Fidel Castro facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Fidel Castro
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Castro in front of a Havana statue of Cuban national hero José Martí in 2003
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| President of Cuba | |
| In office December 2, 1976 – February 24, 2008 |
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| Preceded by | Osvaldo Dorticós Torrado |
| Succeeded by | Raúl Castro |
| First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba | |
| In office July 1961 – 19 April 2011 |
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| Personal details | |
| Born |
Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz
August 13, 1926 Birán, Cuba |
| Died | November 25, 2016 (aged 90) Havana, Cuba |
| Spouse(s) | Mirta Diaz-Balart (m. 1948-1955) Dalia Soto del Valle (m. 1980-2016) |
| Relations | Ángel Castro y Argiz (father) Ramón Castro Ruz (brother) Raúl Castro (brother) Juanita Castro (sister) |
| Children | 9, including Alina Fernández |
Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz (August 13, 1926 – November 25, 2016) was a Cuban revolutionary and politician. He was Prime Minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976, and President from 1976 to 2008. He temporarily gave power to his brother Raúl Castro while recovering from surgery in summer of 2006. On February 19, 2008, he announced that he would not return to power. He was in power for 49 years.
Early life
Castro was born in Birán, Cuba on August 13, 1926. He received a doctorate of law from the University of Havana. He was trained as a military lawyer. He came to power after he and his guerrilla soldiers overthrew the dictatorship of General Fulgencio Batista.
Background
Castro was a communist and he made Cuba the first socialist country of the Americas. During the Cold War he was a friend of the Soviet Union, and he depended on their help until the USSR collapsed. An important moment of the Cold War was the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962. In 1961 the United States of America discovered that the Soviet Union was placing missiles on Cuba, close to the United States. After very tense talking, a big nuclear war was avoided between the Soviet Union and the USA.
Some people call Castro a dictator. They criticize him, because they think he has ignored some human rights, for example, torture, murder and oppression of freedom of speech, both at home and in African countries where he sent Cuban soldiers to spread Communism. Other people do not think this is true. For example, Nelson Mandela has spoken in support of Castro and has thanked him for aid to Africa. Amnesty International criticized Cuba's human rights record but noted slow progress in July of 2002. Supporters of Castro say he gave Cuba the best health care and education of Latin America and created equality between the poor and the rich.
Personal life
Castro's first wife was Mirta Díaz-Balart. They married in October 1948. They had a son Fidel Ángel "Fidelito" Castro Díaz-Balart, born in September 1949. Díaz-Balart and Castro divorced in 1955. In 1980, Castro married Dalia Soto del Valle. Their marriage would end with Castro's death in 2016.
Death
On November 25, 2016, Castro died at age 90 of natural causes in Havana, Cuba. President Raúl Castro, his brother, announced Fidel's death on state television. His remains were cremated on November 26, 2016.
Images for kids
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Castro, second from left, at Colegio de Belén 1943, Havana, Cuba
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Castro intended to overthrow the presidency of General Fulgencio Batista (left, with U.S. Army Chief of Staff Malin Craig, in 1938).
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Castro under arrest after the Moncada attack, 1953
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Fidel Castro and his men in the Sierra Maestra, 2 December 1956
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The thickly forested mountain range of the Sierra Maestra, from where Castro and his revolutionaries led guerrilla attacks against Batista's forces for two years. Castro biographer Robert E. Quirk noted that there was "no better place to hide" in all the island.
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Map showing key locations in the Sierra Maestra during the 1958 stage of the Cuban Revolution
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Castro (right) with fellow revolutionary Camilo Cienfuegos entering Havana on 8 January 1959
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CBC/Radio-Canada's journalist and future Premier of Quebec, René Lévesque, interviews Castro during his trip to Montreal in late April 1959.
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Castro and Indonesian president Sukarno in Havana, 1960. Castro undertook many foreign visits during his initial years in power.
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Castro (first from the left), Che Guevara (center), William Alexander Morgan (second from the right), and other leading revolutionaries marching through the streets in protest over the La Coubre explosion, 5 March 1960
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La Coubre explosion, 4 March 1960
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Castro at the United Nations General Assembly in 1960
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U-2 reconnaissance photograph of Soviet nuclear missiles in Cuba
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Castro and Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin, the first human in space
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Castro and members of the East German Politburo in Berlin, June 1972
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Castro speaking in Havana, 1978
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Castro's image painted onto a now-destroyed lighthouse in Lobito, Angola, 1995
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Castro in front of a Havana statue of Cuban national hero José Martí in 2003
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Castro meeting with Brazilian president Lula da Silva, a significant "Pink Tide" leader
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Castro amid cheering crowds in 2005
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Castro with Mexican president Enrique Peña Nieto, January 2014; even in retirement, Castro continued his involvement with politics and international affairs.
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Castro's funeral procession passing through Sancti Spíritus Province, Cuba
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Cuban propaganda poster proclaiming a quote from Castro: "Luchar contra lo imposible y vencer" ("To fight against the impossible and win")
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Castro in his characteristic green fatigues, 2012
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Castro and Camilo Cienfuegos before playing a baseball game
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