Longtime Cuban leader Fidel Castro, the bearded, cigar-smoking
Communist revolutionary who infuriated the United States, inspired both
loyalty and loathing from his countrymen and maintained an iron grip on
Cuban politics for almost 50 years, died Friday at the age of 90.
Castro, who was the only leader most of his countrymen ever knew, outlasted 11 US presidents since he first took power in 1959.
Castro had been in declining health for years – he continued to spew his anti-American tirades almost until the end.
In October, 2014, Castro reprinted a New York Times
editorial in state-run media that argued that the U.S. embargo on Cuba
should end. The editorial ran almost verbatim, omitting one line about
Cuba’s release of political prisoners.
In 2012 he wrote an opinion piece for a state-run
media outlet in which he branded the Republican presidential primary
race "the greatest competition of idiocy and ignorance" the world has
ever seen.
And just to show how much his volatile presence
lingered in American politics, despite officially handing over power to
his brother Raul in 2008, Castro also was the subject of a question
during a Republican candidates' debate in Tampa, Fla. that same month.
When Mitt Romney was asked the first thing he would do as president if
he found out Castro was dead, he replied, "Well first of all, you thank
heavens that Fidel Castro has returned to his maker and will be sent to
another land."
When it was his turn to answer, Newt Gingrich
said, "I don't think that Fidel is going to meet his maker. I think he's
going to go to the other place."
The lawyer, revolutionary and
political leader who triggered such visceral reactions was born August
13, 1926 out of wedlock to a Cuban sugar plantation owner and a servant
in his home (they eventually married). He was not formally recognized by
his father until he was 17, when his surname was changed to Castro from
Ruz, his mother's name.
Though he spent the better part of his life railing
against capitalism and the rich, Castro enjoyed a wealthy and privileged
childhood.
He attended Jesuit boarding schools, and developed a
love for sports, pitching for El Colegio de Belen’s baseball team. He
attended the University of Havana law school, where he joined groups
that focused on Cuban nationalism and socialism.
After graduation and now a revolutionary, he took up
arms against the government of President Fulgencio Batista, leading a
failed 1953 attack on a military barracks in hopes of triggering a
popular revolt.
Instead he was captured and at his trial, where he led his own defense, famously predicted "history will absolve me."
After spending time in prison, Castro went into exile in Mexico, where he met Ernesto "Che" Guevara, who became his confidante.
Castro established another guerrilla force and after several years of
fighting, eventually defeated Batista in 1959, taking control of Cuba at
the age of 32.
After being sworn in as prime minister, Castro
began a series of reforms, many designed to end US economic power on the
island. Relations between the two countries frayed and when Castro
visited the US later that year, President Dwight Eisenhower refused to
meet with him.
At the same time, Castro's government began to
establish relations with the Soviet Union. In April 1961 Castro formally
declared Cuba a socialist state just days before the disastrous Bay of
Pigs invasion that saw 1,400 Cuban exiles trained by the CIA
unsuccessfully attempt to invade and topple his government.
Castro intensified relations with the Soviet Union and in 1962 US
reconnaissance planes discovered Soviet missiles on their way to Cuban
sites, precipitating a tense standoff between President John F. Kennedy
and Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev.
But in the 1980s, Russia
stopped taking Cuban sugar, causing widespread economic deprivation that
resulted in thousands of Cubans trying to flee to the US by sea.
Castro often spoke with resentment and disgust of the
Cubans who left the island because of his government, particularly
those who went into exile in the United States.
He called Cuban exiles “guzanos,” the Spanish word
for “worms,” and complained about the Miami Mafia that always sought his
ouster.
Cuban exiles responded with equal disdain, with many forming organizations solely focused on getting Castro out of power.
Rumors of his death ran rampant in Cuban communities many times over the decades.
In a 1988 speech, Castro said: "I think I hold the dubious record of
having been the target of more assassination attempts than any
politician, in any country, in any era.”
"The day I die, nobody will believe it."
Castro served as prime minister until 1976, when he
became president, serving in that position until 2008, when an ailing
Fidel handed over power to his younger brother Raul.
He remained as First Secretary of the Communist Party until April 2011.
And even when officially out of office, he remained the best known figure in Cuba.
"Men do not shape destiny," he once said. "Destiny produces the man for the hour."
Along the way he was a prime enemy of the US and there were reports of
the CIA trying to topple him in a variety of ways, although some
suggestions – like an exploding cigar – seemed to border on the absurd.
Castro's personal life was complicated and private. He was believed to
have one son by a first marriage, an illegitimate daughter from another
relationship, five sons from a second marriage and another son by an
unnamed mother.
