II had two companion speedboats utilized by his escort, Pioniera I and Pioniera II; one was equipped with a large cache of weapons and another was equipped with medical equipment. Under Castro, who seized power in 1959, and his brother Raul Castro, who took . She had character, she was brave and self-sacrificing. [372] That April, he gave his most extensive public appearance in many years when addressing the Communist Party. [111] Many of Batista's soldiers defected to Castro's rebels, who also benefited from local popular support. [252], 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. Get a Britannica Premium subscription and gain access to exclusive content. [368] During the North Korea crisis of 2013, he urged both the North Korean and US governments to show restraint. [30] That year, he married Mirta Daz Balart, a student from a wealthy family, through whom he was exposed to the lifestyle of the Cuban elite. The Feb. 1 suicide of Castro's oldest son, Fidelito, spurred the most recent report . It was long believed that his birth was in 1956, but Snchez and another defector uncovered that he was in fact born earlier than Fidelito. Peter Bourne, Castro biographer, 1986[488], One of the most controversial political leaders of his era,[489] Castro both inspired and dismayed people around the world during his lifetime. Fidel Castro's message to the UN General Assembly, 1979[263], 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 1985, Havana hosted five international conferences on the world debt problem. [302], When Gorbachev visited Cuba in April 1989, he informed Castro that perestroika meant an end to subsidies for Cuba. "[145], 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. [181], Castro proclaimed the new administration a direct democracy, in which Cubans could assemble at demonstrations to express their democratic will. [40], Castro co-founded a legal partnership that primarily catered to poor Cubans, although it proved a financial failure. [144] 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. His personal needs for absolute control seems to have changed little over the years. [471], Castro had another daughter, Francisca Pupo (born 1953), the result of a one-night affair. Castro first and foremost is and always has been a committed egalitarian. [238] 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. [228] 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. [153][154], Although then refusing to categorize his regime as socialist and repeatedly denying being a communist, Castro appointed Marxists to senior government and military positions. [312] In December, the Soviet Union was officially dissolved as Boris Yeltsin abolished the Soviet Communist Party and introducing a capitalist multiparty democracy. [524] 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". Omissions? By the time Urrutia was forced to resign in July 1959, Castro had taken effective political power into his own hands. [173] 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. [294] 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.