Fidel Castro

Fidel Castro (1926-2016) was a Cuban revolutionary and politician who led the Cuban Revolution that overthrew President Fulgencio Batista in 1959 and subsequently governed Cuba, first as prime minister and later as president, until 2008. He established a one-party communist state, nationalizing major industries and aligning Cuba closely with the Soviet Union, a relationship that brought the world close to nuclear war during the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis. His government survived a US-backed invasion attempt at the Bay of Pigs in 1961 and decades of subsequent US economic embargo, while also drawing sustained criticism for suppressing political dissent and jailing opponents. He remained a dominant, polarizing figure in Cuban and world politics for nearly half a century before formally transferring power to his brother Raul Castro in 2008.