CASTRO GAINS POWER

Fidel Castro triumphantly enters Havana on 8 January 1959 and becomes prime minister of Cuba on 16 February 1959, with

Manuel Urrutia Lleó acting as a liberal provisional president. Castro is the real power on the island and turns Cuba into a communist state, before becoming president in 1976. His dominance leads to increasing tensions with the United States.

Fidel Castro waves to a cheering crowd upon his arrival in Havana, 8 January 1959