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Birth
Fidel Castro was born August 13th 1926 in Southeastern Cuba near Biran. His father was Angel Castro and his mother was Lina Ruz Gonzalez. His full name is Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz. -
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School
After multiple years of high school in 1945 Fidel entered the School of Law in the University of Havana. At the University his main activity was politics. In 1947 during school he joined a group of people in a failed attempt to overthrow General Rafael Trujillo. Afterwards he took part in riots across Bogota Columbia in April of 1948. Later he graduated from school in the year 1950. -
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Suicidal Attack
After under legal circumstances of trying to dislodge Fulgencio Batista from his new dictatorship, Castro became frustrated and organized a suicidal attack from which he would lead 160 men into the Moncada Military Barracks to try to start an uprise. Many of his men died and him and his brother were arrested and sentenced to 15 years jail time. But they were released in 1955 because of political amnesty. -
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Overtaking Batista
December 2nd 1956 Castro landed on the eastern coast of Cuba with an expedition of 81 armed men. All were killed or captured except for Fidel and his brother Raul who retreated into the Sierra Maestra to wage guerilla warfare against Batista. Due to the rising numbers of revolutionary volunteers Castro’s forces of 800 guerrillas began to win against Batista’s poorly led forces of 30,000 armed men and eventually in January 1st 1959 Batista fled. -
Castro Versus the US
Fidel Castro stopped all connections with the US including all trades and economic ties and the distrust for Cuba deepened all across the US. The United States tried to attack Cuba starting at the Bay of Pigs but got demolished by Castro’s armed forces. -
Nuclear Bombs
Fidel began to bring in weapons from the Soviet Union and in 1962 they planned to bomb multiple cities across the US. The United States finally got them to withdraw the mission by exchanging a pledge saying that the US would take away the nuclear bomb they had planted in Turkey and agree that they would no longer try to overthrow Castro’s regime. Thankfully this was stopped, it could have been the start of a world nuclear war. -
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Angolan Civil War
Cuban forces fought in the Angolan War on the side of the communistic. They also soon helped Ethiopia fend off an attack from Somalia. During this time of war Castro was declared leader of this not fully developed country in spite of still having ties with the Soviet Union. -
New National Assembly
A constitution created a new national assembly and Castro soon became the president of it and he also kept his presidency of armed forces and secretary general and he continued to maintain total control over the government as he kept working his way up the rankings his brother Raul was always second to him. The Angolan Civil War has now also been going on for about a year. -
Immigrants
Castro opened the port of Mariel for five months and a whopping number of 125,000 people ran straight into the United States. Many criminals and other people that were not considered “good citizens” also arrived in the US. This pushed the US capacity for immigration and resettlement facilities. -
Castro's Daughter
Castro’s daughter brought asylum to the United States when she criticized her father’s rule. He became very angry and it caused a lot of upsets across Cuba including economic and social unrest which led to anti-government demonstrations,the size of this uproar had not been seen in Cuba in around 35 years. He then eventually stopped immigration as thousands of people headed for the US. -
Castro Sill President
The National Assembly confirmed another 5 year term of presidency for Fidel Castro. During this term he arrested many journalists and activists because they were conspiring with the US. During this time Fidel also strengthened his partnership with the Venezuelan president, Hugo Chavez. -
Fidel Castro Will Deny His Next Term
Castro passed power on an arranged basis to his brother Raul while he was recovering a tough surgery for intestinal illness. After Fidel was not seen in public for 19 months, he later declared that he would not accept another term for presidency. His announcement was sent through a letter that was addressed to the country and on a communist party web page. -
Private Meetings and Leaving the Government
Castro passed power on an arranged basis to his brother Raul while he was recovering a tough surgery for intestinal illness. After Fidel was not seen in public for 19 months, he later declared that he would not accept another term for presidency. His announcement was sent through a letter that was addressed to the country and on a communist party web page.
