Fidel Alejandro Castro Biographical Essay

Introduction

His full names at birth were Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz. He was born in the year 1926 in a place near Biran in Cuba (Skierka 6) . His father was an immigrant named "Angel Castro y Argiz" while "Lina Ruz Gonzalez" was his mother's name. His father had massive investments which he had acquired through working in the sugar industry while his mother was a servant. The baptism of Fidel took place when he was 8 years old. There are many versions of his educational background but most of the people who have interacted with him throughout his life are in agreement concerning his intellectual capabilities, with greater interest in sports compared to academic qualifications (Skierka 8). Most of his school years were spent in boarding schools and he finally completed his high school studies in the year 1945. In the same year, he enrolled at the University of Havana law school. He became a regular name in gangs in a bid to popularize himself in preparation for political power.

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Beginnings of Political Career

Immediately upon his enrollment in the University of Havana, his fascination with politics was very vivid. At that time, the political atmosphere in Cuba was volatile and University gangs were continuously being used as a tool for violence. Most of the students who were part of political gangs had aspirations of becoming political leaders in Cuba. Castro was growing increasingly frustrated with the lack of social justice in Cuba prompting him to join the newly formed "Partido Ortodoxo" which was led by Eduardo Chibas (Skierka 15). Chibas was running for the top seat against incumbent president Ramon Grau San Martin . He was an emotional and charismatic leader who was loved by the people. The level of corruption in Cuba at that time was too much, and Chibas spearheaded efforts to expose corrupt deals and demand social justice from the government. Even though Chibas never won the election, Castro stuck to the cause and helping him in fighting for reforms, because Chibas was his mentor. Chibas ran for President again in the year 1951 but he ended up shooting himself in the stomach mistakenly while on taking part in a radio broadcast. Fidel Castro was present at the scene and helped rush him to the hospital but unfortunately, he met his death while undergoing treatment.

However, in the year 1952, his political ambitions were reduced to nothing by a military coup spearheaded by General Fulgencio Batista which was successful in dethroning the incumbent's government, leading to the cancellation of elections. Batista led a dictatorial government, using the military and the economic powerhouses of Cuba to cement his power and even gained recognition from the government of the United States. Partido Ortodoxo responded by forming a group known as "The Movement" led by Fidel Castro which would mount a revolution. In the year 1953, 150 people Castro being among them mounted an assault on the military Barracks of Moncada, attempting to topple down Batista's government but the attempt failed miserably. This led to the capture, trial, conviction, and sentencing of Fidel Castro to 15 years in prison.

Guerilla Warfare

The name of the group was changed to "26th of July Movement" while Castro was in incarceration and its activities continued through his coordination while he was still in prison . Their eventual release came in the year 1955 through an amnesty agreement with Batista's administration. After his release, he made his way to Mexico accompanied by his brother Raul, where they renewed their plans for a revolution. Before the end of the year 1956, Castro made his return to Cuba on board a boat carrying over 80 rebels fully armed with weapons and docked in the city of Manzanillo . A majority of the insurgents were either captured or killed by Batista's forces while the rest of them including Castro and Raul fled to the mountains of Sierra Maestra. Castro mounted a strong resistance over the following two years with a growing number of his forces. He used mainly the Guerilla warfare and organized resistance movements in towns and cities across the country. Eventually, Castro formed a parallel government that gained control over some Cuban provinces that were mainly manufacturing and agricultural zones.

In the year 1958, a number of military campaigns were held successfully by Castro in an attempt to capture important cities in Cuba. Batista lost a huge chunk of the military support he enjoyed previously and finally, Castro's efforts paid off as the government came down crumbling . After the collapse of the government, Batista went to seek asylum in the Dominican Republic. Castro was 32 years old when his guerilla warfare paid off enabling him to control Cuba. What followed was the creation of a provisional government in which Manuel Uruttia assumed presidency while the position of prime minister was taken by Jose Miro Cardona. The newly formed government quickly became popular in the United States. Fidel Castro went back to Havana amidst jubilation after assuming the position of commander-in-chief (Latner 32). Miro's stay in office as prime minister was short lived. He tendered his resignation from the position of prime minister allowing Castro to be sworn in the year 1959. In the meantime, officials of the previous governments went through trial and those who were found guilty of offenses were executed.

Impacts of Castro

In the month of May 1959, Fidel Castro spearheaded land reforms which limited the land size that individuals can own while ownership of property by foreigners was forbidden. The reform was implemented under the false intent that it was meant to make farmers independent. Later, the state took control of all of the farmers' land making them employees of the government. The revolution of Castro was intensified to the extent that elimination of government and military officers as well as repression of media outlets that criticized his policies. President Uruttia was not left out of the purge. The year 1961 was a turnaround for the relationship between Castro and the United States. President Eisenhower broke off relationships with the government of Cuba. In April the same year, Castro made the declaration that Cuba was a socialist nation. After a few days, approximately 1400 people who had been sent to exile by the government attacked the country at the Bay of Pigs. This was the first attempt that was meant to overthrow the regime under Castro. The attack did not end well as it led to the capture of over 1,000 people and the killing of hundreds.

Cuba under Fidel Castro

In the year 1965, Castro merged all his revolutionary movements with the Communist Party and made himself the party leader. Again in the year 1967, he came up with the Latin American Solidarity Organization whose aim was to fuel a revolution in some of the Latin American nations. Castro installed himself as leader of the Third world nations through the provision of ammunition to countries allied to the USSR. These expeditions proved to be largely unsuccessful and eventually led to the near-collapse of the economy of Cuba. Over the years during Castro's reign, there were still numerous attempts by the CIA to assassinate Castro despite a previous agreement not to invade Cuba.

Contributions of Castro

During his regime, literacy level of Cuba increased to 98% with the launching of more than 10,000 schools in the Caribbean nation . The quality of health care also increased marginally, although the civil liberties of the people were suppressed as labor unions were not allowed to initiate strikes (Mayo 277). The media and the opposition were not spared either in the suppression spree; there were shutdowns of news outlets that published negative articles about the regime. The collapse of the USSR in the year 1991 sent Cuba's economy crumbling to its knees. This led to a loss of momentum for his revolutionary movements. They could not access cheap oil anymore, and the market for most of their exports was no longer available. 85% of the Cuban markets disappeared during this time . Castro called for actions such as the return of Cuban exiles to their country and the legalization of the U.S dollar as legal tender (Ernesto and Castro 68).

Shift of Power

People in Cuba and the world began doubting the well-being of the Cuban leader in the late 1990s. The most significant of his health problem s occurred in the year 2006 when he gave his brother Raul temporary leadership of Cuba. In 2008, he gave up the presidency and left the mantle of leadership to Raul permanently. Raul was elected officially as Cuba's president in the same month even though he remained leader of the communist party until 2011 when Raul took over. Fidel Castro remained influential in Cuban affairs long after his reign.Castro's Death

Castro met his death in 2016 and following his death, 9 days of mourning were declared in Cuba . While most of the people in Cuba celebrated the life of Fidel Castro, other exiled people around the world celebrated his death. To them, he was the man who killed and imprisoned their friends and families. The Santiago Ifigenia Cemetery is where are ashes were laid, the same place where independence leader and poet Jose Marti was buried (Garvin 186).

Works Cited

Ernesto Che, and Fidel Castro. Socialism and man in Cuba. Pathfinder, 2015.

Garvin, Glenn. "Fidel Castro is Dead: How Will History Remember Fidel Castro?." Miami Herald (2016).

Latner, Teishan A. Cuban Revolution in America: Havana and the Making of a United States Left, 1968-1992. UNC Press Books, 2018.

Mayo, Peter. "FIDEL CASTRO (1926-2016): ANTI-WESTERN-IMPERIALISM LEADER WHO HELPED DEVELOP ENVIABLE education AND HEALTH SYSTEMS." Postcolonial Directions in Education (2016): 277.

Skierka, Volker. Fidel Castro: a biography. John Wiley & Sons, 2014.