Info: Fidel Castro, Cuban Revolutionary Who Defied U.S., Dies at 90.
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| Fidel Castro was seen as a ruthless despot by | some and hailed as a revolutionary hero by | others. |
revolution who brought the Cold War
to the Western Hemisphere in 1959
and then defied the United States for
nearly half a century as Cuba’s
maximum leader, bedeviling 11
American presidents and briefly
pushing the world to the brink of
nuclear war, died Friday. He was 90.
His death was announced by Cuban
state television.
In declining health for several years,
Mr. Castro had orchestrated what he
hoped would be the continuation of
his Communist revolution, stepping
aside in 2006 when he was felled by a
serious illness. He provisionally ceded
much of his power to his younger
brother Raúl, now 85, and two years
later formally resigned as president.
Raúl Castro, who had fought alongside
Fidel Castro from the earliest days of
the insurrection and remained
minister of defense and his brother’s
closest confidant, has ruled Cuba since
then, although he has told the Cuban
people he intends to resign in 2018.
Fidel Castro had held on to power
longer than any other living national
leader except Queen Elizabeth II. He
became a towering international
figure whose importance in the 20th
century far exceeded what might have
been expected from the head of state
of a Caribbean island nation of 11
million people.
He dominated his country with
strength and symbolism from the day
he triumphantly entered Havana on
Jan. 8, 1959, and completed his
overthrow of Fulgencio Batista by
delivering his first major speech in the
capital before tens of thousands of
admirers at the vanquished dictator’s
military headquarters.
A spotlight shone on him as he
swaggered and spoke with passion
until dawn. Finally, white doves were
released to signal Cuba’s new peace.
When one landed on Mr. Castro,
perching on a shoulder, the crowd
erupted, chanting “Fidel! Fidel!” To
the war-weary Cubans gathered there
and those watching on television, it
was an electrifying sign that their
young, bearded guerrilla leader was
destined to be their savior.
Most people in the crowd had no idea
what Mr. Castro planned for Cuba. A
master of image and myth, Mr. Castro
believed himself to be the messiah of
his fatherland, an indispensable force
with authority from on high to control
Cuba and its people.
He wielded power like a tyrant,
controlling every aspect of the island’s
existence. He was Cuba’s “Máximo
Lider.” From atop a Cuban Army tank,
he directed his country’s defense at
the Bay of Pigs. Countless details fell to
him, from selecting the color of
uniforms that Cuban soldiers wore in
Angola to overseeing a program to
produce a superbreed of milk cows.
He personally set the goals for sugar
harvests. He personally sent countless
men to prison.
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