Fidel Castro

[goodone]

Here is alittle about Fidel Castro


Early Life


• 1926: Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz born August 13 on his family’s sugar plantation
• Educated at prestigious Jesuit schools, graduated From Havana University as a lawyer
• 1950: Opens law practice in Havana; is shocked by contrast between his family’s comfort, others’ poverty

Young Revolutionary

• July26,1953: Leads failed attack on President Fulgencio Batista’s largest military post, is imprisoned
• 1955: Released from prison; goes into exile in Mexico where he starts the 26th of July guerrilla movement
• 1956: Returns to Cuba with a small rebel band, including his brother Raul and legendary Argentine Che Guevara; creates base in Sierra Masetra Mountains
•Jan. 1,1959: Overthrows Batista

Anti-American Socialist

• 1959: Begins to collectivize farms, expropriate Cuban, as well as U.S. and other foreign industry; makes reforms that favor the poor, many land owners flee
• June 1960: U.S. slashes imports of Cuban sugar; Castro nationalizes about $850 million in U.S. property and businesses
•1962: U.S. imposes full trade embargo, which is still in effect(limited sales of food, medicine resumed in 2000,2001)

U.S. Enemy No. 1

• April 1961 Bay of Pigs Invasion in an effort to incite an uprising against Castro, about 1400 CIA-backed Cuban exiles invade at Bay of Pigs and are captured by Cuban force



Friend of the Soviets

• 1960: Calls Soviet Leader Nikita Khruschchev a “good Cuban friend”; says U.S. trade policy drove Cuba to the soviet Union, which remains Cuba’s main financial backer until 1989
• October 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis: U.S. spy planes find missile sites in Cuba; after tense negotiations, Soviets pull missiles from Cuba in return for U.S. withdrawal of weapons from turkey

Spreader of the Revolution

• 1979-1990: Pro-Castro Sandinistas, led by Daniel Ortega, rule in Nicaragua, are opposed by U.S.-backed Contras
• 1975-1989: Castro sends troops to support socialist Angola government
• 1998: Castro’s ally, socialist Hugo Chavez, elected leader of Venezuela



• Cuban economy suffered after Soviet Union callapsed; Castro opened Cuba somewhat to foreign investment and tourism, but chronic food shortages, poverty remain
• Positive effects of rule; 99 percent literacy, low infant mortality rate, good free medical health care for all

And alittle more

Fidel Castro was the undisputed leader of Cuba from 1959 until 2008, when he stepped down after nearly 50 years in power. His revolutionary overthrow of dictator Fulgencio Batista in 1959 was one of the great Marxist victories of the modern era. Castro was educated in Catholic schools and studied law at the University of Havana. In 1953 he was involved in a first unsuccessful attempt to overthrow Batista. Imprisoned, then exiled to Mexico, Castro returned to Cuba in 1956 to again lead a revolution. He joined forces with revolutionary Ernest "Che" Guevara and after a lengthy guerilla campaign, toppled Batista in 1959. Castro set up a Communist regime with himself as maximum leader, and spent the next several decades battling U.S. opposition (including assassination attempts and the famous 1961 Bay of Pigs invasion ordered by John F. Kennedy), largely through the support of the now-defunct Soviet Union. On 31 July 2006, he had intestinal surgery and entrusted leadership to his younger brother Raúl Castro. It was the first time Fidel Castro had relinquished power. In 2008 he stepped down for good, announcing he would not accept reelection to the posts of president and commander in chief.


Castro's year of birth is officially listed as 1926, but some scholars believe that he was born in 1927. Peter G. Bourne's 1986 book Fidel, for instance, suggests that his birthdate was pushed back to 1926 so that Fidel could be enrolled in school a year early. In his 1998 autobiography Fidel: My Early Years, Castro himself gives 1926 as the year, and continues: "I was 26 when I began the armed struggle, and I was born on the 13th, which is half of 26... Now that I think of it, there may be something mystical about the number 26."


If you have anymore info on Fidel Castro please feel free to add it


What do you guys think about Fidel Castro? Do you think he was good leader??

[John]

Hi,

I admire his intelligence ant determination but is methods were certainly questionable. Then again, the Americans don't exactly come out smelling of roses either.

High literacy rate and good health care (better than some "democracy" neighbours)

Democracy is not the be all and end all.

[paul]

He remain divisive figure still because of his dedicated work.