Fidel Castro

Fidel Castro was a great Cuban Revolutionary leader. Born on August 13, 1926, he led his country from January 1959 until his retirement in February 2008. Some people believe that Castro was a dictator, and did not rise to power through open elections. Others think that he was a legitimate leader who got voted through by the people of Cuba. He was not a fan of Christianity. He went as far as to forbid church construction and restricting print, radio, and television content that references Christianity. If he wanted something to happen, it would happen. If he wanted something done, it would get done. He was a charasmatic leader whose authority was backed by a strong democratic system. Although some don't agree with his tactics, it's still hard to argue against the fact that he was a great leader.

As I stated earlier, he was born on August 13, 1926. He was born in Biran, which is the modern day Province of Holguin. His parents were Angel Castro y Argiz and Lina Ruz Gonzalez. His father was an immigrant who became relatively prosperous through work in the sugar industry and successful investing. His mother was a household servant. Fidel had 6 siblings all together. He had 2 brothers and 4 sisters. He also had 2 half siblings, who were raised by Angel Castro's first wife. He spent many years in private Catholic boarding schools, finishing high school at El Colegio de Belen. When he was at El Colegio de Belen, he pitched on the school's baseball team. Apparently, there are rumors that he was scouted to be on a variety of different U.S. baseball teams. Instead of pursuing that, he had his sights set on a completely different carreer. A carreer that would make him into an incredible leader.

During his career, he was involved in many different major happenings in Cuban history. In May of 1959, he signed the First Agrarian Reform, which limited landholdings to 993 acres per owner and stated that foreigners could not own land. He was also greatly involved in "The Bay of Pigs," which was a plan that the U.S. had to overthrow the Cuban government. He was involved in the Cuban Missile Crisis a year later. The Cuban Missile Crisis nearly brought the U.S. and the USSR into a nuclear war. In a personal letter to Khrushchev dated, October 27, 1962, Castro urged Nikita Khrushchev to launch a nuclear first strike against the United States if Cuba were invaded, but Khrushchev rejected any first strike response. All of these events were important in the rise of Fidel Castro.

Castro announced his retirement through a letter