On May 17, 1959, Castro signed into law the
First Agrarian Reform, which limited landholdings to 993 acres (4 km²) per owner and forbade foreign land ownership.
[45][46] Fidel Castro addresses delegates of the General Assembly of the United Nations in New York in 1960.
In February 1960, Cuba signed an agreement to buy oil from the USSR. When the U.S.-owned refineries in Cuba refused to process the oil, they were expropriated, and the United States broke off diplomatic relations with the Castro government soon afterward. To the concern of the Eisenhower administration, Cuba began to establish closer ties with the Soviet Union. A variety of pacts were signed between Castro and
Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev, allowing Cuba to receive large amounts of economic and military aid from the USSR. The mould was set. U.S. disappointment with their lack of power in Cuban decision making fueled Castro's fears leading to increasing Cuban dependence on USSR support.
In June 1960, Eisenhower reduced Cuba's sugar import quota by 7,000,000 tons, and in response, Cuba
nationalized some $850 million worth of U.S. property and businesses. The revolutionary government grabbed control of the nation by nationalizing industry, expropriating property owned by Cubans and non-Cubans alike, collectivizing
agriculture, and enacting policies which Castro claimed would benefit the economically dispossessed. While popular among the poor, these policies alienated many former supporters of the revolution among the Cuban middle and upper-classes. Over one million Cubans later migrated to the U.S., forming a vocal anti-Castro community in
Miami,
Florida, actively supported and funded by successive U.S. administrations.
By the early autumn of 1960, the U.S. government was engaged in a semi-secret campaign to remove Castro from power.
[47] On January 3, 1961, President Dwight Eisenhower broke off ties with Cuba, saying that Fidel Castro had provoked him once too often.
[48] In April 1961, the U.S. government unsuccessfully attempted to depose Castro from power by supporting an armed force of Cuban exiles to retake the island. This attempt is known as the Bay of Pigs invasion.
A timeline released by the National Security Archives shows the U.S. began planning to overthrow the government of Cuba in October 1959.
[49] On April 17, 1961, approximately 1,400 members of a CIA-trained Cuban exile force landed at the Bay of Pigs, while the U.S. publicly denied any involvement.
Documents released by the National Security Archive show that the CIA expected the Cuban people to welcome a U.S.-sponsored invasion, spontaneously rising up against the Castro regime. It expected Cuban military and police forces to refuse to fight against the CIA's 1,400-man mercenary invasion force.
[50] President Kennedy cancelled several planned bombing sorties designed to cripple the entire Cuban Air Force.
[51]The Cuban armed forces repelled the invaders, killing many and capturing a thousand. On May 1, 1961, Castro announced to the hundreds of thousands in the audience that:
The revolution has no time for elections. There is no more democratic government in Latin America than the revolutionary government. ... If Mr. Kennedy does not like Socialism, we do not like imperialism. We do not like capitalism.
[52]In a nationally broadcast speech on December 2, 1961, Castro declared that he was a
Marxist-Leninist and that Cuba was adopting
Communism. On February 7, 1962, the U.S. imposed an
embargo against Cuba. This embargo was broadened during 1962 and 1963, including a general travel ban for American tourists.
[53]Many theories are offered for the failure of the U.S. operation. Some argue that the Americans misjudged Cuban support for Castro.
[54] They had believed the testimonies of the Cuban exiles, who told them that Castro was not well supported by the Cuban people. In the weeks prior to the invasion, the Cuban government had rounded up tens of thousands of Cubans suspected of opposing the government, detaining them in sports stadiums across the island in order to prevent them from joining exile forces. No Cuban uprising against Castro ever materialized. In addition, the covert placement of dozens of Cuban intelligence officials in the invasion force gave the Cuban government detailed information on the operation.
[55]Tensions between Cuba and the U.S. heightened during the 1962 missile crisis, which nearly brought the US and the USSR into nuclear conflict. Khrushchev conceived the idea of placing missiles in Cuba as a deterrent to a possible U.S. invasion and justified the move in response to US missile deployment in Turkey. After consultations with his military advisors, he met with a Cuban delegation led by Raúl Castro in July in order to work out the specifics. It was agreed to deploy Soviet
R-12 MRBMs on Cuban soil; however, American
Lockheed U-2 reconnaissance discovered the construction of the missile installations on October 15, 1962 before the weapons had actually been deployed. The US government viewed the installation of Soviet nuclear weapons 90 miles (145 km) south of
Key West as an aggressive act and a threat to US security. As a result, the US publicly announced its discovery on October 22, 1962, and implemented a
quarantine around Cuba that would actively intercept and search any vessels heading for the island.
Nikolai Sergevich Leonov, who would become a General in the KGB Intelligence Directorate
[56] and the Soviet KGB deputy station chief in Warsaw, was the translator Castro used for contact with the Russians during this period.
In a personal letter to Khrushchev dated October 27, 1962, Castro urged him to launch a nuclear first strike against the United States if Cuba were invaded, but Khrushchev rejected any first strike response.
[57] Soviet field commanders in Cuba were, however, authorized to use
tactical nuclear weapons if attacked by the United States. Khrushchev agreed to remove the missiles in exchange for a US commitment not to invade Cuba and an understanding that the US would secretly remove American
MRBMs targeting the
Soviet Union from
Turkey and
Italy, a measure that the US implemented a few months later. The missile swap was never publicized because the Kennedy Administration demanded secrecy in order to preserve NATO relations and protect Democratic candidates in the upcoming elections.
Fabian Escalante, who was long tasked with protecting the life of Castro, has calculated the exact number of assassination schemes and/or attempts by the
CIA to be 638. Some such attempts have included an
exploding cigar, a fungal-infected scuba-diving suit, and a mafia-style shooting. Some of these plots are depicted in a documentary entitled
638 Ways to Kill Castro.
[58] One of these attempts was by his ex-lover
Marita Lorenz whom he met in 1959. She subsequently agreed to aid the CIA and attempted to smuggle a jar of
cold cream containing poison pills into his room. When Castro realized, he reportedly gave her a gun and told her to kill him but her nerve failed.
[59] Castro once said in regards to the numerous attempts on his life, "If surviving assassination attempts were an
Olympic event, I would win the gold medal."
Giancana and Miami Syndicate leader Santos Trafficante were contacted in September 1960 about the possibility of an assassination attempt by a go-between from the CIA,
Robert Maheu, after Maheu had contacted Johnny Roselli, a member of the Las Vegas Syndicate and Giancana's number-two man. Maheu had presented himself as a representative of numerous international business firms in Cuba that were being expropriated by Castro. He offered $150,000 for the "removal" of Castro through this operation (the documents suggest that neither Roselli nor Giancana and Trafficante accepted any sort of payments for the job). According to the files, it was Giancana who suggested using a series of poison pills that could be used to doctor Castro's food and drink. These pills were given by the CIA to Giancana's nominee Juan Orta, whom Giancana presented as being an official in the Cuban government who was also in the pay of gambling interests, and who did have access to Castro. After a series of six attempts to introduce the poison into Castro's food, Orta abruptly demanded to be let out of the mission, handing over the job to another, unnamed participant. Later, a second attempt was mounted through Giancana and Trafficante using
Dr. Anthony Verona, the leader of the
Cuban Exile Junta, who had, according to Trafficante, become "disaffected with the apparent ineffectual progress of the Junta". Verona requested $10,000 in expenses and $1,000 worth of communications equipment. However, it is unknown how far the second attempt went, as the entire program was cancelled shortly thereafter due to the launching of the
Bay of Pigs invasion.
[61][62] [63]Resulting from these numerous assassination attempts, Castro sent out warnings to the US government to stop the attempts or face retaliatory actions. This resulted in a theory stating that Cuba was behind the
Kennedy assassination.
Jose Maria Aznar, former Spanish Prime Minister, wrote that the embargo was Castro's greatest ally, and that Castro would lose his presidency within three months if the embargo was lifted.
[64] Castro retained control after Cuba became bankrupt and isolated following the
collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. The synergic contraction of Cuban economy resulted in eighty-five percent of its markets disappearing, along with subsidies and trade agreements that had supported it, causing extended gas and water outages, severe power shortages, and dwindling food supplies.
[65] In 1994, the island's economy plunged into what was called the "Special Period"; teetering on the brink of collapse. Cuba legalized the US dollar, turned to tourism, and encouraged the transfer of remittances in US dollars from Cubans living in the USA to their relatives on the Island. After massive damage caused by
Hurricane Michelle in 2001, Castro proposed a one-time cash purchase of food from the U.S. while declining a U.S. offer of humanitarian aid.
[66] The U.S. authorized the shipment of food in 2001, the first since the embargo was imposed.
[67] During 2004, Castro shut down 118 factories, including steel plants, sugar mills and paper processors to compensate for the crisis due to fuel shortages.
[68], and in 2005 directed thousands of Cuban doctors to Venezuela in exchange for oil imports.
[69] Soviet Union
Following the establishment of diplomatic ties to the Soviet Union, and after the Cuban Missile Crisis, Cuba became increasingly dependent on Soviet markets and military and economic aid. Castro was able to build a formidable military force with the help of Soviet equipment and military advisors. The
KGB kept in close touch with Havana, and Castro tightened Communist Party control over all levels of government, the media, and the educational system, while developing a Soviet-style internal police force.
Castro's alliance with the Soviet Union caused something of a split between him and Guevara. In 1966, Guevara left for
Bolivia in an ill-fated attempt to stir up revolution against the country's government.
On August 23, 1968, Castro made a public gesture to the USSR that caused the Soviet leadership to reaffirm their support for him. Two days after the Soviet invasion of
Czechoslovakia to repress the
Prague Spring, Castro took to the airwaves and publicly denounced the Czech rebellion. Castro warned the Cuban people about the Czechoslovakian 'counterrevolutionaries', who "were moving Czechoslovakia towards capitalism and into the arms of
imperialists". He called the leaders of the rebellion "the agents of
West Germany and
fascist reactionary rabble."
[70] In return for his public backing of the invasion, at a time when many Soviet allies were deeming the invasion an infringement of Czechoslovakia's sovereignty, the Soviets bailed out the Cuban economy with extra loans and an immediate increase in oil exports.
In 1971, despite an
Organization of American States convention that no nation in the
Western Hemisphere would have a relationship with Cuba (the only exception being
Mexico, which had refused to adopt that convention), Castro took a month-long visit to Chile, following the re-establishment of diplomatic relations with
Cuba. The visit, in which Castro participated actively in the internal politics of the country, holding massive rallies and giving public advice to
Salvador Allende, was seen by those on the political right as proof to support their view that "The Chilean Way to Socialism" was an effort to put Chile on the same path as Cuba.
[71]When Soviet leader
Mikhail Gorbachev visited Cuba in 1989, the comradely relationship between Havana and Moscow was strained by Gorbachev's implementation of economic and political reforms in the USSR. "We are witnessing sad things in other socialist countries, very sad things," lamented Castro in November 1989, in reference to the changes that were sweeping such communist allies as the Soviet Union,
East Germany,
Hungary, and
Poland.
[72] The subsequent
collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 had an immediate and devastating effect on Cuba.
"As I have said before, the ever more sophisticated weapons piling up in the arsenals of the wealthiest and the mightiest can kill the illiterate, the ill, the poor and the hungry, but they cannot kill ignorance, illness, poverty or hunger." – Fidel Castro, 2002
[73]On November 4, 1975, Castro ordered the deployment of Cuban troops to
Angola in order to aid the Marxist
MPLA-ruled government against the
South African-backed
UNITA opposition forces. Moscow aided the Cuban initiative with the USSR engaging in a massive airlift of Cuban forces into Angola. On Cuba's role in Angola,
Nelson Mandela is said to have remarked "Cuban internationalists have done so much for African independence, freedom, and justice."
[74] Cuban troops were also sent to Marxist
Ethiopia to assist Ethiopian forces in the Ogaden War with Somalia in 1977. In addition, Castro extended support to Marxist Revolutionary movements throughout Latin America, such as aiding the
Sandinistas in overthrowing the
Somoza government in
Nicaragua in 1979. It has been claimed by the
Carthage Foundation-funded Center for a Free Cuba
[75] that an estimated 14,000 Cubans were killed in Cuban military actions abroad.
[76]Cuba and Panama restored diplomatic ties in 2005 after breaking them off a year prior when Panama's former president pardoned four Cuban exiles accused of attempting to assassinate Cuban President Fidel Castro in 2000. The foreign minister of each country re-established official diplomatic relations in Havana by signing a document describing a spirit of fraternity that has long linked both nations.
[77] Cuba, once shunned by many of its Latin American neighbours, now has full diplomatic relations with all but Costa Rica and El Salvador.
[77]Although the relationship between Cuba and Mexico remains strained, each side appears to make attempts to improve it. In 1998, Fidel Castro apologized for remarks he made about Mickey Mouse which led Mexico to recall its ambassador from Havana. He said he intended no offense when he said earlier that Mexican children would find it easier to name Disney characters than to recount key figures in Mexican history. Rather, he said, his words were meant to underscore the cultural dominance of the US.
[78] Mexican president
Vicente Fox apologized to Fidel Castro in 2002 over statements by Castro, who had taped their telephone conversation, to the effect that Fox forced him to leave a United Nations summit in Mexico so that he would not be in the presence of President Bush, who also attended.
[79]At a summit meeting of sixteen Caribbean countries in 1998, Castro called for regional unity, saying that only strengthened cooperation between Caribbean countries would prevent their domination by rich nations in a global economy.
[80] Caribbean nations have embraced Cuba's Fidel Castro while accusing the US of breaking trade promises. Castro, until recently a regional outcast, has been increasing grants and scholarships to the Caribbean countries, while US aid has dropped 25% over the past five years.
[81] Cuba has opened four additional embassies in the
Caribbean Community including:
Antigua and Barbuda,
Dominica,
Suriname,
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. This development makes Cuba the only country to have embassies in all independent countries of the Caribbean Community.
[82]In the poorest areas of
Latin America and
Africa, Castro is seen as a hero, the leader of the
Third World, and the enemy of the wealthy and greedy.
[83] On a visit to South Africa in 1998 he was warmly received by President Nelson Mandela.
[84] President Mandela gave Castro South Africa's highest civilian award for foreigners, the Order of Good Hope.
[85] Last December Castro fulfilled his promise of sending 100 medical aid workers to Botswana, according to the Botswana presidency. These workers play an important role in Botswana's war against HIV/AIDS. According to Anna Vallejera, Cuba's first-ever Ambassador to Botswana, the health workers are part of her country's ongoing commitment to proactively assist in the global war against HIV/AIDS,
[86]The president of
Venezuela Hugo Chávez is a grand admirer of his and Bolivian president
Evo Morales called him the "Grandfather". In
Harlem, Castro is seen as an icon because of his historic visit with
Malcolm X in 1960 at the
Hotel Theresa.
[87]Castro was known to be a friend of former
Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau and was an honorary pall bearer at Trudeau's funeral in October 2000. They had continued their friendship after Trudeau left office until his death.
Canada became one of the first
American allies to openly trade with Cuba. Cuba still has a good relationship with Canada. In 1998, Canadian Prime Minister
Jean Chrétien arrived in Cuba to meet President Castro and highlight their close ties. He is the first Canadian government leader to visit the island since Pierre Trudeau was in Havana in 1976.
[88]In December 2001,
European Union representatives described their political dialogue with Cuba as back on track after a weekend of talks in Havana. The EU praised Cuba's willingness to discuss questions of human rights. Cuba is the only Latin American country without an economic co-operation agreement with the EU. However, trade with individual European countries remains strong since the US
trade embargo on Cuba leaves the market free from American rivals.
[89] In 2005, EU Development Commissioner
Louis Michel ended his visit to Cuba optimistic that relations with the communist state will become stronger. The EU is Cuba's largest trading partner. Cuba's imprisonment of 75 dissidents and the execution of three hijackers have strained diplomatic relations. However, the EU commissioner was impressed with Fidel Castro's willingness to discuss these concerns, although he received no commitments from Castro. Cuba does not admit to holding political prisoners, seeing them rather as mercenaries in the pay of the United States.
[90]According to Article 94 of the Cuban Constitution, the First Vice President of the Council of State assumes presidential duties upon the illness or death of the president.
Raúl Castro was the person in that position for the last 32 years of Fidel Castro's presidency.
Due to the issue of presidential succession and Castro's longevity, there have long been rumors, speculation and hoaxing about Castro's health and demise. In 1998 there were reports that he had a serious brain disease, later discredited.
[91] In June 2001, he apparently fainted during a seven-hour speech under the Caribbean sun.
[92] Later that day he finished the speech, walking buoyantly into the television studios in his military fatigues, joking with journalists.
[93]In January 2004,
Luis Eduardo Garzón, the mayor of
Bogotá, said that Castro "seemed very sick to me" following a meeting with him during a vacation in Cuba.
[94] In May 2004, Castro's physician denied that his health was failing, and speculated that he would live to be 140 years old. Dr. Eugenio Selman Housein said that the "press is always speculating about something, that he had a heart attack once, that he had
cancer, some neurological problem", but maintained that Castro was in good health.
[95]On October 20, 2004, Castro tripped and fell following a speech he gave at a rally, breaking his kneecap and fracturing his right arm.
[96] He was able to recover his ability to walk and publicly demonstrated this two months later.
[97]Due to his large role in Cuba, his well-being has become a continual source of speculation both on and off the island as he has grown older. The CIA has long been interested in Castro's health.
[98]In 2005, the CIA said it thought Castro had
Parkinson's disease.
[99][100] Castro denied such allegations, while also citing the example of
Pope John Paul II in saying that he would not fear the disease.
[101]Illness and transfer of duties On July 31, 2006, Castro delegated his duties as President of the
Council of state, President of the
Council of Ministers, First Secretary of the
Cuban Communist Party and the post of
commander in chief of the armed forces to his brother
Raúl Castro. This transfer of duties was described at the time as temporary while Fidel recovered from surgery he underwent due to an "acute intestinal crisis with sustained bleeding".
[102] Fidel Castro was too ill to attend the nationwide commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the
Granma boat landing on December 2, 2006, which also became his belated 80th birthday celebrations. Castro's non-appearance fueled reports that he had terminal
pancreatic cancer and was refusing treatment,
[103] but on December 17, 2006 Cuban officials stated that Castro had no terminal illness and would eventually return to his public duties.
[104][105]Rumors of Castro's health While Cuba continues to deny claims that Castro is suffering from a terminal cancer, on December 24, 2006, Spanish newspaper El Periódico de Catalunya reported that Spanish surgeon José Luis García Sabrido has been flown to Cuba on a plane charted by the Cuban government. Dr. García Sabrido is an intestinal expert who further specializes in the treatment of cancer. The plane that Dr. García Sabrido's traveled in also was reported to be carrying a large quantity of advanced medical equipment.
[106][107] On December 26, 2006, shortly after returning to Madrid, Dr. García Sabrido held a news conference in which he answered questions about Castro's health. He stated that "He does not have cancer, he has a problem with his digestive system," and added, "His condition is stable. He is recovering from a very serious operation. It is not planned that he will undergo another operation for the moment."
[108] Although most Cubans acknowledge that they are aware Castro is seriously ill, most also seem worried about a future without Castro.
[109]On January 16, 2007, the Spanish newspaper,
El País, citing two unnamed sources from the Gregorio Marañón hospital —who employs Dr. García Sabrido— in
Madrid, reported Castro was in "very grave" condition, having trouble
cicatrizing, after three failed operations and complications from an intestinal infection caused by a severe case of
diverticulitis. However, Dr. García Sibrido told CNN that he was not the source of the report and that "any statement that doesn't come directly from [Castro's] medical team is without foundation."
[110] Also, a Cuban diplomat in Madrid said the reports were lies and declined to comment, while White House press secretary
Tony Snow said the report appeared to be "just sort of a roundup of previous health reports. We've got nothing new."
[111][112][113] On January 30, 2007, Cuban television and the paper Juventud Rebelde showed fresh video and photos from a meeting between Castro and Hugo Chavez said to have taken place the previous day.
[114][115]In mid-February 2007, it was reported by the
Associated Press that Acting President Raul Castro had said that Fidel Castro's health was improving and he was taking part in all important issues facing the government. "He's consulted on the most important questions," Raul Castro said of Fidel. "He doesn't interfere, but he knows about everything."
[116] On February 27, 2007,
Reuters reported that Fidel Castro had called into
Aló Presidente, a live radio talk show hosted by
Hugo Chávez, and chatted with him for thirty minutes during which time he sounded "much healthier and more lucid" than he had on any of the audio and video tapes released since his surgery in July. Castro reportedly told Chávez, "I am gaining ground. I feel I have more energy, more strength, more time to study," adding with a chuckle, "I have become a student again." Later in the conversation (
transcript in Spanish;
audio) , he made reference to the fall of the world stock markets that had occurred earlier in the day and remarked that it was proof of his contention that the world capitalist system is in crisis.
[117]Reports of improvements in his condition continued to circulate throughout March and early April. On April 13, 2007, Chávez was quoted by the Associated Press as saying that Castro has "almost totally recovered" from his illness. That same day, Cuban Foreign Minister Felipe Roque confirmed during a press conference in Vietnam that Castro had improved steadily and had resumed some of his leadership responsibilities.
[118] On April 21, 2007, the official newspaper Granma reported that Castro had met for over an hour with
Wu Guanzheng, a member of the Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party who was visiting Havana. Photographs of their meeting showed the Cuban president looking healthier than he had in any previously released since his surgery.
[119]As a comment on Castro’s recovery, U.S. President
George W. Bush said: "One day the good Lord will take Fidel Castro away," Hearing about this, Castro, who is an atheist, ironically replied: "Now I understand why I survived Bush's plans and the plans of other presidents who ordered my assassination: the good Lord protected me."
[120]RetirementIn a letter dated February 18, 2008, Castro announced that he would not accept the positions of president and commander in chief at the February 24, 2008 National Assembly meetings, saying "I will not aspire nor accept—I repeat I will not aspire or accept—the post of President of the Council of State and Commander in Chief,"
[121] effectively announcing his retirement from official public life.
[122][123][124] The letter was published online by the official Communist Party newspaper
Granma. In it, Castro stated that his health was a primary reason for his decision, stating that "It would betray my conscience to take up a responsibility that requires mobility and total devotion, that I am not in a physical condition to offer".
[125] SuccessionOn February 24, 2008, the
National Assembly of People's Power unanimously chose his brother,
Raúl Castro, as Fidel's successor as
President of Cuba.
[1] In his first speech as Fidel’s successor, he proposed to the National Assembly of People's Power that Fidel continue to be consulted on matters of great importance, such as defence, foreign policy and "the socioeconomic development of the country". The proposal was immediately and unanimously approved by the 597 members of the National Assembly. Raúl described Fidel as "not substitutable".
[126] Fidel also remains the First Secretary of the Communist Party.
[127] Castro was raised a
Roman Catholic as a child but did not practice as one. In
Oliver Stone's documentary
Comandante, Castro states "I have never been a believer", and has total conviction that there is only one life.
[128] Pope John XXIII excommunicated Castro in 1962 on the basis of a 1949 decree by
Pope Pius XII forbidding Catholics from supporting communist governments.
In 1992, Castro agreed to loosen restrictions on religion and even permitted church-going Catholics to join the Cuban Communist Party. He began describing his country as "secular" rather than "atheist".
[129] Pope John Paul II visited Cuba in 1998, the first visit by a reigning pontiff to the island. Castro and the Pope appeared side by side in public on several occasions during the visit. Castro wore a dark blue business suit (in contrast to his fatigues) in his public meetings with the Pope and treated him with reverence and respect.
[130] With Castro and other senior Cuban officials in the front row at a mid-morning Mass, the pope delivered a ringing call for pluralism in Cuba. He rejected the materialist, one-party ideology of the Cuban state. And he said that true liberation "cannot be reduced to its social and political aspects," but must also include "the exercise of freedom of conscience — the basis and foundation of all other human rights." Later in the day, though, the pope also made his most critical reference yet to the American economic embargo of Cuba. At a departure ceremony at
José Martí International Airport that evening, he said that Cuba's "material and moral poverty" arises not only from "limitations to fundamental freedoms" and "discouragement of the individual," but also from "restrictive economic measures — unjust and ethically unacceptable — imposed from outside the country."
[130] He also criticized widespread
abortion[131] in Cuban hospitals and urged Castro to end the government's monopoly on education to allow the return of Catholic schools. A month later Castro condemned the use of abortion as a form of
birth control.
[132]In December 1998, Castro formally re-instated
Christmas Day as the official celebration for the first time since its abolition by the Communist Party in 1969.
[133] Cubans were again allowed to mark
Christmas as a holiday and to openly hold religious processions. The Pope sent a telegram to Castro thanking him for restoring Christmas as a public holiday.
[134]Castro attended a Roman Catholic convent blessing in 2003. The purpose of this unprecedented event was to help bless the newly restored convent in Old Havana and to mark the fifth anniversary of the Pope's visit to Cuba.
[135]The seniormost spiritual leader of the
Orthodox Christian faith arrived in Cuba in 2004, the first time any Orthodox Patriarch has visited Latin America in the Church's history:
Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I consecrated a cathedral in Havana and bestowed an honor on Fidel Castro.
[136] His aides said that he was responding to the decision of the Cuban Government to build and donate to the Orthodox Christians a tiny Orthodox cathedral in the heart of old Havana.
[137]After
Pope John Paul II's death in April 2005, an emotional Castro attended a
mass in his honor in Havana's cathedral and signed the Pope's condolence book at the Vatican Embassy.
[138] He had last visited the cathedral in 1959, 46 years earlier, for the wedding of one of his sisters. Cardinal
Jaime Lucas Ortega y Alamino led the mass and welcomed Castro, who was dressed in a black suit, expressing his gratitude for the "heartfelt way the death of our Holy Father John Paul II was received (in Cuba)."
[139]By wearing military-style uniforms and leading mass demonstrations, Castro projects an image of a perpetual revolutionary. He is mostly seen in military attire, but his personal tailor, Merel
Van 't Wout, convinced him to occasionally change to a business suit.
[140] Castro is often referred to as "Comandante", but is also nicknamed "El Caballo", meaning "The Horse", a label that was first attributed to Cuban entertainer
Benny Moré, who on hearing Castro passing in the Havana night with his entourage, shouted out "Here comes the horse!"
[141] During the revolutionary campaign, fellow rebels knew Castro as "The Giant".
[142] Large throngs of people gather to cheer at Castro's fiery speeches, which typically last for hours. Many details of Castro's private life, particularly involving his family members, are scarce as the media is forbidden to mention them.
[143] Castro insists that he does not promote a
cult of personality.
[144]Family
By his first wife
Mirta Díaz-Balart, whom he married on October 11, 1948, Castro has a son named Fidel Ángel "Fidelito" Castro Díaz-Balart, born on September 1, 1949. Díaz-Balart and Castro were divorced in 1955, and she remarried Emilio Núñez Blanco. After a spell in
Madrid, Díaz-Balart reportedly returned to Havana to live with Fidelito and his family.
[145] Fidelito grew up in
Cuba; for a time, he ran Cuba's atomic-energy commission before being removed from the post by his father.
[146] Díaz-Balart's nephews are Republican U.S. Congressmen
Lincoln Diaz-Balart and
Mario Diaz-Balart, vocal critics of the Castro government.
Fidel has five other sons by his second wife, Dalia Soto del Valle: Antonio, Alejandro, Alexis, Alexander "Alex" and Ángel Castro Soto del Valle.
[146]While Fidel was married to Mirta, he had an affair with Natalia "Naty" Revuelta Clews, born in Havana in 1925 and married to Orlando Fernández, resulting in a daughter named
Alina Fernández-Revuelta.
[146] Alina left Cuba in 1993, disguised as a Spanish tourist,
[147] and sought asylum in the United States. She has been a vocal critic of her father's policies.
By an unnamed woman he had another son, Jorge Ángel Castro.
His sister
Juanita Castro has been living in the United States since the early 1960s and was featured in a film documentary by
Andy Warhol in 1965.
[148]Castro's human rights record remains controversial. It is alleged that some political opponents to his regime were killed, primarily during the first decade of his leadership.
[149][150] Persons found to be "counterrevolutionaries", "fascists", or "
CIA operatives" were said to be imprisoned in poor conditions without trial.
[151][152].
Military Units to Aid Production, or UMAPs, were
labor camps established in 1965 to confine "social deviants" (including
homosexuals and
Jehovah's Witnesses), with the goal of working "counter-revolutionary" influences out of certain segments of the population.
[153] The camps were closed in 1967.
[154]Castro acknowledged that Cuba holds political prisoners, but argued that Cuba is justified because these prisoners are not jailed for their political beliefs, but have been convicted of "counter-revolutionary" crimes, including bombings. Castro has often portrayed
opposition to the Cuban government as illegitimate, and has alleged that most such opposition is the result of an ongoing cooperation between Cuban exiles and the CIA.
[155]Allegations regarding wealth
In 2005, American business and financial magazine
Forbes listed Castro among the world's richest people, with an estimated net worth of $550 million. The estimates, which the magazine admitted was "more art than science",
[156] claimed that the Cuban leader's personal wealth was nearly double that of Britain's Queen
Elizabeth II, despite anecdotal evidence from
diplomats and businessmen that the Cuban leader's personal life was notably austere.
[157] This assessment was drawn by making economic estimates of the net worth of Cuba's
state-owned companies, and used the assumption that Castro had personal economic control.
[158] Forbes Magazine later increased the estimates to $900 million, adding rumors of large cash stashes in
Switzerland.
[157] The magazine offered no proof of this information,
[156] and according to CBS news, Castro's entry on the rich list was notably brief compared to the amount of information provided on other figures.
[156]Castro, who had considered suing the magazine, responded that the claims were "lies and
slander", and that they were part of a US campaign to discredit him.
[157] He declared: "If they can prove that I have a bank account abroad, with $900m, with $1m, $500,000, $100,000 or $1 in it, I will resign."
[157] President of Cuba's Central Bank, Francisco Soberón, called the claims a "grotesque slander", asserting that money made from various state owned companies is pumped back into the island's economy, "in sectors including health, education, science, internal security, national defense and solidarity projects with other countries."
[158]
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