Fidel Castro



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Cuban leader Fidel Castro seized power in 1959 when the government of Fulgencio Batista collapsed. Castro declared himself a Marxist-Leninist in 1961, instituting socialist agricultural reforms and nationalizing an estimated US$1 billion in American-owned property. This led to friction with the United States, such as a failed US-backed plot to depose Castro and a US economic embargo on Cuba, which intensified with the Soviet Union’s support of the Castro regime. Castro remained firmly in power, and hostility between the Cuban ruler and the US government continued after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Castro finally retired in 2008.

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Castro, Fidel

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