Fidel Castro Ruz
The Communist leader was born Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz on the 13 August 1926 in Birán, an eastern province of Cuba. He was born into a wealthy landowning family. Growing up in a predominantly Catholic nation, Castro received a Jesuit education. After graduating from high school in 1945, he graduated from Havana University as a lawyer.
In 1945 he was actively involved with student political fights at the University of Havana. After two years, he grew spirited about the lack of social justice in the Cuba. As a result, Castro joined the Partido Ortodoxos which had been newly formed by Eduardo Chibás, a mentor of Castro. In 1947 he joined the organized expedition to fight against the rule of Rafael Leónidas Trujillo Molina, also know as the “trujillista” in the Dominican Republic. In April of 1948, he participated in the popular insurrection in Bogotá Colombia, disturbing anti-American literature and partook in violent clashes throughout the city. As a result of his rhetoric and violence he was wanted by Colombian authorities. Castro sought cover, and found it at the Cuban Embassy in Bogotá.
Though well educated and raised in a well-to-do family, he was shaken by the contrast between his own comfortable lifestyle and the poverty of so many around him. He thus devoted his life to the Marxist-Leninist school and became a revolutionary. He graduated from law school in 1950 and began practicing law in Havana, where he attempted to represent the poor and underprivileged throughout Havana and Cuba. This prompted him to enter as a candidate for the Cuban parliament. Despite his aspirations to enter parliament, they were soon dashed when General Fulgencio Batista led a bloodless coup d'état in 1952, over throwing President Carlos Prío Socarrás. Batista seized power in a bloodless coup three months before the election was to take place, suspended the balloting, and began ruling by decree.
Fidel Castro, who was running for a seat in the Chamber of Representatives, circulated a petition to depose Batista's government on the grounds that it had illegitimately suspended the electoral process. On 26 July 1953 Castro led a failed attack on the Moncada (one of Batista's largest garrison) army barracks near Santiago de Cuba. Castro and other surviving members of his group managed to escape to a part of the rugged Sierra Maestra Mountains east of Santiago where they were eventually discovered and captured. Castro and other members were jailed and subsequently went into exile in Mexico. While in Mexico, Castro organized the 26th of July Movement with the goal of overthrowing Batista, and the group sailed to Cuba on board the yatch Granma landing in the eastern part of the Cuba in December 1956. Shortly after the arrival most of Castro’s men were killed, arrested or they dispersed throughout various regions in southeastern Cuba, particularly the Sierra Maestra Mountains. Castro, with the aid of his brother Raúl Castro and the famous revolutionary Che Guevara, among others, staged guerrilla warfare against the Batista government and troops, directed from their hide-outs in the mountains.
Batista's dictatorial rule fueled increasing popular discontent and the rise of active urban resistance groups, a fertile political environment for Castro's 26th of July Movement. Faced with a corrupt and ineffective military itself dispirited by a U.S. Government embargo on weapons sales to Cuba and public indignation and revulsion at his brutality toward opponents, Batista fled on January 1, 1959. Within months of taking control, Castro moved to consolidate power by marginalizing other resistance figures and imprisoning or executing opponents. As the revolution became more radical, hundreds of thousands of Cubans fled the island.
Castro declared Cuba a socialist state on April 16, 1961. For the next 30 years, Castro pursued close relations with the Soviet Union until the demise of the U.S.S.R. in 1991. Relations between the U.S. and Cuba deteriorated rapidly as the Cuban regime expropriated U.S. properties and moved towards adoption of a one-party Communist system. In response, the United States imposed an embargo on Cuba in October 1960, and broke diplomatic relations on January 3, 1961. Tensions between the two governments peaked during the Bay of Pigs Invasion of April 1961 and the October 1962 missile crisis.
Castro was quoted as saying that "There is not Communism or Marxism, but representative democracy and social justice in a well-planned economy." He believed that his ideology was first and foremost Cuban, and could not be branded anything other than such.
On 17 April 1961, the US attempted to topple the Castro government by recruiting a private army of Cuban exiles to invade the island. There were approximately 1,400 members of the CIA-trained Cuban exile force that landed at the Bay of Pigs. Of that 1400, approximately 1000 were captured or killed.
Later that year, in a nationally broadcast speech on December 2, 1961, Castro declared that Cuba was adopting Communism. Futhermore, on February 7, 1962, the US imposed an embargo against Cuba.
Though an embargo was enacted in early 1962 which raised tensions, relations got much worse later that year. In the fall of 1962, a US – U2 reconnaissance plane discovered Soviet missiles on their way to sites in Cuba. To make matters worse, in a personal letter to Khrushchev dated 27 October 1962, Castro pressed him to launch a first strike nuclear attack against U.S. if Cuba were invaded. Though an invasion never materialized, fortunately for the world if that invasion did occur, Khrushchev rejected any first strike response against the U.S. Eventually the situation difused and the Soviets withdrew the the missiles from Cuba, in exchange for a secret withdrawal of US weapons from Turkey.
As a result of the incident, Fidel Castro had become America's worst enemy. The embargo was expanded and assassination attempts against Castro, were conducted and supported by the CIA many times. Since the embargo was strictly enforced in the U.S., with the help of other aligned nations, the Soviet Union transfered vast sums of money into Cuba. The Soviets purchased large amounts of the island's sugar harvest and in exchange for desperately needed goods
Things began to change in the 1980’s. Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev began cutting trade with Castro. As a result the Cuban economy went into a steady decline and many fled Cuba and went to the U.S., literally by the boat load. Even though the country had been hurt economically, he had been able to hold on to power. He is both beloved and despised throughout his nation, usually impressing the later because the country and himself had survived, despite great pressure from the U.S.
Additionally, as of late, a lightly bound ‘socialist club’ has united Castro with the Venezuelan President, Hugo Chavez. Both leaders are known for their ranting anti-American rhetoric.
On 1 August, 2006 an announcement was made that Fidel had temporary ceded power to his brother, Raúl after the Cuban leader suffered from health issues which arose from strain while traveling abroad. As of 3 August, both Raúl and Fidel have yet to make a public appearance following the transfer of power.
Fidel Castro and his Government
Cuba is a totalitarian state controlled by President Fidel Castro, who is Chief of State, Head of Government, First Secretary of the PCC, and commander in chief of the armed forces. Castro seeks to control most aspects of Cuban life through the Communist Party and its affiliated mass organizations, the government bureaucracy, and the state security apparatus. The Ministry of Interior is the principal organ of state security and control.
According to the Cuban Constitution, the National Assembly of People's Power, and its Council of State when the body is not in session, has supreme authority in the Cuban system. Since the National Assembly meets only twice a year for a few days each time, the 31-member Council of State wields power. The Council of Ministers, through its nine-member executive committee, handles the administration of the of the state-controlled economy. Fidel Castro is President of the Council of State and Council of Ministers and his brother Raul serves as First Vice President of both bodies in addition to being Minister of Defense.
Although the constitution theoretically provides for independent courts, it explicitly subordinates them to the National Assembly and to the Council of State. The People's Supreme Court is the highest judicial body. Due process is routinely denied to Cuban citizens, particularly in cases involving political offenses. The constitution states that all legally recognized civil liberties can be denied to anyone who opposes the "decision of the Cuban people to build socialism."
The Communist Party is constitutionally recognized as Cuba's only legal political party. The party monopolizes all government positions, including judicial offices. Though not a formal requirement, party membership is virtually a de facto prerequisite for high-level official positions and professional advancement in most areas, although non-party members are sometimes allowed to serve in the National Assembly.
