Fidel Castro

Will history remember him as a leader who ended U.S. hegemony over Cuba by creating a more egalitarian society and providing Cubans access to free education and healthcare? Or will he go down in the history books as a leader who repressed his citizens and turned Cuba into an underdeveloped country isolated from the rest of the world?

Fidel Castro was a polarising Cuban politician and communist revolutionary who governed the Republic of Cuba from 1976 to 2008. In his many years in power, he faced opposition from the United States and numerous assassination attempts.

Fidel Castro: biography summary

Fig. 1 Portrait of Fidel Castro

Fidel Castro was born in 1926 to Spanish immigrants in Cuba, where he grew up. While he studied law, he participated in many violent protests and uprisings. After graduation, Castro became a member of the Cuban People's Party. He ran for the House of Representatives, winning a seat in 1952.

Not long after, General Fulgencio Batista took power in a military coup and became the sole ruler, cancelling elections. In addition, he aligned himself with the U.S. and broke relations with the Soviet Union. While Castro tried to overthrow the government through legal means, all attempts failed.

Fidel Castro and Che Guevara

To oppose Batista's regime, Castro armed and trained a task force of 160 people to overthrow the government, hoping to get popular support. Instead, he launched an attack in 1953, where most of his men died. He was arrested and eventually released after being granted political amnesty in 1955. Afterwards, he travelled to Mexico to continue his campaign against the government.

In Mexico, he was introduced to Che Guevara, a Marxist revolutionary gifted in strategy and experienced in guerrilla warfare. His time with him influenced his sympathy for the guerrilla's attempts to ignite a revolution. With Guevara, who joined his forces, he organised an expedition to Cuba.

Cuban Revolution

Due to international pressure, the U.S. stopped supplying Batista with weapons. Shortly afterwards, Batista fled Cuba and left his forces protecting the capital, in 1959, Guevara and his troops took the city due to the poor organisation of the government's forces. A few days later, Castro followed.

Prime Minister and President

To raise Cuba's standard of living, Castro endorsed many social projects, though sometimes at the expense of economic development. He nationalised private industries and commerce to redistribute its administration and entered a trade agreement with the Soviet Union in 1960, gaining distrust from the United States.

After many years in power, Castro created a one-party government and, as head of the economic administration, failed to achieve significant economic growth, becoming more dependent on the Soviet Union.

His administration encouraged socialist revolutions in Latin America and sent troops to aid conflicts in Africa, seeking to expand socialism and gain more status in developing countries. In addition, he made sure to help Latin American countries that were left-aligned, such as promising aid to Argentina during the Falklands War and entering a trade agreement with Venezuela.

In Cuba, his one-party dictatorship became more brutal towards political opponents, as the new constitution gave him complete control over every political, economic, and social element. The administration also formed the Council of State, with Castro assuming leadership as both President and Prime Minister. He continued his repression of political opponents and dissidents while controlling the country's economic, political, and social elements.

In 2006, he stepped down from power due to declining health, confirming in 2008 that he would not accept another term as President. He left Cuba's leadership to his brother, Raúl Castro.

Fidel Castro's death

From 2008 to 2016, Castro stepped down from the public eye, only writing a memoir and publishing a few letters and essays, one of which was addressed to Barack Obama. Near his death, he reminded the assembly of his goals and asked them to continue the revolution. Fidel Castro was announced dead on November 25th, 2016, though authorities did not release the cause of death.

Fidel Castro's ideology

Castro identified as a Marxist–Leninist and Cuban nationalist ideologically. He aimed to change Cuba from a capitalist state ruled by foreign imperialism to a socialist and, eventually, communist society. Despite this, he differed from traditional left-radicals in his high regard for guerrilla-style revolution over the worker's uprising described by Marx.

While Marx advocated for a progressive transition from any regime to establish a socialist state and then achieve communism, after a short time, Fidel established what he called a 'perfect communist nation' in Cuba. However, this was held together only with him at the centre with an iron grip on state affairs. He also eliminated other movements in the country to allow the Communist Party to be front and centre.

Furthermore, as a communist, he believed in eliminating social classes which plagued Cuba during Bautista's regime and wished to achieve common ownership of Cuba's industries and allocate commodities to every citizen.

Fidel Castro also had very anti-imperialist beliefs, inspired by Simon Bolivar. He wished for Cuba and other developing countries to achieve total independence from major powers to reduce their influence on world politics. Imperialist nations, Fidel believed, only weakened developing countries.

To bolster the strength of these countries, Fidel supported strong militaries and self-sufficient economies. His policies to do this were advocating conscription, nationalising local industries, and ensuring employment for all citizens.

Foreign powers controlled Cuba for a long time, obstructing the construction of national identity. Since no specific characteristic defines a Cuban besides being born on the island, Fidel played into this gap by influencing Cubans to identify with his government. This also facilitated his communist beliefs as people are more willing to tolerate economic strife in the country's name.

As Cuban politics became more aligned with communism, the United States became more suspicious of the government. This resulted in an alliance with the Soviet Union, which sponsored the Castro regime generously. This alignment during the Cold War dragged Cuba into the middle of the Cold War through events like the Bay of Pigs invasion and the Cuban Missile Crisis.