The Death of Fidel Castro
You might love him, you might hate him or you might know very little about him. Regardless of what you know -- or think you know -- about Fidel Castro, there is no denying he left his mark on history. And while some will persist in characterizing him solely as one of the most ruthless leaders in Cuba’s history, there is much more to Castro than the cold facts of his years as a dictator.
Long before Castro set fear in the hearts of American during the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962, and before he managed to dodge 638 assassination attempts by the C.I.A. he was just a young boy born out of wedlock in Cuba. By the time he was 15, Castro’s father-- a wealthy sugar plantation owner -- had dissolved his first marriage, wed Castro’s mother and officially adopted the young man.
From an early age, Fidel was passionate about improving the lives of his fellow Cubans, and this led him, in 1945, to study law at the University of Havana in Cuba. Castro helped organized strikes against the current President of Cuba. In 1947, he travelled to the Dominican Republic to take part in an unsuccessful attempt to overthrow dictator Rafael Trujillo. During such efforts, however, Fidel met many other individuals like himself who hated the current “corrupt” governments.
In 1952, General Fulgencio Batista, a former president of Cuba, led a military coup and overthrew the Cuban government. Batista set himself up as dictator, solidified his power with the military and Cuba's economic elite and had his government recognized by the United States. Castro reacted by organizing fellow members of the Partido Ortodoxo into a new group they called simply "The Movement" and planned a revolution. On July 26, 1953, in an effort to overthrow Batista, Castro and about 150 supporters attacked the Moncada military barracks outside of Santiago de Cuba. However, the attack failed and Castro was captured, tried, convicted and sentenced to 15 years in prison.
Ultimately, Castro and is supporters were released in 1955 thanks to an amnesty deal with the Batista government, and he traveled with Raúl to Mexico, where they continued to plan their revolution. Castro and and about 80 supporters re-entered Cuba in 1956 and beginning in 1958, he mounted a series of successful military actions throughout Cuba. These efforts eventually led to the downfall of Batista's government and Batista himself fleeing to the Dominican Republic in early 1959. At the age of 32, Castro had successfully concluded his guerrilla campaign to take control of Cuba.
Castro would then go on to establish a relationship with the USSR which put a bad taste in American’s mouths leading to the longstanding trade embargo on Cuba.After the failed attempted at the Bay of Pigs invasion 1961) Castro began to adopt communist ways and was now known as a dictator. His rule over Cuba has led to many exiles as well as people fleeing the country in hopes of a better life in America and elsewhere. For quite some time, official U.S.relations with Cuba have been strained, but recently President Obama has made efforts to restore the bond which the U.S had once shared with the Cuban government. This fresh start to the relationship has even opened doors to possibly travelling to Cuba.
However, in November of 2016 Castro could not cheat death anymore and finally took his last breath. Although Castro is dead (and had actually turned power over to his brother in 2008 due to ill health) it is unclear what is in store for U.S.-Cuban relations with President-Elect Trump soon to enter office. Upon the announcement of his death. President-elect Trump took to twitter and made clear his excitement about the former dictator’s death. Vice-President-elect Mike Pence also took to twitter to show his happiness about the country losing Castro, whom Pence described as a tyrant. Will the Cuban government change? Will our our country’s relationship with Cuba improve with our new President coming to office? We’ll just have to wait and see.
