Fidel+Castro

=__**Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz:**__=



=**//Early Years://**=

Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz was born in August 13, 1926, in his father's farm in Birán. Third sun Lina Ruz González, a household servant who had a relationship with his father Ángel Castro y Argiz. Aged six, Fidel, along with his elder siblings Ramón and Angela, was sent to live with their teacher in Santiago de Cuba, and it was here that the children dwelt in cramped conditions and in relative poverty, often failing to have enough to eat because of their tutor's poor economic situation. Aged eight, Fidel was then baptized into the Roman Catholic Church, although later gave up his faith in Christianity, becoming an atheist. Ángel Castro finally dissolved his first marriage when Fidel was fifteen, allowing him to marry Fidel's mother; Fidel was formally recognized by his father when he was seventeen, when his surname was legally changed from Ruz to Castro.

In late 1945, Castro began studying law at theUniversity of Havana. Here he became immediately embroiled in the student protest movement, which in Cuba at that time was particularly volatile. He was in contact with members of several student leftist groups at the time, including the Popular Socialist Party, the Socialist Revolutionary Movementand the Insurrectional Revolutionary Union, although did not adopt the Marxist ideas of the former and mistrusted some of MSR's connections to the Grau government. Castro had become critical of the corruption and violence of Grau's regime. Castro became a prominent figure in the widespread protests against the government's attempts to raise bus fares. In 1948 that Castro married Mirta Díaz Balart.

In 1950 Castro became a professional lawyer and remained active in politics, taking part in a high-school protest in Cienfuegos in November 1950 that involved students fighting. Although his political views were further left than the Partido Ortodoxo, Castro believed that those parties on the far left, namely the PSP, were too unpopular to achieve a revolutionary leftist movement in Cuba, and for this reason remained in the Ortodoxo. Castro wanted to run for Congress in the June 1952 elections, but senior party members feared his radical reputation and refused to nominate him. In March 1952 when General Batista seized power in a military coup, removing the widely discredited President Prío from office, who then fled to Mexico. Subsequently declaring himself president, Batista cancelled the planned presidential elections, describing his new system as "disciplined democracy": Castro, like many others, instead saw it as the establishment of a one-man dictatorship with no benefit to the Cuban populace. Intent on opposing the Batista administration, Castro brought several legal cases against them, arguing that Batista had committed sufficient criminal acts to warrant at least 100 years imprisonment and accusing various ministers of breaching labor laws. These came to nothing, leading Castro to begin thinking of alternative ways to oust the new government.

=//**Cuban Revolution**//:=

Dissatisfied with the Ortodoxo's policy of non-violent opposition to Batista's regime, Castro formed a group known simply as "The Movement". Consisting of both a civil and a military committee, latter armed and trained recruits to take violent action against Batista. Castro had gathered together 165 members of the Movement to take part in the mission, The plan had been carefully orchestrated, and Castro ordered his troops not to cause bloodshed unless they met armed resistance. The attack took place on July 26, 1953, when they reached the barracks, further problems arose and soon the alarm was raised by the guards, with most of the rebels being pinned down outside of the base by machine gun fire. Those that managed to get inside faced heavy resistance, Castro, realizing that he was heavily outnumbered, ordered his men to retreat.

In response to the Moncada attack, Batista's government ordered a violent crackdown on all dissent, declaring martial law and imposing strict censorship on the media. Most of the conspirators were executed but few were imprisoned as Castro and his brother with more 25 fellows in October 16, 1953.

Castro devoted himself to politics once more, changing the name of "The Movement" to the "26th of July Movement", in memory of the date of the failed Moncada attack. Backed by the U.S. government and major corporations, Batista believed that Castro would be no political threat to his regime, and on May 15, 1955 the prisoners were released. The Castro brothers and a number of other MR-26-7 members traveled to Mexico, a country with a long history of offering asylum to left-wing exiles. Raúl had befriended one such exile, an Argentine doctor and Marxist-Leninist named Ernesto "Che" Guevara (1928–1967), who was a proponent of guerrilla warfare and who was keen to join the Cuban Revolution as a part of his deeply held belief in overthrowing U.S. imperialism in Latin America.

On November 1956 Fidel Castro and Che Guevara with more 80 revolutionaries went to Cuba by boat from Mexico and established a base in Sierra Maestra, to overthrow Batista and his dictatorial government. The revolutionaries stay in the jungle and slowly advance in the through the country. Spreading Marxist ideas along the cities Castro and Che gain support of the peasants to overthrow Batista's regime. After years of fighting the guerrilla advance to Havana at the same time the dictatorial regime enter in crises and popular revolts against Batista, who fled the country, goes out. In January 1, 1959 the revolutionaries seized power. On February 16, 1959, Castro took the vacancy left by Miró, being sworn in as Prime Minister of Cuba. Initially proclaiming his reluctance in taking the role, he agreed to accept it on the condition that the Prime Minister's powers be increased, in part to the detriment of the President. One of his first acts as Prime Minister was to travel to the United States between 15 and 26 April, accompanied by a delegation of industrial and diplomatic representatives.

Khrushchev approached Castro with the idea of implant Soviet missiles in Cubato threatened U.S.A, and while the Cuban leader felt conflicted, he ultimately agreed, believing that it would guarantee Soviet protection of Cuba and enhance the power of the socialist camp.In July 1962, Raúl Castro traveled to Moscow to work out the specifics. The operation was undertaken in strict secrecy, with only the Castro brothers, Che Guevara, President Dorticós and security chief Ramiro Valdés knowing the full picture. It was agreed to deploy Soviet R-12MRBMson Cuban soil, all of which had the capacity to fire nuclear warheads at all of the U.S.' major cities. However, American Lockheed reconnaissance discovered the construction of the missile installations on October 15, 1962 before the weapons had actually been deployed. The U.S. government viewed the installation of Soviet nuclear weapons 90 miles south of Key Westas an aggressive act and a threat to U.S. security. As a result, the U.S. publicly announced its discovery on October 22, 1962, and implemented a quarantinearound Cuba that would actively intercept and search any vessels heading for the island. Castro hit back at Kennedy, insisting that Cuba had a right to defend itself from foreign aggression. Castro privately urged Khrushchev to heighten tensions by threatening a nuclear strike on the U.S. should Cuba be attacked, but Khrushchev was desperate to avoid nuclear war. Negotiations took place between Kennedy and Khrushchev, with Castro having no involvement. Ultimately, Khrushchev agreed to remove the missiles in exchange for a U.S. commitment not to invade Cuba.

=**Last Years In Power**:=

In a letter dated February 18, 2008, Castro announced that he would not accept the positions of president and commander in chief at the February 24, 2008 National Assembly meetings, saying "I will not aspire to nor accept—I repeat I will not aspire to or accept—the post of President of the Council of State and Commander in Chief," effectively announcing his retirement from official public life. The letter was published online by the official Communist Party newspaper //Granma//. In it, Castro stated that his health was a primary reason for his decision, stating that "It would betray my conscience to take up a responsibility that requires mobility and total devotion, that I am not in a physical condition to offer"

On February 24, 2008, the National Assembly of People's Power unanimously chose his brother, Raúl Castro, as Fidel's successor as President of Cuba. Fidel continue to be consulted on matters of great importance, such as defense, foreign policy. The proposal was immediately and unanimously approved by the 597 members of the National Assembly. Raúl described his brother as "not substitutable". Castro had already given up the post of First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba on July 31, 2006.

On August 7, 2010, Castro gave his first speech to the Cuban National Assembly in four years. He addressed the body for ten minutes on international affairs and then remained to listen and respond to questions for a further 70 minutes. In his comments he urged the United States not to go to war with Iran or North Korea and warning about the dangers of a nuclear holocaust. When asked whether Castro may be re-entering government, Culture minister Abel Prieto told the BBC, "I think that he has always been in Cuba's political life but he is not in the government...He has been very careful about that. His big battle is international affairs." On April 19, 2011, Castro resigned from the Communist Party central committee, thus stepping down as leader of the party. Raúl Castro was selected as his successor.

****Created by Arthur Peixoto****

 * __Sources__** : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fidel_Castro http://elizabethsmarts.blogspot.ca/2010/11/fidel-castro-profile-and-full-biography.html