AMN
Cuba’s former president and leader of the Communist revolution, Fidel Castro has died at the age of 90, his brother Raul announced today.
“The commander in chief of the Cuban revolution died at 22:29 hours this evening,” President Raul Castro said.
Fidel Castro ruled Cuba as a one-party state for almost 50 years before Raul took over in 2008. His supporters said he had given Cuba back to the people. But he was also accused of suppressing opposition.
Fidel Castro’s communist government survived a U.S.-backed invasion of Cuban exiles, a superpower missile crisis, assassination plots and decades of U.S. economic sanctions. But Castro lived long enough to see Washington announce the re-establishment of full diplomatic relations with Havana and the subsequent visit by a U.S. president to the island in March 2016.
Fidel Castro Ruz was born August 13, 1926, and grew up to become one of the leaders of the movement against the dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista. He led a guerrilla force that eventually routed Batista’s army and took over the island in 1959.
Importan dates in Fidel Castro’s life
1926: Born in the south-eastern Oriente Province of Cuba
1953: Imprisoned after leading an unsuccessful rising against Batista’s regime
1955: Released from prison under an amnesty deal
1956: With Che Guevara, begins a guerrilla war against the government
1959: Defeats Batista, sworn in as prime minister of Cuba
1961: Fights off CIA-sponsored Bay of Pigs invasion by Cuban exiles
1962: Sparks Cuban missile crisis by agreeing that USSR can deploy nuclear missiles in Cuba
1976: Elected president by Cuba’s National Assembly
1992: Reaches an agreement with US over Cuban refugees
2008: Stands down as president of Cuba due to health issues