Castro, Fidel

I

Introduction

Castro, Fidel (c. 1926- ), Cuban statesman and revolutionary, who was leader of Cuba between 1959 and 2008. Fidel Castro claimed power in 1959 following the Cuban Revolution, an armed revolt that overthrew the dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista. He became prime minister of Cuba in 1961 and shortly thereafter cancelled elections and suspended Cuba’s constitution. Castro ruled without regard for Cuba’s 1940 constitution until 1976, when the nation enacted a new constitution that allowed limited electoral participation by Cuban voters. Cuba’s National Assembly elected Castro president of the country in 1976, a position he retained until illness forced him to retire in 2008.

Castro transformed Cuba into a socialist nation, inaugurating wide-ranging changes in the country’s social and economic systems. He instituted programmes that dramatically increased the nation’s literacy rate and provided quality health care to almost all Cubans.

The socialist nature of Castro’s government sent many members of the elite and professional classes into exile. Government seizures of properties and business holdings, the suspension of elections, the militarization of society, control of the media, and the politicization of education convinced many conservatives and moderates to seek exile in Spain, Mexico, France, and, primarily, in the United States.

During the Cold War, Castro allied himself with the communist Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR); in addition, he supported revolutions of national liberation in Latin America and Africa. Castro and his socialist government faced strong opposition from the United States, which had formerly been Cuba’s ally and main trading partner. United States businesses with holdings in Cuba opposed Castro’s seizure of their property and many US politicians saw Castro’s socialist policies and alliance with the USSR as a threat to the security of the United States.

II

Education and Early Political Career

Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz was born on a sizable estate near Birán in Oriente Province, the third of seven children born to Spanish immigrant parents. Castro’s education began in the local public schools near the neighbouring town of Mayarí. Recognized for his scholastic talents, Castro was privately tutored and then enrolled in La Salle School in Santiago de Cuba, which was run by French priests. He later attended the Dolores Colegio, a Catholic private school known for its tough discipline and high academic standards. In 1940 Castro enrolled in the prestigious Belen Secondary School in Havana, where he learned Cuban history and about José Martí, the father of Cuban independence from Spain. Castro also developed his athletic and oratorical skills during his time at Belen.

In 1945 Castro entered the University of Havana Law School, where he became involved in politics. He joined the Party of the Cuban People (the Ortodoxo Party), which publicly exposed corruption in the government of President Ramón Grau San Martín and demanded reform. The party’s founding principles included building a strong sense of national identity among Cubans, opposing the influence of powerful foreign nations in Cuba’s affairs, supporting social justice, establishing economic independence for Cuba, and evenly distributing the nation’s wealth through government control of natural and economic resources. His speeches, effective political organization, and other activities brought him early recognition, if not power, in the party.

In 1947 Castro joined the Caribbean Legion, a group of political exiles from other Caribbean nations based in Cuba. With them, he took part in a failed effort to overthrow Rafael Trujillo, the dictator of the Dominican Republic, by launching an invasion from Cuba. In April 1948 he attended the Ninth Pan American Union conference, a student conference held in Bogotá, Colombia. Upon arriving in Bogotá, Castro and a friend, Rafael del Pino, disrupted the conference by showering delegates with pamphlets condemning US influence in Latin America. A few days later, Jorge Eliécer Gaitán, leader of the Colombian Liberal Party, was assassinated, and outraged students rioted in the streets. Castro was later blamed for instigating the uprising, known as the Bogotazo, but he was little more than a spectator. However, the assassination of Gaitán proved a turning point in the development of Castro’s political thought and he concluded that making changes through the electoral process could not succeed. When Batista instigated a bloodless coup d’état in Cuba and established a dictatorship in 1952, it ended Castro’s chance to attain office legally. Castro’s cynicism hardened into rejection of electoral democracy, and he declared himself in favour of armed revolution.

III

Rebel Leader

As dissatisfaction with Batista’s coup spread, Castro formed one of several underground organizations that plotted to overthrow him. On July 26, 1953, Castro and his supporters attacked Cuba’s second largest military base—the Moncada Barracks in Santiago de Cuba. Castro, his brother Raúl, and approximately 150 revolutionaries plotted to overrun the base, which was manned by 1,000 trained soldiers. Their mission failed badly, with over half of Castro’s band captured or killed. The martyrdom of the youthful revolutionaries had the unexpected effect of drawing attention to their heroism and generating sympathy for their cause. Castro’s guerrilla movement would be called the 26th of July Movement after the date of the assault on the barracks.

Castro and other prisoners went on trial from August to October of 1953 for conspiracy to overthrow the Cuban government. At his trial Castro countered the charge by attacking Batista’s illegitimate coup in what has become known as his “History Will Absolve Me” speech. He accused Batista of violating the democratic 1940 Constitution, of using terror and torture to suppress popular will, and of rejecting universal human rights guarantees. Castro declared that the young rebels stood for a return to democracy as established in the suspended 1940 Constitution, for agrarian reform, the recovery of resources stolen by government officials and their friends, educational reform, profit sharing with workers, and public housing provisions. Castro was sentenced to 15 years in prison.

By 1955, Batista felt confident enough of his hold on power to grant a general amnesty for all political prisoners, and Castro was released after only two years. He departed for Mexico, where he trained and indoctrinated recruits in the ideals of social revolution. Ernesto “Che” Guevara, an Argentine Marxist, joined Castro’s guerrilla band and added his ideals of an armed struggle based on the support of rural peasants to the movement’s ideological mix. In November 1956, Castro and 81 other men boarded the ship Granma and set sail for the south-eastern coast of Cuba. Their plan was to form a revolutionary force in the Sierra Maestra, and to encourage a popular revolt. Batista's army met them at their landing at Playa Colorado, and only around a dozen men, including Castro, escaped arrest, torture, or prison.

In the Sierra Maestra, Castro established his military and political leadership. His tactics consisted of attacking small military units in order to capture weapons, gain territory, and impress the people with the strength of his revolutionary group. The rebels lived among Cuba’s rural peasantry who supported them with food, information, and sometimes shelter. By mid-1958 Batista’s government had lost most of its support in Cuba and abroad. When guerrilla units led by Che Guevara attacked the city of Santa Clara in December 1958, Batista's forces crumbled. On January 1, 1959, Batista fled to the Dominican Republic, leaving Cuba leaderless.

IV

National Leader

Castro stepped into this vacuum, claiming total authority for himself and his movement. His political ideals set out in his “History Will Absolve Me” speech, and his dominant personal charisma, overpowered other rebel groups. His rhetoric and youth promised a break with the corrupt past. Millions of Cubans pledged themselves to the revolution .