He lived by the slogan ‘socialism or death’
FIDEL Castro came to power in 1959 as a black-bearded, cigarchomping 32-year-old, in a revolution against dictator Fulgencio Batista.
“When this war is over, a much longer, greater war will begin: the war that I am going to wage against them,” he said in 1958, referring to the US. “That will be my true destiny.” Living by the slogan “socialism or death”, he kept the faith to the end.
He endured more than 600 assassination attempts, according to aides, and the disastrous USbacked Bay of Pigs invasion attempt in 1961.
His outrage over that botched plot contributed to the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962, when the Soviet Union agreed to his request to send ballistic missiles to Cuba.
The US discovery of the missiles pushed the world to the brink of nuclear war.
“If I am considered a myth, the United States deserves the credit,” Castro said in 1988.
Born on August 13 1926 to a prosperous Spanish immigrant landowner and a Cuban mother of humble background, Castro was said to be a quick learner and a keen baseball player.
His formed a guerrilla opposition to Batista’s US-backed government, leading a failed uprising in 1953.
Defending himself at his trial, the trained lawyer said defiantly: “History will absolve me.” After serving two years in prison then going into exile in Mexico, he set sail for Cuba on December 2 1956 with a band of rebels on the yacht Granma.
Twenty-five months later, they ousted Batista and Castro was named prime minister.
He threw Cuba’s lot in with the Soviet Union, which bankrolled his regime until 1989, when the Eastern Bloc’s collapse sent Cuba’s economy plunging. Still, Fidel managed to hang on. He ceded power to his brother Raul, now 85, in July 2006 to undergo intestinal surgery.
He faded from public view, but continued publishing diatribes in the state press and wielding influence behind the scenes.
Castro fathered seven children with three women, two of whom he married. He was last seen in public on his 90th birthday on August 13. — AFP