Fidel Castro Ruz was born on August 13, 1926 (some sources give 1927), on his family’s sugar plantation near Biran, Oriente, Province. His father was an immigrant from Galcia, Spain. He attended good Cathotic schools in Santiago de Cuba and Havana, where he took the spartan regime at a Jesuit boarding school, Colegio de Belen. In 1945 he enrolled at the University of Havana, graduating in 1950 with a law degree. In 1948, he married Mirta Diaz-Balart and divorced her in 1954. Their son, Fidel Castro Ruz Diaz-Balart, born in 1949, has served as head of Cuba’s atomic energy commission.
Fidel Castro Sketch by Amarjeet Malik
Fidel Castro Ruz, Cuba’s enduring “maximum leader,” has held power since 1959. He is president (since 1976; formerly prime minister), first secretary of the Cuban Communist party, and commander of the armed forces. A member of the social-democratic Orthodoxo party in the late 1940s and 1950s, Castro was an early and vocal opponent of the dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista. In 1952, he ran for election to the Cuban House of Representatives. But troops led by Batista halted the election and ended democracy in Cuba. As a result of Batista’s actions, Castro tried to start a revolution against the Batista dictatorship. He eventually succeeded on January 1, 1959 and took control of the Cuban government.
Castro, who has no rivals for power, demands the absolute loyalty of those around him. As a lawyer by training, Castro led the Cuban Revolution and transformed the island into the first Communist state in the Western Hemisphere. He has been less than successful as an economic policymaker: Cuba remains a poor country in debt whose livelihood depended on sugar production and Soviet economic aid – which was cut off after the demise of the Soviet Union. He nonetheless holds the system in place. His greatest accomplishment is the consolidation of the Communist regime in the Caribbean, so close to Cuba’s main antagonist. In no small measure, the Cuban Revolution is still Castro’s revolution.
This 1959 file photo shows Cuban Fidel Castro (L), then 33 years old, chatting with ailing 31-year-old Ernesto ‘Che’ Guevara, at his barracks in Havana, shortly after both led the revolution that overthrew the Batista regime.
This handout picture by the Consejo de Estado and taken on January 8, 1959 of Cuban leader Fidel Castro (C) delivering a speech next to Camilo Cienfuegos (R) and Ernesto Che Guevara (L) in Havana.
This file photo taken on October 8, 1957, shows Cuban leader Fidel Castro (L) talking with Ernesto ‘Che’ Guevara in the woods of the Sierra Maestra, Cuba.
Then Cuban President Fidel Castro smokes a cigar during a meeting of the National Assembly in Havana, in this December 2, 1976, photo.
This file photo taken in the 60s shows then Cuban Prime Minister Fidel Castro (L) lighting a cigar while listening to Argentine Ernesto Che Guevara.
This handout photo taken on November 19, 1996, and provided by the Osservatore Romano shows Pope John Paul II and Cuban President Fidel Castro (L) posing for photographers during their historical meeting at the Vatican.
Then Cuban President Fidel Castro addresses the audience during an event with his Venezuelan counterpart Hugo Chavez on Havanas Revolution Square in this February 3, 2006 photo.
This file photo taken in the 60s shows Cubas Prime Minister Fidel Castro (C) speaking during a meeting next to Ernesto Che Guevara in Havana.
This file photo taken on August 13, 1989, shows Cuban President Fidel Castro celebrating his 63rd birthday with a group of construction workers and their families in Havana.
This file photo taken on December 13, 2000, shows Cuban President Fidel Castro welcoming Russian President Vladimir Putin at Jose Marti Airport in Havana.
This file photo taken on July 26, 1953, shows Fidel Castro (2ndL) giving his deposition to Colonel Chabiano, military chief of the Moncada Garrison, at the Vivac in Santiago de Cuba, after the attack on the Moncada garrison house by the group led by Castro.
This file photo taken on September 4, 1999, shows Cuban President Fidel Castro gesturing in Havana as he discusses his request to the president of the International Olympic Committee for an investigation into the treatment of certain Cuban athletes.
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