-
Trujillo's Birth
Dictator Rafael Trujillo was born on October 24, 1891 in San Cristóbal, Dominican Republic. -
Trujillo works and marries
In 1916, Trujillo married his first wife, Aminta Ledesima, who would give him two daughters. In light of becoming a family man, Trujillo traded in his life of crime for a steady day job. At the end of 1916, he took a weigher position on a sugar plantation. Displaying leadership qualities, Trujillo was later promoted to private policeman on the plantation. -
CASTRO IS BORN
Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz was born on August 13, 1926 (though some say he was born a year later), near Birán, in Cuba's eastern Oriente Province. Fidel Castro was the third of six children, including his two brothers, Raul and Ramon; and three sisters, Angelita, Emma and Augustina. His father, Angel, was a wealthy sugar plantation owner originally from Spain. His mother, Lina Ruz Gonzalez, had been a maid to Angel's first wife, Maria Luisa Argota, at the time of Fidel's birth. -
Trujillo the Dictator
In early 1930, after Dominican President Horacio Vasquez faced revolts and a provisional government had been established, Trujillo named himself a candidate in the new presidential elections. During Trujillo's campaign, he organized a secret police force to torture and murder supporters of the opposing candidate. Not surprisingly, Trujillo won the election by a landslide. -
Trujillo the President
He became president of the Dominican Republic in 1930 through political maneuvering and torture. He officially held the office until 1938, when he chose a puppet successor. He resumed his official position from 1942 to 1952, but continued to rule by force until his assassination on May 30, 1961. -
Trujillo Massacres
Trujillo was known to treat the Dominican Republic's Haitian migrants with particularly severity and a deliberate disregard for their civil liberties. In 1937, he went so far as to orchestrate the massacre of thousands of Haitian immigrants. -
Castro Married
In 1948, Castro married Mirta Diaz Balart, who was from a wealthy family in Cuba. They had one child, Fidelito. The marriage exposed Castro to a wealthier lifestyle and political connections. Castro pursued his political ambitions as a candidate for a seat in the Cuban parliament, but a coup led by General Fulgencio Batista successfully overthrew the government and cancelled the election. Castro found himself without a legitimate political platform and little income with which to support the fa -
Castro Made Famous
On July 26, 1953, Castro and approximately 150 supporters attacked the Moncada military barracks in an attempt to overthrow Batista. The attack failed and Castro was captured, tried, convicted and sentenced to 15 years in prison. However, the incident fostered an ongoing opposition to the government and made Castro famous throughout Cuba. -
Castro's Guerrilla Campaign
Beginning in 1958, Castro and his forces mounted a series of successful military campaigns throughout Cuba to capture and hold key areas of the country. Along with the loss of popular support and massive desertions in the military, Batista's government collapsed due to Castro's efforts. In January of 1959, Batista fled to the Dominican Republic. At the age of 32, Castro successfully concluded a classic guerrilla campaign to take control of Cuba. -
Cuban Missle Crisis
On January 3, 1961, outgoing president Dwight Eisenhower broke off diplomatic relations with the Cuban government. On April 16, Castro formally declared Cuba a socialist state. The following day, 1,400 Cuban exiles invaded Cuba at the Bay of Pigs in an attempt to overthrow the Castro regime. The incursion ended in disaster; hundreds of the insurgents were killed and nearly 1,000 were captured. Though the United States denied any involvement, it was revealed that the Cuban exiles were trained by -
Trujillo's Death
Trujillo officially held the office of president until 1938, when he chose a puppet successor. He resumed his official position from 1942 until 1952 but subsequently continued to rule by force until his death in 1961. Toward the end of his life, he faced growing opposition from Dominican citizens as well as foreign pressure to relax his rule. He also started losing military support from the army, with the CIA maneuvering to have him removed from power. -
On the Brink of Nuclear War
Castro intensified his relations with the Soviet Union by accepting further economic and military aid. In October 1962, his increasing reliance on Soviet aid brought the world to the brink of nuclear war. Wanting to deter another U.S. invasion of Cuba, Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev conceived an idea of placing nuclear missiles in Cuba, just 90 miles off the coast of Florida. He justified the move as a response to U.S. Jupiter missiles deployed in Turkey. An American U2 reconnaissance plane di -
Cuba Under Castro
In 1965, he merged Cuba's Communist Party with his revolutionary organizations, placing himself as head of the party. Within a few years, he began a campaign of supporting armed struggle against imperialism in Latin American and African countries. In 1966, Castro founded the Asia-Africa-Latin America People's Solidarity Organization to promote revolution on three continents. In 1967, he formed the Latin America Solidarity Organization to foster revolution in select Latin-American countries. -
Collaspe of the Soveit Union
After the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union sent Cuba's economy into a tailspin, Castro's revolution began to lose momentum. Without cheap oil imports and an eager Soviet market for Cuban sugar and a few other goods, Cuban unemployment and inflation grew. The contraction of the Cuban economy resulted in 85 percent of its markets disappearing. -
Castro's Decline in Health
On February 19, 2008, 81-year-old Fidel Castro permanently gave up the Cuban presidency due to his deteriorating physical condition. He handed over power to his brother, Raul, who was 76 years old at the time. The Cuban National Assembly officially elected Raul Castro as president of Cuba the same month, although Fidel Castro reportedly remained First Secretary of the Communist Party.
