Fidel Castro (full name Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz) was born on August 13, 1926, his birthplace was Birán, Cuba. He died at age 90 on 25th November, 2016. He was Cuba’s political leader from 1959- 2008 and he transformed his country into the Western Hemisphere’s first communist state. He was president (prime minister) until 1976 and proceeded to become president of the Council of State and the Council of Ministers after that. In July 2006 he handed over provisional power because of health issues and formally vacated his position as president in February 2008. Castro’s father, Ángel Castro y Argiz was an immigrant from Spain. He was a fairly successful sugarcane farmer. Whilst married to his first wife, Ángel had an affair with one of his servants called Lina Ruz González, whom he went on to marry later in life; they had seven children - Fidel was one of them.
Fidel Castro attended Roman Catholic boarding schools and went to the Catholic high school in Belén in Havana. In high school he was deemed an exceptional athlete. He enrolled at the School of Law of the University of Havana in 1945. During his time at university Castro was heavily involved in politics, and in 1947 he became increasingly passionate about social justice and was part of a failed attempt by Cubans and Dominican exiles to invade the Dominican Republic and overthrow Gen. Rafael Trujillo. Following this in April 1948, Castro took part in urban riots that broke out in Bogotá, Colombia. These riots resulted in the assassination of Liberal leader and presidential candidate Jorge Eliécer Gaitán on 9 April 1948.
In 1950, after his graduation, Castro began practicing law, becoming a member of the reformist Cuban People’s Party. Meanwhile, Castro had married Mirta Díaz Balart, who was from a wealth political family in Cuba. They had one child called Fidel in 1949. Their marriage exposed Castro to political connections and a wealthier lifestyle. Also, Castro had developed an interest in the world of Karl Marx and became fixated on running for a seat in the Cuban congress. Luckily for Castro, his political career began to take shape, as Castro became a candidate for a seat in the House of Representatives from a Havana district in the elections scheduled for June 1952. Despite his intent, 3 months before the elections the former Cuban president, Gen. Fulgencio Batista, overthrew the government of Pres. Carlos Prío Socarrás and cancelled the elections.
Batista cemented his power with the military and Cuba’s wealthy elite and ensured his government was recognised by the United States. Legal action was taken to end Batista’s new dictatorship, Castro had begun to organise a rebel force in 1953. And so, on July 26, 1953 Castro led the infamous suicidal attack of about 160 men on the Moncada military barracks in Santiago de Cuba, hoping to spark an uprising. It was unsuccessful and most of the men were killed, and Castro himself was arrested, tried and convicted, being sentenced to 15 years in prison. Whilst incarcerated, Castro continued to coordinate the rebel force’s activities, also known as the Movement. He and his compatriots were ultimately released in 1955 under an amnesty deal with the Batista government, and he travelled with Raúl his brother to Mexico, where they continued to plan their revolution. Upon being released from prison Castro’s political career began quickly developing.
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