View source for Fidel Castro

{{Infobox revolutionary
| honorific_prefix = El Comandante
| name = Fidel Castro
| image = File:Fidel Castro High Res Image.png
| image_size = 230px
| image_upright =
| image_alt =
| caption = Portrait of comrade Fidel
| nationality = [[Cuba|Cuban]]
|political_party=[[Communist Party of Cuba]]| birth_name = Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1926|08|13}}
| birth_place = Birán, [[Cuba]]
| death_date = {{Death date and age|2016|11|25|1926|08|13}}
| death_place = [[Havana]], Cuba
| political_line = [[Marxism–Leninism]]<br>[[Anti-imperialism]]
|death_cause=Natural causes}}
'''Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz''' {{Datebio|birthday=13th|birthmonth=August|birthyear=1926|deathday=25th|deathmonth=November|deathyear=2016}} was a [[Republic of Cuba|Cuban]] [[Marxism–Leninism|Marxist–Leninist]] revolutionary and a leader of the [[Cuban Revolution]], alongside [[Che Guevara]], his brother [[Raúl Castro|Raúl]], and others. He served as Prime Minister of [[Republic of Cuba|Cuba]] from 1959 to 1976 and President from 1976 to 2008. He also served as the First Secretary of the [[Communist Party of Cuba]] from 1965 until 2011.

A sympathizer of the Cuban People's Party (Orthodox), he actively participated in the party's campaigns and was one of the first to denounce the reactionary and illegitimate nature of the de facto regime established after the [[coup d'état]] by [[Fulgencio Batista]] on March 10, 1952.<ref>La Historia me absolverá. F.Castro Ruz...[et.al.] -Ediciones Colihue SRL, 1993. -p156. <nowiki>ISBN 9505818041</nowiki>.</ref>

He was imprisoned after the assaults on the Moncada barracks in Santiago de Cuba and the Carlos Manuel de Céspedes barracks in Bayamo, assuming his self-defense before the court that tried him, and pronouncing the plea known as "History Will Absolve Me", in which he outlined the program of the future Revolution in Cuba.<ref>{{Citation|author=Fidel Castro|year=1955|title=History will absolve me|title-url=https://en.prolewiki.org/wiki/Library:History_Will_Absolve_Me}}</ref> 

Sentenced to 15 years in prison, he was amnestied in 1955 and went into exile in Mexico, from where he left with 81 other revolutionaries to disembark at Los Coyuelos on December 2, 1956. After several years of hard struggle, he entered victorious on January 1, 1959 in Santiago de Cuba and arrived in Havana on January 8. 

On February 16, 1959, he was appointed Prime Minister of the Revolutionary Government. On December 2, 1976, he was elected President of the Councils of State and Ministers of the Republic of Cuba, a position he held until his resignation due to health problems on February 24, 2008.<ref>«Proclama del Comandante en Jefe al pueblo de Cuba» http://www.cuba.cu/gobierno/discursos/2006/esp/f310706e.html</ref> 

In 1992, Castro warned that [[climate change]] was an existential threat to the human species<ref>{{News citation|newspaper=Qcostarica|title=Fidel Castro Warned Us Of Climate Change|date=2019-08-08|url=https://qcostarica.com/fidel-castro-warned-us-of-climate-change/}}</ref><blockquote>“An important biological species is at risk of disappearing due to the rapid and progressive liquidation of its natural living conditions: man”</blockquote>

== Life ==

=== Early Life ===
[[File:FidelCastro1929.jpg|thumb|Castro as a young child at the family home in 1929]]
Fidel Castro was born on August 13, 1926 in Birán in Oriente. His father was named Angel Castro Argíz and his mother was named Lina Ruz González. His father was a landowner.<ref name=":0">{{Web citation|author=Granma|newspaper=Granma|title=Fidel Castro Ruz|date=2019-11-01|url=https://en.granma.cu/hasta-la-victoria-siempre/2016-12-01/fidel-castro-ruz|retrieved=2023-07-09}}</ref>

Castro initially attended a rural public school and later attended the schools of La Salle and Dolores in Santiago de Cuba. While living in Santiago de Cuba, he began to play baseball. He started playing while attending Cuqui Bosch Pre-university Institute between 1939 and 1940. This had an effect on his life and throughout his adulthood as he continued to enjoy the sport.<ref>{{Web citation|author=Sigfredo Barros Segrera|newspaper=Granma|title=Fidel and baseball|date=2017-11-07|url=https://en.granma.cu/deportes/2017-12-07/fidel-and-baseball|retrieved=2023-07-12}}</ref> He then went to Dolores College and later, in 1942, attended the Jesuit Belén school. He graduated in June of 1945.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Web citation|newspaper=teleSUR|title=Fidel Castro: 96 Years of a Symbol of Dignity and Emancipation|date=2022-08-13|url=https://www.telesurenglish.net/news/Fidel-Castro-96-Years-of-a-Symbol-of-Dignity-and-Emancipation-20220813-0001.html|retrieved=2023-08-12}}</ref>

In September of 1945, he enrolled in the University of Havana to study Law, Social Sciences and Diplomatic Law. He joined many student groups while attending. These included the the Pro Puerto Rican Independence Committee, the Pro Democracy in the Dominican Republic Committee, the September 30 Committee, and the University Student Federation.<ref name=":0" />

During 1947, Castro signed up to fight against the [[Dominican]] dictator Rafael Leónidas Trujillo. Those involved were caught by the Cuban Navy with Castro escaping capture by jumping into the water.<ref name=":0" />

After becoming introduced to [[Marxism]], he traveled to [[Colombia]], [[Panama]], and [[Venezuela]] to start a Latin American Student Congress. While in Bogotá, he became involved in the civil war.<ref name=":0" />

He graduated in 1950 with a PhD in Civil Law and a bachelor's degree in Diplomatic Law.<ref name=":0" />

=== Pre-Granma Yacht Period ===
[[File:FidelYoungLawyer.jpg|thumb|Castro as a young lawyer in the early 1950s]]
On March 10, 1952, [[fascist]] Fulgencio Batista, with U.S.-backing, took control of the country, becoming a military dictator. Castro opposed him and along with 160 others attacked the the Moncada Garrisons in Bayamo and Santiago de Cuba on on July 26, 1953. Their revolt failed and Castro was sentenced to 15 years in prison. His defense he gave became known as the "History Will Absolve Me" speech.<ref name=":0" />

Due to pressure from the populace, Castro was released in May of 1955. Following this, he founded the [[26th of July Movement|26th of July Movement.]]<ref name=":0" />

In July of 1955, Castro left the country for Mexico to start a resistance group. While in Mexico, he and many other future leaders of the Cuban Revolution, like Raúl Castro, Che Guevara, [[Manuel Márquez]], [[Camilo Cienfuegos]], and [[Juan Almeida Bosque]], underwent training.<ref name=":0" />

Fidel Castro traveled to the [[United States of America]] during this time period and gathered support for his revolution in cities like Bridgeport, Miami, [[New York City]], Philadelphia, Tampa, and Union City.<ref name=":0" />

Some of the members of the 26th of July Movement in Mexico were caught and eventually released from prison. They lost some of their weapons to the police.<ref name=":0" />

=== Granma Yacht Expedition ===
After purchasing the Granma Yacht, they departed from Tuxpan, Mexico on November 25, 1956 with 82 soldiers on board. They arrived in Cuba on December 2, 1956 at Las Coloradas in southwestern Oriente.<ref name=":0" />

In the expedition, Castro was the Commander in Chief and lead the José Martí Column One.<ref name=":0" />

On December 5, 1956, the group was attacked by Batista's military in Alegría de Pío. Fidel and Raúl Castro reunited in Cinco Palmas. They then departed for the Sierra Maestra mountains.<ref name=":0" />

The expedition attacked the Plata Garrison and won against the army on January 17, 1957.<ref name=":0" />

The expedition ended on December 28, 1958 when the Batista army recognized the rebels' victory in Oriente. A coup against Castro was put down on January 1, 1959. Castro entered [[Havana]] on January 8, 1959.<ref name=":0" />

=== After the Revolution ===
[[File:Entrada-de-Fidel-a-La-Habana.jpg|thumb|Castro and the 26th of July Movement enter the streets of [[Havana]] on January 8, 1959]]
Castro became Prime Minister of the Revolutionary Government on February 13, 1959. In this position he lead a great deal of accomplishments. He led the Cuban victory against the US invaders during the [[Bay of Pigs invasion]]. He also successfully led the country through the 1962 October Crisis, also known as the [[Cuban Missile Crisis]].<ref name=":0" />

On April 16, 1961, Castro declared the Cuban Revolution to be [[socialist]] in nature. After this, he led the Integrated Revolutionary Organizations and the United Party of the Socialist Revolution of Cuba. He became the First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba. He later became the President of Cuba's Councils of State and Ministers.<ref name=":0" /> On December 2, 1961, Castro declared himself a [[Marxism–Leninism|Marxist–Leninist]].

He was required, due to his declining health, to step down as the President of Cuba's Councils of State and Ministers in 2006 and stepped down as the First Party Secretary in 2011.<ref name=":0" />

==Failed Assassination Attempts==
The Cuban security services have documented after investigations over 600 attempts to murder Fidel Castro up until the year 2007.<ref>{{Web citation|author=Fabián Escalante|newspaper=Cuba Debate|title=Objetivo: Fidel|date=2016-07-25|url=http://www.cubadebate.cu/opinion/2016/07/25/objetivo-fidel/#.V6sgnycffEw|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221201064436/http://www.cubadebate.cu/opinion/2016/07/25/objetivo-fidel/|archive-date=2022-12-22|retrieved=2023-03-06}}</ref> These failed attempts by the [[Central Intelligence Agency|CIA]], directly or indirectly, had many methods. Some of the many attempts included: Snipers, explosives placed in his shoes, explosives inside a baseball, and poison injected into a cigar.<ref>{{Web citation|newspaper=Cuba Debate|title=Fidel, la persona que más veces intentaron matar|date=2011-12-15|url=http://www.cubadebate.cu/noticias/2011/12/15/fidel-entra-en-el-libro-de-los-record-guinnes/#.V6sesScffEw|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210609182840/http://www.cubadebate.cu/noticias/2011/12/15/fidel-entra-en-el-libro-de-los-record-guinnes/|archive-date=2021-06-09|retrieved=2023-03-06}}</ref> 

== Castro and his will regarding his memory ==
On December 27, 2016, the Law on the use of the name and figure of Fidel Castro Ruz in respect of his will, as expression of the political ethics that always accompanied him an expression of the humility and modesty that characterized him, and having always honored Marti's preaching that "all the glory of the world fits in a grain of corn", that his name will not be used to name institutions, squares, parks, avenues, streets and other public places, nor will monuments, busts, statues, commemorative plaques and other be erected in his memory.<ref>Parliament approves a law on the use of the name and figure of Fidel Castro Ruz http://www.cubadebate.cu/noticias/2016/12/27/presentan-proyecto-de-ley-sobre-el-uso-del-nombre-y-la-figura-del-companero-fidel-castro-ruz/#.WGPAXScffEw</ref>

==References==
<references />
[[Category:Revolutionaries]]
[[Category:Anti-imperialists]]
[[Category:Communist leaders]]
[[Category:Targets of intelligence operations]]