Fidel Castro
Explore Fidel Castro — the Cuban revolutionary who led his country for nearly five decades, defying the United States and becoming an icon of anti-imperialism.
Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz (1926–2016) was the longest-serving non-royal head of state of the 20th century, ruling Cuba as its revolutionary leader for nearly half a century. A trained lawyer who became a guerrilla fighter, Castro overthrew the Batista dictatorship in 1959 and transformed Cuba into a socialist state allied with the Soviet Union — just 90 miles from the United States.
Castro's revolution was driven by genuine outrage at Cuba's stark inequality, corruption, and subservience to American economic interests. His government nationalized industry, redistributed land, and built education and healthcare systems that achieved remarkable outcomes. Cuba's literacy rate and life expectancy rival those of developed nations. Castro also projected Cuban influence internationally, sending troops to support liberation movements in Africa and deploying doctors worldwide.
But Castro's legacy is deeply contested. He established a one-party state that imprisoned political opponents, controlled the media, and suppressed dissent. Hundreds of thousands of Cubans fled, many risking their lives on dangerous sea crossings. The economy, hobbled by the US embargo and central planning's inefficiencies, left most Cubans in material hardship. Castro embodied the contradictions of revolutionary leadership — a champion of the poor who could not tolerate opposition, a nationalist who became dependent on the Soviet Union, a leader who inspired both devotion and hatred.