Celebrations and tears as Fidel Castro dies aged 90
HE saw off 10 US presidents, survived numerous assassination attempts by the CIA and helped take the world to the brink of nuclear war.
Now, at the age of 90, Fidel Castro, one of the most iconic and divisive political leaders of the 20th century, has died.
Seen by many as a dictator but revered by many others as a people’s champion, the former Cuban president came to power after toppling the government in 1959 with a Communist revolution.
Castro stepped down 10 years ago – but still loomed large over Cuba and Latin American and much of modern history.
His younger brother and successor as president, Raul Castro, announced his death on state television.
The news sparked mourning on the streets of the Cuban capital Havana but celebrations on the streets of Miami where Mr Castro was reviled by many expats for his human rights record.
Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said :“The UK expresses its condolences to the government and people of Cuba, and to the former president’s family.
“Fidel Castro’s death marks the end of an era for Cuba and the start of a new one for Cuba’s people.
“His leadership of the 1959 Cuban Revolution marked him out as a historic if controversial figure.
“The UK will continue to work with the government of Cuba on a wide range of foreign policy priorities, including on human rights.”
Prominent figures from the left of British politics praised Mr Castro.
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said: “Fidel Castro was a massive figure in the history of the planet.
“There are stories of his heroism while living in Mexico in exile and then the boat to Cuba, the march to Havana and the revolution.
“He managed to bring goodquality health services to all the people of Cuba, goodquality education to all the people of Cuba and, of course, he had a foreign policy which was global, but particularly important in Southern Africa in supporting Angola against the apartheid regime.”
Mr Castro led a guerrilla coup in 1959 to overthrow the regime of the US-backed former Cuban president Fulgencio Batista and remained hostile to Washington throughout his life.
Mr Castro’s government quickly imposed a one- party system that remains to this day and hundreds of political prisoners and gay people were sent to jail and labour camps.
The Cuban leader made education and medical care freely available for all in what had been a dirt-poor country, and Cuba’s infant mortality rates compared favourably with most Western countries.
As US President Barack Obama moved to heal relations with Havana in recent years, Mr Castro responded: “We don’t need the empire to give us anything.”
And when he closed the congress of the Cuban Communist Party in April he called on his countrymen to maintain socialist ideals in the face of closer ties with the US.
Mr Castro’s last appearance in public was at an event to mark his birthday in August.
The gala celebrated key moments in his life, including repelling the US- backed attempt to invade in the Bay of Pigs in 1961.
It was a defining moment in the Cold War, which reached its peak a year later when the world came to the brink of nuclear war during the Cuban Missile Crisis.
As its greatest ally, the Soviet Union, collapsed, Cuba remained a pariah communist state and became one of the world’s poorest nations.
Castro’s leadership of the 1959 revolution marked him out as a historic if controversial figure
Irish president Michael D. Higgins said the Cuban leader would now be “remembered as a giant among global leaders”.
Russian president Vladimir Putin described him as a “reliable and sincere friend” of Russia, while Chinese President Xi Jinping said “Comrade Castro will live forever”.
A period of official mourning has been declared on Cuba until December 4, when his ashes will be laid to rest in the south-eastern city of Santiago.