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— CH. 1 · INTRODUCTION —

Fidel Castro

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  • Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz delivered the longest speech ever heard before the United Nations General Assembly, speaking for four and a half hours in 1960. The audience included Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev, Egyptian president Gamal Abdel Nasser, and Indian premier Jawaharlal Nehru, all of whom had traveled to Harlem to see him in person. What kind of man commands that kind of attention? What does it take to hold power for nearly fifty years, outlast a superpower, and remain the most polarizing figure in the Western Hemisphere? Castro was born in 1926 in a farmhouse in Birán, Cuba, the illegitimate son of a Spanish immigrant farmer. He died in November 2016 at the age of 90. In between, he launched a guerrilla war from a mountain range, survived a US-backed invasion, and brought the world to the brink of nuclear war. The questions that shaped his life are still unsettled: was he a champion of the poor or a tyrant who impoverished his own people? The answer, the evidence suggests, is that he was both at the same time.

  • Ángel Castro y Argiz arrived in Cuba from Galicia in northwest Spain and built a prosperous farm in Birán, where Fidel was born on the 13th of August 1926. Fidel was one of seven children from his father's second relationship, born out of wedlock. At age six he was sent to live with his teacher in Santiago de Cuba, and at eight he was baptized into the Catholic Church, a step that gave him access to Jesuit boarding schools. In 1942 he transferred to El Colegio de Belén in Havana, and three years later began studying law at the University of Havana. University life in Havana in the mid-1940s was violent. The gangsterismo culture there was not a metaphor. Armed student factions controlled campus politics through intimidation, and Castro received a death threat urging him to leave. He refused, began carrying a gun, and surrounded himself with armed friends. He campaigned for the presidency of the Federation of University Students on an anti-imperialist platform and lost, but the experience sharpened him. His political critique deepened when, in November 1946, he delivered a public speech condemning President Ramón Grau's corruption; it landed on the front pages of several Cuban newspapers. By 1947, Castro had joined the Partido Ortodoxo, founded by Eduardo Chibás, and had also signed up for a planned military expedition to overthrow the Dominican Republic's Rafael Trujillo. The invasion was stopped by Grau's government under US pressure, but Castro's appetite for armed action did not fade. In April 1948, he traveled to Bogotá, Colombia, leading a Cuban student delegation sponsored by President Juan Perón's Argentine government. There, the assassination of leftist leader Jorge Eliécer Gaitán Ayala ignited riots, and Castro joined Liberal fighters by stealing guns from a police station. He returned to Cuba with a clearer sense of his own ideology: not just anti-imperialist, but increasingly Marxist. He graduated with a Doctor of Law degree in September 1950, but a conventional legal career held no appeal. The law partnership he co-founded catered to poor Cubans and failed financially; his furniture was repossessed and his electricity cut off. Batista's coup of the 10th of March 1952, which cancelled the elections Castro had been campaigning in, removed any remaining faith he had in legal political paths.

  • On the 26th of July 1953, Castro led 165 fighters in an attack on the Moncada Barracks outside Santiago de Cuba. Three of the sixteen cars failed to arrive. The alarm was raised. Four rebels were killed before Castro ordered a retreat, and the total toll was six rebel fatalities and fifteen other casualties against nineteen army dead and twenty-seven wounded. The aftermath was worse than the battle. Rebels captured by Batista's soldiers were tortured, and twenty-two were executed without trial. News of the army's conduct spread despite media censorship and generated widespread public revulsion. At his trial on the 21st of September at the Palace of Justice in Santiago, Castro acted as his own defense counsel. He cited independence hero José Martí as the intellectual inspiration for the attack and persuaded the three judges to overrule the army's insistence on keeping all defendants handcuffed throughout proceedings. He was sentenced on the 16th of October to fifteen years in the hospital wing of the Presidio Modelo on the Isla de Pinos, described in the source as a relatively comfortable and modern institution. In prison, Castro renamed his group the 26th of July Movement, formed a school for fellow prisoners, and read voraciously: Marx, Lenin, Martí, but also Freud, Kant, Shakespeare, Maugham, and Dostoyevsky. His wife Mirta, struggling financially, took a job with the Ministry of the Interior. When Castro learned this through a radio announcement, he raged that he would rather die a thousand times than suffer such an insult. The marriage ended in divorce. On the 15th of May 1955, backed by US and corporate support and believing Castro posed no threat, Batista signed an amnesty and released the prisoners. Castro returned to Havana, gave press conferences, and found the government immediately monitoring his movements. Within months, he fled to Mexico. In Mexico City, his brother Raúl introduced him to an Argentine doctor and Marxist named Ernesto Guevara, who was then working as a journalist and photographer. Castro later said Guevara was "a more advanced revolutionary than I was." A Spanish veteran named Alberto Bayo agreed to train the group in guerrilla tactics. Castro purchased a deteriorating yacht called the Granma and on the 25th of November 1956, he set out from Tuxpan, Veracruz, with eighty-one armed men. The crossing lasted seven days, longer than planned, and when the Granma ran aground in a mangrove swamp at Playa Las Coloradas on the 2nd of December, only nineteen men made it safely to the Sierra Maestra mountains.

  • Nineteen survivors in a mountain wilderness, with Batista's army hunting them, was the unpromising starting point for what became a successful revolution. In January 1957, the small rebel force overran an outpost at La Plata, treating wounded soldiers but executing the local land company overseer, Chicho Osorio, who was despised by peasants and had boasted of killing one of Castro's men. The selective violence was deliberate: it helped earn local trust. By July 1957, volunteer recruits had pushed the force above two hundred, and Castro divided his army into three columns commanded by himself, his brother Raúl, and Guevara. The rebels had supporters Castro actively cultivated in the press. A journalist named Herbert Matthews from The New York Times interviewed Castro in the mountains; reporters from CBS and Paris Match followed. In a country where the press was censored, foreign coverage made Castro internationally known. By spring 1958, the rebels controlled territory in the Sierra Maestra that included a hospital, schools, a printing press, a slaughterhouse, a land-mine factory, and a cigar-making factory. Batista launched Operation Verano, an all-out offensive with ten thousand soldiers under General Eulogio Cantillo supported by aerial bombardment. The army had numerical and technological superiority but no experience with guerrilla warfare. Castro used land mines and ambushes to halt their advance, and many of Batista's soldiers defected. By November 1958, Castro's forces controlled most of Oriente and Las Villas provinces and had divided Cuba in two by closing major roads and rail lines. The US, now fearing Castro was a socialist, instructed Cantillo to remove Batista. General Cantillo privately agreed to a ceasefire with Castro and promised that Batista would face trial as a war criminal. Batista was warned of the arrangement and fled into exile on the 31st of December 1958. Castro entered Santiago and gave a speech invoking Cuba's wars of independence. He reached Havana on the 9th of January 1959, greeted by cheering crowds at every town along the way.

  • The first thirty months of Castro's government opened more classrooms than had been built in the previous thirty years. Healthcare was nationalized and expanded; rural health centers and urban polyclinics opened to provide free medical aid; universal vaccination against childhood diseases was implemented and infant mortality fell sharply. Within the first six months, six hundred miles of roads were built and three hundred million dollars were spent on water and sanitation projects. Over eight hundred houses were constructed every month in an effort to eliminate homelessness. The land reform signed into law in May 1959 set a cap of 993 acres per owner, prohibited foreigners from owning Cuban land, and gave title deeds to around two hundred thousand peasants. Within a year, the government had effectively redistributed fifteen percent of the national wealth. Popular with workers, peasants, and students, the revolution alienated the middle class. Thousands of doctors, engineers, and other professionals emigrated to Florida, draining the economy of expertise it could not easily replace. Productivity fell and financial reserves were exhausted within two years. On the international stage, Castro's government nationalized US oil refineries after American corporations refused, under US pressure, to process Soviet crude oil. The US cancelled its import quota of Cuban sugar, and Castro responded by seizing over five hundred US-owned enterprises on the island. In April 1961, a CIA-trained force of 1,400 fighters called Brigade 2506, based in Nicaragua, landed at the Bay of Pigs. Castro ordered the counter-offensive personally, then brought in reinforcements and bombed the invaders' ships. Brigade 2506 surrendered on the 20th of April. Castro had the 1,189 captured fighters interrogated by journalists on live television, taking over the questioning himself on the 25th of April. They were eventually returned to the US in exchange for medicine and food. The victory, Castro declared, was that of a socialist revolution made under the nose of the United States.

  • Khrushchev's reasoning in 1962 was straightforward: the Soviet military was weaker than NATO, and installing nuclear missiles in Cuba would adjust the balance. Castro agreed, believing the missiles would guarantee Cuba's security. The arrangement was kept secret; only the Castro brothers, Guevara, President Dorticós, and security chief Ramiro Valdés knew the full plan. When US aerial reconnaissance discovered the installations, the US implemented an island-wide naval quarantine in October 1962, sparking the Cuban Missile Crisis. Castro urged Khrushchev to launch a nuclear strike on the US if Cuba were invaded. Khrushchev, desperate to avoid nuclear war, negotiated without consulting Castro. He agreed to remove the missiles in exchange for a US commitment not to invade Cuba and a private understanding that the US would remove its own missiles from Turkey and Italy. Castro was left out entirely and was furious. He demanded in a five-point plan that the US end its embargo, withdraw from Guantanamo Bay, cease supporting Cuban dissidents, and stop violating Cuban airspace and territorial waters. The US ignored the demands. When UN Secretary-General U Thant arrived, Castro presented the plan to him. Castro then refused to allow the UN inspection team into Cuba. In May 1963, Khrushchev invited Castro to the Soviet Union for a tour of fourteen cities. Castro addressed a rally in Red Square, received the Order of Lenin and an honorary doctorate from Moscow State University, and returned home inspired. He merged two Cuban newspapers, Hoy and Revolución, into a new daily named Granma after the yacht that had carried him to Cuba, and oversaw a major investment in Cuban sport. His relationship with Guevara, meanwhile, was becoming strained as Guevara grew increasingly anti-Soviet and pro-Chinese. When Guevara was killed by CIA-backed troops in Bolivia in October 1967, Castro was personally devastated and attributed the death publicly to Guevara's disregard for his own safety.

  • Cuba's intervention in Angola, beginning in November 1975 with 230 military advisers and escalating to 18,000 troops, played a major role in forcing a South African and UNITA retreat. Between 1979 and 1991, approximately 370,000 Cuban troops along with 50,000 Cuban civilians, mostly teachers and doctors, served in Angola, representing roughly five percent of Cuba's population. Castro maintained that he launched Operation Carlota himself in response to a direct appeal from Angola's Agostinho Neto and that the Soviets actually opposed the intervention. In Cuba's African engagements, he saw the continent as what he called "the weakest link in the imperialist chain." From 1979 to 1983, Castro served as president of the Non-Aligned Movement, using the platform to press the case against the economic gap between rich and poor nations. He addressed the United Nations General Assembly in October 1979 on that theme and was applauded by world leaders. His standing in the movement was damaged, however, by Cuba's refusal to condemn the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. The dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 removed Cuba's main economic patron and plunged the island into what Castro called the Special Period, a severe economic crisis requiring sharp cutbacks in consumption and energy use. Castro responded by embracing environmentalist and anti-globalization ideas, reorienting Cuba's foreign policy and economic alliances without abandoning socialism. In the 2000s, he forged a close alliance with Hugo Chávez's Venezuela and helped found the Bolivarian Alliance for the Americas. In 2006, Castro transferred his responsibilities to his brother Raúl, who was formally elected to the presidency by the National Assembly in 2008. Fidel Castro died of natural causes in November 2016. He had served as Cuba's leader in some form from 1959 to 2008, making him, as the source records, the longest-serving non-royal head of state of the 20th and 21st centuries. His supporters pointed to the literacy campaigns, free healthcare, and resistance to US dominance. His critics pointed to the human rights abuses, the suppression of internal dissent, and the exodus of hundreds of thousands of Cubans. Raúl Castro, who had been at his brother's side from the earliest days of the 26th of July Movement, continued as First Secretary of the Communist Party until 2011, the year Fidel himself formally relinquished that title.

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People of the Cold War1926 births2016 deathsLeaders who took power by coupPoliticide perpetratorsRecipients of the Lenin Peace PrizeRecipients of the Order of Lenin

Common questions

Who was Fidel Castro and how long did he rule Cuba?

Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz was a Cuban revolutionary and politician who led Cuba from 1959 to 2008, serving first as prime minister from 1959 to 1976 and then as president from 1976 to 2008. He was the first secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba from 1965 until 2011. He is recognized as the longest-serving non-royal head of state of the 20th and 21st centuries.

What was Fidel Castro's role in the Cuban Missile Crisis?

Castro agreed to allow the Soviet Union to install nuclear missiles in Cuba in 1962, believing the missiles would guarantee Cuba's security and strengthen socialism. When the US discovered the missiles through aerial reconnaissance and imposed a naval quarantine, Castro urged Khrushchev to launch a nuclear strike on the US if Cuba were invaded. Khrushchev negotiated a withdrawal of the missiles without consulting Castro, leaving him furious and feeling betrayed.

What happened at the Moncada Barracks attack in 1953?

On the 26th of July 1953, Castro led 165 fighters in an attack on the Moncada Barracks outside Santiago de Cuba. The operation failed when the alarm was raised and most rebels were pinned down by machine gun fire; six rebels were killed and fifteen wounded during the assault. In the aftermath, Batista's soldiers captured, tortured, and executed twenty-two rebels without trial, and Castro was sentenced to fifteen years in prison.

What social reforms did Fidel Castro implement in Cuba?

In the first thirty months of Castro's government, more classrooms were opened than had been built in the previous thirty years. Healthcare was nationalized, with rural health centers and polyclinics providing free medical care, universal childhood vaccination, and sharply reduced infant mortality rates. The 1959 agrarian reform distributed title deeds to around two hundred thousand peasants and within a year redistributed fifteen percent of the national wealth.

What was the Bay of Pigs Invasion and how did Castro respond?

The Bay of Pigs Invasion in April 1961 was a CIA-backed operation in which a 1,400-strong exile force called Brigade 2506, trained in Nicaragua, landed in Cuba to overthrow Castro. Castro personally directed the counter-offensive and forced the brigade to surrender on the 20th of April 1961. The 1,189 captured fighters were interrogated on live television and eventually returned to the US in exchange for medicine and food.

How did Fidel Castro die and how old was he?

Fidel Castro died in November 2016 from natural causes at the age of 90. He had transferred his governmental responsibilities to his brother Raúl Castro in 2006, and Raúl was formally elected president by the National Assembly in 2008.

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374 references cited across the entry

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  96. 96JournalThe shadows of Cold War over Latin America: the US reaction to Fidel Castro's nationalism, 1956–59Vanni Pettinà — 26 August 2010
  97. 97MagazineSetting Up the Scapegoat Who Will Be Blamed for Cuba?Gilbert A. Harrison — 13 March 1961
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  115. 115NewsBook reveals extent of Mafia's Cuban empireCarlos Rodriguez Martorell — 17 July 2008
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  117. 117BookRevolutionary Cuba A HistoryLuis Martinez-Fernandez — University Press of Florida — 2014
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  119. 119Bourne (1986) p. 174–177Bourne — 1986
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  121. 121How 1 man brought Fidel Castro to Montreal in April 1959Brennan Neill — 28 November 2016
  122. 122Toy drive brought Fidel Castro to Montreal in 1959
  123. 123Fidel Castro welcomed by crowds, shunned by politicians during 1959 Montreal visitMorgan Lowrie — CBC News — 27 November 2016
  124. 124Bourne (1986) p. 177Bourne — 1986
  125. 125NewsThe Controversial, Charismatic CastroEugene Robinson — 30 January 2005
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  128. 128Cuban exiles seek compensation for seized propertyWilliam E. Gibson — 5 April 2015
  129. 129Cuban exiles hope diplomatic thaw can help them regain confiscated propertyJoe Lamar Richard Luscombe — 1 August 2015
  130. 130NewsRun from Cuba, Americans cling to claims for seized property29 March 2015
  131. 131NewsCuba, you owe us $7 billion18 April 2014
  132. 1321960 Dollars in 2016 DollarsInflation Calculator
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  140. 140BookThe Nuclear Deception Nikita Khrushchev and the Cuban Missile CrisisServando Gonzalez — Spooks Books — 2002
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  175. 175CASTRO'S SPEECH TO INTELLECTUALS ON 30 JUNE 61Fidel Castro — 1961
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  196. 196JournalGender policing, homosexuality and the new patriarchy of the Cuban Revolution, 1965–70Lillian Guerra — 2010-08-01
  197. 197Castro comments on Czechoslovakia crisisFidel Castro — FBIS — August 1968
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  199. 199Cuba: Fidel Castro's Record of RepressionHuman Rights Watch — 2016
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  201. 201BookCitizen Engagement in Cuba Neighbors and the State in PogolottiJames Bear — Lexington Books — 2024
  202. 202BookThe Politics of Che Guevara Theory and PracticeSamuel Farber — Haymarket Books — 2016
  203. 203BookCuban Revolution in America Havana and the Making of a United States Left, 1968–1992Teishan Latner — University of North Carolina Press — 11 January 2018
  204. 204BookLatinas in the United States, set: A Historical EncyclopediaVicki L. Ruiz et al. — Indiana University Press — 3 May 2006
  205. 205Counting Castro's VictimsMary Anastasia O'Grady — 30 October 2005
  206. 206Fidel Castro's Greatest Legacy in Africa Is in AngolaAlex Vines — 6 December 2016
  207. 207NewsSoviet Said to Reduce Support for Cuban EconomyClyde H. Farnsworth — 16 March 1988
  208. 208GDP (current US$) – DataWorld Bank
  209. 209ReportLiving Planet Report 2006World Wildlife Fund — 2006
  210. 210NewsCuba's Doctors Resuscitate Economy Aid Missions Make Money, Not Just AlliesRuth Morris — 18 December 2005
  211. 211NewsCanadian PM visits Fidel in April20 April 1998
  212. 212BookPeople and State in Socialist Cuba Ideas and Practices of RevolutionMarina Gold — Palgrave Macmillan — 2016
  213. 213BookThe Guerrilla Legacy of the Cuban RevolutionAnna Clayfield — University of Florida Press — 2019
  214. 214BookHistorical Dictionary of CubaAntoni Kapcia — Rowman and Littlefield Publishers — 2022
  215. 215NewsCuba to shut plants to save power30 September 2004
  216. 216Misión Henry Reeve: Fidel soldado de las ideas
  217. 217NewsCastro calls for Caribbean unity21 August 1998
  218. 218NewsCastro finds new friends25 August 1998
  219. 219NewsCuba opens more Caribbean embassiesCaribbean Net News — 13 March 2006
  220. 220NewsCuba and Panama restore relationsStephen Gibbs — 21 August 2005
  221. 221NewsCastro welcomes one-off US trade17 November 2001
  222. 222"Castro: Kuwait, Iraq Invasions Both Mistakes ". Fox News. 23 December 2003.
  223. 223Reaction Mixed to Castro's Turnover of PowerPBS — 1 August 2006
  224. 224Acting president Raul Castro says brother Fidel getting betterCBC News — 9 February 2007
  225. 225NewsCuba's Castro says recovering, sounds strongerEnrique Andres Pretel — 28 February 2007
  226. 226NewsCastro resumes official business21 April 2007
  227. 227NewsCastro elected President of Non-Aligned Movement NationsPeople's News Daily — 16 September 2006
  228. 228NewsMessage from the Commander in ChiefCastro, Fidel — Comité Central del Partido Comunista de Cuba — 18 February 2008
  229. 229NewsFidel Castro announces retirement19 February 2008
  230. 230NewsRaul Castro named Cuban president24 February 2008
  231. 231CUBA: Raúl Shares His Seat with FidelInter Press Service
  232. 232NewsFidel Castro to turn 86, but out of view since JuneFranks, Jeff — 12 August 2012
  233. 233NewsFidel Castro sends farewell message to his peopleFiona Govan — 23 January 2009
  234. 234NewsFidel contemplates his mortality23 January 2009
  235. 235NewsCuba's Fidel Castro makes rare state TV appearance13 July 2010
  236. 236NewsFidel Castro warns of nuclear risk in 1st speech to Cuban parliament in 4 yearsWill Weissert — 8 August 2010
  237. 237NewsFidel Castro addresses parliament after four-year gap2010-08-07
  238. 238NewsFidel Castro takes blame for persecution of Cuban gays2010-08-31
  239. 239Fidel quits Communist Party leadership as Cuba looks to reformEuronews.net — 19 April 2011
  240. 240NewsCuban communists opt for old guard to lead reforms19 April 2011
  241. 241NewsCastro condemns NATO's 'inevitable' war on LibyaMarch 3, 2011
  242. 242NewsPope meets Cuba's Fidel Castro, slams US embargoPullella, Philip et al. — 29 March 2012
  243. 243NewsFidel Castro and Hugo Chávez played role in Colombia's peace talks with FarcBeaumont, Peter — 13 October 2012
  244. 244NewsFidel Castro to North Korea: nuclear war will benefit no one5 April 2013
  245. 245NewsFidel Castro awarded China's Confucius Peace Prize22 December 2014
  246. 246NewsFidel Castro appears to lend support to Cuba talks with U.S.Daniel Trotta — 26 January 2015
  247. 247NewsFidel Castro writes caustic note to Obama after Cuba visitDeutsche Welle — 28 March 2016
  248. 248NewsFidel Castro gives his 'last' party addressDeutsche Welle — 19 April 2016
  249. 249NewsIran: Hassan Rouhani meets with Cuban leader Fidel Castro during one-day state visit in Havana20 September 2016
  250. 250NewsJapan's Shinzo Abe meets Fidel Castro, discusses North KoreaDeutsche Welle — 23 September 2016
  251. 251Marcelo foi um dos últimos líderes a estar com Fidel Castro26 November 2016
  252. 252NewsCuba's former leader Fidel Castro dead at 90Al Jazeera — 26 November 2016
  253. 253NewsFidel Castro obituary: The Cuban revolutionary who defied 10 US presidentsPhil Davison — 26 November 2016
  254. 254NewsFidel Castro Laid to Rest in Cuba, Ending Nine Days of Mourning4 December 2016
  255. 255NewsCuba's Fidel Castro dies aged 9026 November 2016
  256. 256NewsFidel Castro dies
  257. 257NewsFidel Castro, Cuban Revolutionary Who Defied U.S., Dies at 90Anthony DePalma — 26 November 2016
  258. 258NewsFidel Castro's ashes buried in Santiago de Cuba4 December 2016
  259. 259Fundamental Law of 1959
  260. 260Constitución de la República de Cuba de 1976
  261. 261Fidel around the world
  262. 262Venezuela 1959
  263. 263The Americas 1959
  264. 264United States 1960
  265. 265Soviet Union 1963
  266. 266Soviet Union 1964
  267. 267Chile, Peru and Ecuador 1971
  268. 268Africa and Europe 1972
  269. 269Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, Morocco and Canada (1972)
  270. 270Caribbean, Africa, Asia, Europe and Canada (1973)
  271. 271Europe and Africa (1976)
  272. 272Africa, Europe and Asia (1977)
  273. 273Jamaica (1977)
  274. 274Africa (1978)
  275. 275Mexico (1979)
  276. 276United States (1979)
  277. 277Nicaragua (1980)
  278. 278Soviet Union (1981)
  279. 279Mexico (1981)
  280. 280Soviet Union (1982)
  281. 281India (1983)
  282. 282Soviet Union (1984)
  283. 283Nicaragua (1985)
  284. 284Soviet Union (1986)
  285. 286Africa (1986)
  286. 287Soviet Union (1986)
  287. 288Soviet Union (1987)
  288. 289Ecuador (1988)
  289. 290Mexico (1988)
  290. 291Venezuela (1989)
  291. 292Brazil (1990)
  292. 293Mexico (1991)
  293. 294Mexico (1991)
  294. 295Brazil (1992)
  295. 296Spain (1992)
  296. 297Brazil (1993)
  297. 298Bolivia and Colombia (1993)
  298. 299Africa and South America (1994)
  299. 300Colombia (1994)
  300. 301Colombia (1994)
  301. 302Colombia (1994)
  302. 303Mexico (1994)
  303. 304Denmark and France (1995)
  304. 305Trinidad and Tobago (1995)
  305. 306Uruguay, Argentina and Colombia (1995)
  306. 307United States (1995)
  307. 308Asia, Denmark and Canada (1995)
  308. 309France (1996)
  309. 310Turkey, Spain and France (1996)
  310. 311Chile (1996)
  311. 312Italy (1996)
  312. 313Jamaica (1997)
  313. 314Venezuela (1997)
  314. 315Switzerland (1998)
  315. 316Jamaica, Barbados and Grenada (1998)
  316. 317Dominican Republic (1998)
  317. 318South Africa, Namibia and Brazil (1998)
  318. 319Portugal and Spain (1998)
  319. 320Venezuela (1999)
  320. 321Dominican Republic (1999)
  321. 322Brazil (1999)
  322. 323United States (2000)
  323. 324Canada (2000)
  324. 325Venezuela (2000)
  325. 326Panama (2000)
  326. 327Mexico (2000)
  327. 328Africa, Asia and Portugal (2001)
  328. 329Venezuela (2001)
  329. 330Brazil (2001)
  330. 331Venezuela (2001)
  331. 332Mexico (2002)
  332. 333Ecuador (2002)
  333. 334Brazil (2003)
  334. 335Ecuador (2003)
  335. 336Asia, France and Canada (2003)
  336. 337Argentina (2003)
  337. 338Paraguay (2003)
  338. 339Venezuela (2003)
  339. 340Venezuela (2005)
  340. 341Jamaica (2005)
  341. 342Barbados (2005)
  342. 343Argentina (2006)
  343. 344JournalThe Case of Camilo Torres Restrepo on JSTORGerald Theisen — 1974
  344. 346BookThe Cambridge Companion to Black TheologyDwight N. Hopkins et al. — Cambridge University Press — 26 July 2012
  345. 347NewsBush wishes Cuba's Castro would disappear28 June 2007
  346. 348NewsCastro denies $900m fortune claim16 May 2006
  347. 349Las multimillonarias herencias que los socialistas Hugo Chávez y Fidel Castro dejaron a sus familiasEmmanuel Rincon — 6 October 2023
  348. 350La fortuna que cosechó Fidel Castro, según la revista Forbes
  349. 351La fortuna y extravagante vida de Fidel Castro, según ForbesClarín.com — 28 November 2016
  350. 352Fidel Castro's FamilyJuan O. Tamayo — 8 October 2000
  351. 353NewsFidel Castro's Cuba full of his offspring after years of womanising by El CommandantePhilip Hart — 26 September 2009
  352. 354NewsLas dispares vidas de los otros hijos de Fidel CastroElvira Palomo — 2 February 2018
  353. 355NewsCastro's Last Battle: Can the revolution outlive its leader?Jon Lee Anderson — 31 July 2006
  354. 356Vida Secreta Del Tirano CastroRoberto Duarte
  355. 357NewsFidel Castro: leader proves as divisive in death as he was in lifeEmma Graham-Harrison et al. — 26 November 2016
  356. 358NewsFidel Castro: As Divisive in Death as he was in LifeHarriet Alexander — 26 November 2016
  357. 359BookThe Politics of Authoritarian RuleMilan W. Svolik — Cambridge University Press — 17 September 2012
  358. 360JournalThe international dimension of authoritarian regime legitimation: insights from the Cuban caseBert Hoffmann — 1 October 2015
  359. 361JournalSocial Revolution and Authoritarian DurabilityJean Lachapelle et al. — 2020
  360. 362JournalThe Absolution of History: Uses of the Past in Castro's CubaNicola Miller — 1 January 2003
  361. 363JournalCommunicating authoritarian elite cohesionAndreas Schedler et al. — 2015
  362. 364BookCompetitive Authoritarianism: Hybrid Regimes after the Cold WarSteven Levitsky et al. — Cambridge University Press — 16 August 2010
  363. 365BookCuba's Repressive Machinery: Human Rights Forty Years After the RevolutionHuman Rights Watch — June 1999
  364. 366Still Stuck on Castro - How the press handled a tyrant's farewellMichael C. Moynihan — 22 February 2008
  365. 36762nd General Assembly Reports: CubaInter American Press Association — 3 October 2006
  366. 368Castro's LegacyWayne S. Smith — TomPaine.com — 2 February 2007
  367. 369NewsDonald Trump calls Fidel Castro 'brutal dictator'26 November 2016
  368. 370NewsTrump and Obama offer divergent responses to death of Fidel CastroJulian Borger — 26 November 2016
  369. 371NewsFidel Castro: A progressive but deeply flawed leaderAmnesty International — 26 November 2016
  370. 372Cuba: Fidel Castro's Abusive Machinery Remains IntactHuman Rights Watch — 18 February 2008
  371. 373O Canada: Trudeau's Castro tribute raises eyebrowsMaddison Park — CNN — 28 November 2016
  372. 374NewsCzech, Slovak MEPs 'shocked' by EU comments on Castro5 December 2016
  373. 375NewsFidel Castro's Death – World ReactionsAl Jazeera
  374. 376NewsCastro ends state-visit to South Africa6 September 1998