It is unlikely that there is at least one person in the world who has never heard of Cuba. This island is associated with endless fun and struggle, here you can feel at home and at the same time enjoy the exoticism of the Caribbean. We can say that Fidel Castro, the people's leader of Cuba, created the country in its present form, giving it the unique charm of a tropical paradise, seasoned with the bitter smoke of revolution. Although, long before Fidel came to power, the island had its own history, filled with a series of sad events.

Cuba: from Columbus to Fidel

Modern scientists have found traces of human presence on the island dating back to the fourth century BC. The local people, who were later called Indians, lived separately in Cuba. They raised cattle and grew tobacco, lived peacefully and did not wage any wars. By the time Columbus's expedition arrived on the island at the end of the fifteenth century, the number of Indians was about two hundred thousand people. Over the next fifty years it dropped to five thousand.

The entire subsequent history of the island was filled with a bloody struggle for freedom and independence. Slaves, imported workers, Indians and simply caring Spaniards and Englishmen actively fought to live openly and without fear. The first president of Cuba, Tomas Estrada Palma, was a descendant of Spanish colonists and did his best to preserve old traditions. The remaining presidents saw their own interests in governing the country. We can say that only Fidel Castro brought long-awaited peace and happiness to his country. But it is worth noting that the list of Cuban presidents includes more than a dozen people.

Presidents of Cuba: how many were there?

The history of each state is reflected by its political figures at the helm of the country. The presidents of Cuba are no exception. The list of the first persons of the island from the beginning of the twentieth century to the present day includes twenty-two names. In addition to these presidents, provisional governors and members of the Provisional Government periodically came to power in Cuba; there were seven of them throughout history.

The list of presidents of the Republic of Cuba included such odious personalities as:

• Fulgencio Batista;
• Carlos Manuel de Cespedes y Quesada;
• Jose Miguel Gomez;
• Ramon Grau San Martin.

But the most prominent representative of the island's political elite was, of course, Fidel Castro.

It is worth noting that many of the presidents were at the helm for no more than one or two days, others were able to hold out for several months. This fact once again confirms how difficult Cuba’s path to true freedom and respect for human rights was.

Tomas Estrada Palma - savior or oppressor?

Tomas Estrada Palma became the first president of independent Cuba. The local residents themselves speak extremely negatively about him, but in fact, his activities as head of state cannot be assessed so unambiguously.

Thomas Palma came to power in 1902 as a result of a long struggle with the Spaniards for the independence of the island. He spent many years of his life trying to free the Cubans from Spanish rule. But ironically, he became the one who practically gave up his island to the United States for many years.

The fact is that the United States, which had long dreamed of occupying Cuba, did everything to undermine the power of the Spaniards. After several provocations, they brought their troops into its territory and declared war on Spain. Ultimately, Cuba got rid of some oppressors, but gained others. With the help of American money, Tomas Estrada Palma took over the post of head of state. During the four years of his rule, he allowed the United States to significantly strengthen its position on the island. During this period, the famous “Platt Amendment” was signed, which allowed the Americans to interfere in all the affairs of the island. Almost all laws adopted during Palma's presidency were primarily beneficial to the United States, which caused outbursts of popular indignation. In 1906, despite winning the elections, Cuban President Estrada Palma was removed from power.

José Miguel Gomez: general who became president

Almost the entire history of the island is a struggle against oppressors, so it is not surprising that every third president of Cuba was a military man. Jose Miguel Gomez also falls into this category.

He came to power in 1909, after changing several temporary managers. The Cubans expected democratic reforms from him, but, unfortunately, the general did not live up to their hopes. Surprisingly, a man who took an active part in the struggle for freedom in Cuba was remembered for a lot of scandals and bloody executions. During the four years of his power ex-president Cuba has been repeatedly accused of embezzling budget funds. He connected the island and the United States even more closely; their troops practically never left Cuban soil. President Gomez harshly suppressed any popular resistance; he shot more than three thousand Cubans of African descent who created political party, advocating the abolition of racial discrimination.

There is still a monument to Jose Gomez in Havana, but more than once city residents have taken the initiative to demolish it.

Gerardo Machado: dictatorship on the bones of Cubans

Many Cuban presidents built their policies from a position of strength and oppression ordinary people. One of the most prominent representatives of such politicians is Cuban President Gerardo Machado. He took office in 1925 with US support. Literally from the very first days he established dictatorial regime, which was strongly encouraged by the American authorities. He suppressed workers' uprisings with all his might, so during his reign several thousand people who opposed the dictatorial regime were killed.

Machado, more than all previous presidents, plunged Cuba into credit relations with the United States. He held office for more than eight years, which were accompanied by uprisings, murders and the final impoverishment of the population. Ultimately, the bloody Machado regime was overthrown through armed resistance by the people of Cuba. US support failed to change the balance of power in favor of the now former president.

Fulgencio Batista: a wolf in sheep's clothing

Batista holds a special place in Cuban history. His first rise to power in 1940 was perceived by the people as a breath of fresh air. Hoping for the support of the Cubans, President Batista managed to carry out a number of democratic reforms. In four years, he restored the country's rights to its resources, introduced constitutional freedoms and passed a multi-party law. But all this was only a step towards strengthening power. Having lost the presidential election for the next term, Batista turned to the United States for help and now intended to take power by force.

In 1952, he carried out a military coup and established a brutal dictatorship for six long years. He completely abolished all democratic freedoms and placed the Cubans under the control of the army and police. Parties and trade unions were outlawed, and several thousand people were persecuted. More than twenty thousand rebels were shot. In foreign policy Batista was completely controlled by the United States, he broke off relations with the USSR and expelled all representatives from the country communist party. Cubans still remember these years with fear and hatred.

Manuel Urrutia Lleo: almost two hundred days of power

In 1959, Manuel Lleo received the presidency of Cuba. Like many other presidents, he was a protege of the United States and came to power only after agreement with the American military and politicians.

It is worth noting that the next president of Cuba managed to hold on at the helm for only one hundred and ninety-six days. During this period, he did not have time to begin any serious reforms, because the first attempts to pass several laws limiting US activities on the island led to the removal of the political leader from his post. Ultimately, Manuel Urrutia Lleo went to New York, where he lived the rest of his life.

People's "President" of Cuba - Fidel Castro

Cubans can talk about this legendary personality for hours. They are ready to tell with admiration endless stories about their leader, characterizing him from different sides. Every Cuban calls Fidel president, although in fact he was the chairman of the Council of State of Cuba. In this case, the position was given to him by the people of the island, and to this day he is the real people's "president". It is impossible to talk about Cuba without mentioning Fidel Castro; these concepts are inseparable in the hearts of people and in the history of the country.

It is quite difficult to tell about Fidel in a nutshell, because the former leader of Cuba, brought to power by his people, is worthy of respect as a person who devoted his entire life to the struggle for the happiness of the Cubans.

At the moment, it is believed that Fidel Castro ruled the country longer than all modern party leaders - he served as head of the country for forty-nine years. In 2008, he transferred all his powers to his brother Raul, but continued his political activity and drove quite active life until his death last year.

Cuba today: winds of change

For eight years now, Fidel's brother Raul Castro has ruled Liberty Island. Of course, he is not the President of Cuba; now the head of the State Council is no longer called that way. But he tries with all his might to earn the love of his people. Cuba is undergoing a number of reforms that are aimed at improving the lives of the island's residents. Raoul took Chinese transformations as the basis for his program. He is gradually introducing the concept of private property into Cuban everyday life and making some relaxations in the regime. It is unknown where this loyalty will lead, but for now Cuba remains absolutely special and unconquered.

Alicia Alonso was born in 1920 in Havana. The youngest of four children of Spanish immigrants who moved to Cuba began studying ballet at the age of eleven. The girl was taught the art of ballet by Nikolai Yavorsky, a native of Russia. Among Alicia Alonso's teachers there were other representatives of the Russian emigration, including the dancer Alexandra Fedorova.

Moreover, the first success of the young ballerina was also in some way connected with Russia. Even though she performed on the Havana stage, the twelve-year-old dancer’s first rather modest fame came from her performance of the Blue Bird’s solo in Tchaikovsky’s “Sleeping Beauty.” Alicia Alonso created the National Ballet of Cuba and trained pedagogical activity, teaching young Cubans the art of ballet.

7. Jose Raul Capablanca

Jose Capablanca is a legendary Cuban chess player of the first half of the twentieth century, the author of numerous works on chess theory and the third world chess champion, who held the championship title for six years, from 1921 to 1927. For eight years, from 1916 to 1924, José did not lose a single game, earning him the nickname “the chess machine.”

Many experts believe that Capablanca lost the championship title largely through his own fault. Alekhine, who took the title of world champion from the Cuban chess player, was considered a weaker player. This opinion was confirmed by the results of previous matches. However, the Cuban, unlike his competitor, never specially prepared for the competition and did not study the enemy’s tactics, for which he paid.

6. Teofilo Stevenson

Teofilo Stevenson, a native of Puerto Padre in the Cuban province of Las Tunas, became one of three three-time Olympic world champions in boxing. By the way, among the three triple champions there is another Cuban - Felix Savon, who also became the world champion among amateur boxers six times.

After the Olympics"76, producer Don King (USA) offered the athlete two million dollars for the transition to professional boxing and a fight with Muhammad Ali. For Cuban income, two million is an prohibitively large amount. Realizing that by accepting King's offer, he would forever close the path for himself to his homeland, Stevenson refused. “I prefer the love of 8 million Cubans to 2 million dollars,” the athlete responded to the producer’s proposal, which raised his domestic rating to the skies.

5. Fulgencio Batista

Most people know Batista solely in the context of the events of the Cuban Revolution. Ruben Fulgencio Batista y Saldivar is a typical representative of the classic Latin American junta. He was the Caribbean country's de facto military leader from 1933 to 1940 and served as president from 1940 to 1944, 1952 to 1954 and 1954 to 1959, until he was overthrown by Fidel Castro and his "beardmen." During this time, he managed to organize two coups with a difference of two decades, in 1933 and 1952.

Batista failed to either pull the country's economy out of a deep systemic crisis, despite financial support from the United States, or improve the lives of the people, most of whom were on the verge or beyond poverty. The result was natural - ultimately the Batista regime fell. After the fall of the regime, the dictator left Cuba with for the most part gold and foreign exchange reserves of the country and spent the rest of his life in exile.

Everything happened as predicted by the old witch from the village of Victorino, lost in the very heart of the island - in the spurs of the Sierra Maestra ridge. Fidel no longer remembered her face or her name, and only in his dreams did he hear her senile, rattling voice:

I see that death will forget about the young caballero... When a black man becomes the ruler of the world, when the Old World is under the rule of women, when Rome is ruled by a Latin American, only then will the caballero go to the valley of the shadow of death...

Fidel's friends believed that the witch told him immortality. Where have you seen arrogant gringos ruled by blacks?!

But Fidel himself only chuckled contentedly: rumors about the immortality of the leader of the frantic “Barbudos” benefited the cause of the revolution, instilling terror in the hearts of enemies.

He truly seemed immortal, having survived several hundred attempts on his life - more than any other earthly ruler. He was hunted by CIA agents and Green Berets from American special forces, mercenaries of drug cartels, the Italian Cosa Nostra and the Cuban mafia, but none of the killers could cause Castro any physical or moral harm.

And only very recently Fidel Castro realized that the prophecy of the old witch, whose bones had long since turned to dust, began to come true. And from then on he could only humbly wait in the wings.

Golden Boy

Fidel Alexandro Castro Ruz was born on August 13, 1926 in the most luxurious palace on the island - the Miranda estate near the town of Biran, in the province of Oriente. Even then, his father Angel Castro Arjiz was considered one of the richest landowners in Cuba and the most successful businessman.

Angel was born in Spain in the poor village of Lankara, and it seemed that the most ordinary fate of a peasant farmhand awaited him. But in 1898, the American-Spanish War began, and Angel was drafted into the army and sent to Cuba. After the war, Angel decided to stay on the island.

At first he worked as a night watchman in the mines, then as a worker at a sugar factory, and after saving some money, he opened his own small diner. At the age of 25, Angel bought his first 100 acres - a small plot of virgin land covered with forests. Having cut down the trees, Castro planted sugar cane there, and a few years later he expanded his holdings to 9,500 hectares, becoming the owner of his sugar factory in the town of Biran.

Getting back on his feet, Angel decided to get married. His first marriage with a city beauty did not work out, then he got along with a simple peasant woman, Lina Gonzalez Rus. In Cuba they say that when Don Angel first came to Lina’s house, he was amazed by the order and cleanliness, and therefore he proposed not only to the girl, but to her entire family. After getting married, he moved his relatives to Biran, and his father-in-law Francisco Rus became the chief manager of his son-in-law’s entire vast farm. And a very good manager: with the funds of the Castro family, a post office and a school for peasant children, shops, a slaughterhouse and their own bakery were built in the town - so that the workers of the sugar factory would not be distracted from working on the household.

Seven children were born into the family of Angel and Lina - Angela, Ramon, Fidel, Raul, Juana, Emma and Agustina. Fidel was the third child, and the most beloved.

As fellow villagers recalled, Fidel did not need anything, spending all day playing with a pack of domestic dogs. When his son turned 8 years old, his father gave him a horse named El Careto so that his son could become a real caballero - that is, a horseman and nobleman.

At the age of ten, the father sent his son to study at the La Salle Brothers Catholic College in Santiago de Cuba. At that time, this was a very extraordinary decision, because at that time all the rich Cuban planters rarely sent their offspring to study anything.

“In college, everyone tried to boast about the high incomes of their fathers,” recalled Fidel’s sister Juana. “But Fidel came and somehow casually said, answering one of the teachers: “Just think, my father earns up to 300 pesos a day.” And already the next day everyone noticed how the attitude of the administration and students towards all of us, his brothers and sisters, changed from arrogant and contemptuous, it immediately became servile..."

Teachers often asked Fidel what he would like to become. But he only laughed it off then, although many of his friends noticed with what attention and greed he listened to stories about the exploits of the Mambises, soldiers of the Cuban National Liberation Army who fought against the Spaniards during the Ten Years' War of 1868-1878.

“He simply loved listening to war songs then,” recalled his classmate Jose Ignacio Rasco. - I think that back then Fidel dreamed of becoming the coolest of the mambises, so that all the girls would fall at his mere glance.

In 1942, Fidel moved to Havana and entered the Belen College - it was a privileged educational institution for the golden youth of the island. Fidel was involved in horse riding, rowing, and boxing, thanks to which all the college girls were in love with him. In addition, he became interested in literature and even received the first prize for oratory.

Among the few documents about the “pre-revolutionary” period of Fidel’s life, a description written by the director of the college has been preserved: “Bold and harsh. But we have no doubt that he will write more than one brilliant page in the history of Cuba.”

War Hero

After Belen, Fidel entered the Faculty of Law at the University of Havana. He was predicted to have a brilliant career as a metropolitan lawyer or judge, but before graduation, Fidel decided to prove to himself and others that he himself was no worse than the heroic mambises. He dropped out of school and volunteered to join a detachment of partisans who were preparing to sail to the shores of the Dominican Republic with the aim of overthrowing the regime of the local dictator Trujillo.

The composition of the expedition participants was extremely diverse - there were idealistic students who were ready to shed their own and others’ blood for the cause of freedom, and adventurers, and outright bandits who dreamed of profiting from the war. Fidel after a short military training in the camp of the province of Oriente, he was appointed lieutenant and put in command of a small detachment in the army of mercenaries, who were stationed on the deserted island of Cayo Confites.

While waiting for the order to attack, the mercenaries sat on the island for several months. Gradually, food and medicine ran out, people went crazy out of despair and began to make rafts to sail somewhere from the cursed island. In the end it turned out that the United States had reached an agreement with Trujillo and the Cuban to the navy the order was given to arrest all members of the expedition.

Few managed to escape from the shameful trial and prison - those who risked throwing themselves from the deck into the sea. Fidel was among the brave souls. Having climbed ashore, Fidel vowed to himself never again to trust the gringo Americans.

Fidel, as if nothing had happened, returned to the University of Havana and continued his studies. But in his fifth year he met the charming blonde Mirta Diaz Balart, the only daughter of the Minister of Internal Affairs of Cuba.

“Mirta had huge green eyes,” recalls Jack Skelly, a former UPI reporter. “She loved to dance so much! All Cubans have an indescribable sense of rhythm, they just live for music and dancing, but Mirta, among all the other Cubans, was the very perfection. They say that when he first saw this charming blonde, young Castro promised: “I will definitely marry her.” And all his classmates made fun of him - they say that such a beauty would never marry a guy who has both left legs and no sense of humor... "

The wedding took place on October 12, 1948 - when the bride was already four months pregnant.

Don Angel, finally deciding that his dreamy son had finally come to his senses, paid for them to have a grand wedding according to all the canons of the then bourgeois society in the best restaurant in Havana and a honeymoon in the United States, where all successful young couples usually went. Fidelito Castro, the only legitimate child of the Cuban commander, was also born in the United States.

Indeed, it seemed to Fidel himself that it was time to settle down and put an end to revolutionary romance. He became a member of the ruling party of orthodox conservatives, and the young handsome lawyer from the richest and most influential family of the island, it would seem, had already been reserved the seat of a deputy in parliament, when suddenly a coup occurred in the country.

Lawyer against the Colonel

...In the early morning of March 10, 1952, a servant woke up Cuban President Prio Socarras and handed him a note: “It’s all over with you! I am the government! Colonel Fulgencio Batista.”

Colonel Fulgencio's real name is Ruben Saldivar. He was born into a poor peasant family. Like many peasant teenagers, he ran away from home and enlisted in the army, which at that time was the ultimate dream for him: they provided free clothes, food and money.

To pay for his way to the city, he stole a watch from one of his neighbors and, fearing prison, signed up for the army under the false name of Fulgencio Batista.

In the army, Batista had to experience everything - hazing and ridicule associated with his skin color - he was a mulatto, but he clenched his teeth and made a career. After completing the stenographer's course, Batista received the post of secretary of the Inspector General of the Army, Colonel Rascoi Ruiz. Batista then joined the semi-fascist ABC party and took an active part in preparing the overthrow of President Gerardo Machado.

A year later, Batista himself organized a military coup and became the de facto dictator of Cuba. However, in 1940, under US pressure, he was forced to soften the regime, and four years later, having been defeated in the presidential elections, he was forced to flee the country.

In 1952, when the United States was afraid of communists in the Western Hemisphere, Batista, with the full blessing of the Americans, returned to Cuba and organized a new military coup.

It was Castro who was instructed by the party leadership to draw up the text of a statement against the military coup and the dictator who seized power. Soon, Fidel submitted a lawsuit to the country's Supreme Court, in which he accused Batista of violating seven articles of the constitution and demanded life imprisonment for the colonel.

Adventure in Moncada

Batista simply brushed aside the claim, and for about a year Fidel continued to accuse the dictator of every conceivable sin through newspapers.

In the end, remembering the tactics of the Mambises, he decided to capture the military barracks in the Moncada fortress in Santiago de Cuba. As Fidel himself later recalled, this was necessary in order to “win the trust of the people and convince them of the possibility of a successful armed struggle.”

The assault on the fortress was scheduled for July 26, 1953. 165 people, armed with outdated guns, went to the operation.

True, as it turned out later, Castro, due to his inexperience, did not bother to draw up a plan for the barracks, so the revolutionaries quickly got confused in the dark and mistakenly attacked the houses of peaceful townspeople. And when Castro’s vanguard, after much wandering, finally reached the barracks, the soldiers met them with targeted fire.

Having lost 6 people in battle, the revolutionaries fled, so that later the troops had to catch them all in the forests for a long time - as the official version of the Cuban revolution says, during these searches 55 revolutionaries were shot by soldiers without trial.

Fidel himself and his brother Raul were caught in the mountains two weeks later. The reprisal against the “terrorists” was harsh: two dozen ordinary “Moncadists” were sentenced to 10 years in prison, Fidel himself received 15 years.

However, soon Batista, at the request of his father, pardoned the Castro brothers.

Once in prison, Castro wasted no time. He studied "Capital" by Marx and Lenin, and also acquired a mistress. It was the aristocrat Nati Revuelta.

“When Fidel met Nati in the early 1950s, she seemed like a movie star who had been bathed in olive oil by the gods, like Ava Gardner and Rita Hayworth,” writes Wendy Jimbel, a biographer of the Castro family. “She had big green eyes, a beautiful mouth and hair the color of a raven's wing. She was a siren who was raised for a good marriage. She looked at Mirta as a simple provincial girl. And Nati also believed that Mirta could not be the kind of wife that a young revolutionary leader needed."

Nati Revuelta enthusiastically supported Fidel's plans to overthrow the Batista regime. She was the first to write a letter to the prisoner containing a declaration of love. Fidel replied: “Dear Nati! I am sending you tender greetings from my prison. I always remember and love you... although I have not known anything about you for a long time. I received that sweet letter that you sent with my mother, and I will always keep have it with you. Know that I will gladly give my life for your honor and your happiness...”

After Castro’s release, his wife Mirta filed for divorce - as it turned out, the father-in-law of the fiery revolutionary, who retained his ministerial post under Batista, gave his daughter intimate letters from her husband to his mistress.

Mirta’s further fate is as follows: in the early 60s, she emigrated to the USA and took her son Fidelito with her. Cuban intelligence, on Castro's orders, kidnapped him and took him to Havana. Fidel himself raised his heir and even made him director of the Cuban Atomic Energy Agency. True, then Fidelito was suddenly fired - they say that he blurted out something unnecessary about his father, from whom he inherited his daring and sybaritic character.

In 1993, Castro and Nati Revuelta’s daughter Alina Fernandez also fled to the United States. Wearing a wig and holding a fake passport, she secretly left for Spain, and after publicly appealing to the authorities, she was allowed to take her 15-year-old daughter Alina. Fidel reacted violently to his daughter’s act, and even years after the escape, he forbids mentioning the name Fernandez in his presence. But it was thanks to Alina’s book “My Father - Fidel Castro” that the public learned many of the secrets of the Cuban dictator.

Hiking "Granma"

At the end of June 1955, at the city hospital of Mexico City, two Cubans came for a consultation with the doctor on duty - Argentinean Ernesto Guevara, nicknamed Che - that is, “dude” in Argentine slang, one of whom said that the Cubans who attacked the Moncada barracks Now they have begun to gather in Mexico City to prepare a new expedition to Cuba. Among them were the Castro brothers.

And the doctor Ernesto Guevara hurried to the port of Tuxpan, where a meeting was scheduled for the revolutionaries. On November 25, 1956, at 2 a.m., 82 passengers boarded the small yacht Granma, designed for a maximum of 10 people. 2 anti-tank machine guns, 90 rifles, 3 machine guns, pistols, ammunition and food were loaded onto the yacht. Thus began the famous Granma expedition - a mixture of madness and revolutionary romance.

Government troops discovered the rebels on the approach to Cuba, and Castro had to urgently move the landing to another area - instead of a sandy beach, the revolutionaries landed right in the center of a huge swamp with mangroves near the mouth of the Belik River.

“With a weaving gait,” recalled Ernesto Che Guevara, “we stepped onto solid ground, revealing an army of shadows, an army of ghosts that walked, obeying the impulse of some hidden psychic mechanism.”

It was necessary to walk 40 kilometers to the final point of the route - the Sierra Maestra mountains. In order not to betray their campaign to Batista’s troops, the revolutionaries divided their detachment into groups of 2-3 people and, hungry and in a semi-fainting state, fought their way towards the mountains.

As a result, only 22 people who had only two machine guns reached the appointed place - the estate of Cresencio Perez, one of Fidel's comrades, with only two machine guns - the rest died or were arrested. Nevertheless, the whole country followed the fate of a handful of brave men who risked challenging the 30,000-strong regular army.

For greater propaganda, Fidel and other commanders of the Rebel Army grew beards and long hair, imitating the 19th century Cuban patriots who took an oath not to shave until the Spaniards left the island. So the nickname “barbudos” - “bearded men” - immediately became a common name for the rebels.

Even US President Dwight Eisenhower fell under the charm of the “people’s leader” - at that time Castro ruled out any harsh anti-American speeches, giving the White House no reason to worry. In the end, Eisenhower even recommended that Cuban politicians not interfere with the triumph of democracy.

The order of the US President was carried out - and at the New Year's reception on December 31, 1958, Army Commander-in-Chief General Eulogio Cantillo gave Batista an ultimatum: he must leave.

Batista fled to the Dominican Republic, where he lived quietly to the age of 72 and died in his mansion.

First attempt

Castro deceived Eisenhower. Before the revolution, he ardently advocated democratic form government, promised to guarantee freedom of speech and the press, but after the victory of the revolution, Fidel began by executing about a thousand Batista supporters and confiscating all American property on the island worth more than a billion dollars.

In response, the head of the White House ordered the CIA to eliminate the obstinate commander.

The execution of the order was entrusted to Marita Lorenz, a German by birth, whose father was the captain of a cruise ship.

They introduced her into Fidel’s bed very simply,” recalled one of the former intelligence agents. “She just came to Cuba and during the rally she asked Fidel to give her an autograph. But at the last moment she became embarrassed and did not know how to address the leader of the revolution: call him “Your Excellency,” “Mr,” “Doctor,” or something else. When she openly told Fidel about these difficulties, he replied: “Listen, if you managed to get through all the barriers, then just call me Fidel!” In the evening she found herself in the commander’s bedroom. She had a capsule of poison with her, but at the decisive moment she suddenly realized that she could not poison the person she fell in love with.

They spent eight and a half months together and separated only after Castro forced her to have an abortion.

The consequences of Marita and Fidel's love are well known - the USA was torn apart diplomatic relations with Cuba. Castro quickly got his bearings and declared that he had always been a Marxist-Leninist.

Not wanting to have a USSR vassal at hand, the Americans organized an invasion of the Bay of Cochinos in April 1962. The operation to overthrow Castro ended in a complete fiasco by the CIA - of the 1,500 people trained for this expedition, 1,200 were captured, about a hundred were killed, and only a few managed to escape on departing ships.

Comandante and his "angel"

The main role in transforming Castro from an anarchist into a die-hard Marxist was played by his secretary Celia Sanchez, who became not only his “guardian angel”, but also his common-law wife.

“Celia was five years older than Fidel, and she was the only person who could somehow influence him,” recalled Uber Matos, a former ally of Castro. “Only she could tell him: “You are full of crap!” Don’t do this!” She was thin, of average height, neither ugly nor beautiful. A woman with character. It was she who often dictated Cuba’s foreign policy course.”

It was Celia who insisted that Castro effectively force Che Guevara to resign from the Cuban government in 1965 and then leave Cuba (as Juanita Castro testified, Native sister Fidel, even the Comandante himself called Che Guevara a man without a heart: “Neither the trial nor the investigation mattered to him. He immediately began to shoot...”).

Through Celia's labors, the United Party of the Socialist Revolution of Cuba was renamed the Communist Party of Cuba. Castro himself was elected first secretary of the party's Central Committee.

Celia's life ended tragically: in 1979, she committed suicide by shooting herself in the temple. They say that the reason was her jealousy - there were rumors that a whole system had been developed in Cuba for supplying women for the commander's bed pleasures. Admirers of Castro, on the contrary, object that Fidel had no need to use the services of pimps at all - after all, the women themselves clung to him.

However, as Cuban dissidents are sure, Celia’s death was arranged by part of Castro’s entourage, dissatisfied with her influence on the commandant.

One way or another, after the death of Celia, Fidel sybaritized for several years, and then became friends with Dalia Soto del Balle, who gave birth to five sons to the commander. All their names begin with the letter "A": Angel, Alex, Alexander, Alejandro, Antonio. The extent of Castro's sons' influence on public policy is still unknown.

* * *

Decline of the revolution

The collapse of the USSR caused enormous economic problems in Cuba. As a result, Castro was forced to partially abandon the “Soviet model of building socialism,” and at the Fourth Congress of the CPC in 1991, he spoke out in favor of carrying out a number of economic reforms according to the “Chinese model” - that is, liberalization of the economy, subject to the retention of key positions by the state. Moreover, the authorities allowed freedom of religion, the free circulation of the American dollar as a means of payment, and the freedom to create agricultural cooperatives on Liberty Island. In the propaganda of the CCP, the main emphasis began to be placed not on Marxism-Leninism, but on the “ideas of José Martí.”

Cubans say that it was in those years that Fidel admitted to the writer Gabriel Marquez that in fact he did not want to build any socialism at all, but simply to establish the fairest system on the island, when you don’t have to work hard, but you can relax to your heart’s content - drink a little rum, meet a pretty girl, dance to the rhythms of samba...

What would you like to do if you had a lot of free time? - asked the writer.

The Comandante shrugged:

I would just wander around the streets.

Since then, all of Cuba has been waiting for Fidel to finally announce his resignation.

* * *

Death

Reports of the death of Fidel Castro appeared in the media mass media usually once every few years. The first time the Cuban leader was “buried” was in 1986, when doctor Marcelo Fernandez, who fled from the island, reported that in 1989 in Egypt, Fidel was operated on to eliminate the consequences of a cerebral hemorrhage and was given another diagnosis - rectal cancer.

Fidel was buried in 1994 and 2000, publishing information that Fidel Castro suffered from Parkinson's disease, to which Castro invariably grinned:

The enemies of Cuba buried me more than once, wishful thinking. However, I have never felt better than now.

However, since 2006, Fidel Castro began to gradually hand over the reins of government to his brother Raul Castro: “He is the best prepared and has the most experience.”

Raul Castro announced the death of the Comandante: “I am here to inform our people, our friends in America and the world that today, November 25, 2016, at 10:29 p.m., the Commander-in-Chief of the Cuban Revolution, Fidel Castro Ruz, died.”

Fidel Castro is a major political figure. He led the movement against the dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista on Liberty Island. After the victory of the uprising, from the beginning of 1959 he was Prime Minister of Cuba, and from 1976 (a full thirty-two years) - President.

The personality is ambiguous, bright, and has been around for more than half a century. Many of his reforms in the republic aroused approval and respect. These are the free medical care he introduced and the availability of education.

There were some mistakes, like any leader. But in any case, this is an extraordinary leader on a large scale and a person you can follow.

Childhood years, study time

Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz - full name our hero. He was born in August 1926 in Biran. According to some sources, the month of birth is different - April. The year is sometimes indicated as 1927. The father, Angel Castro, was a wealthy landowner who grew sugar cane on his plantation. His mother, Lina Rus Gonzalez, worked in the kitchen at Angel’s house and gave birth to five children out of wedlock.

Both dad and mom learned to read and write on their own, but understood the importance good education and tried to give it to their offspring. Fidel studied at the Biran public school, where about 20 children attended. He was the smallest, tried to follow the example of his elders. It is noted that Castro had a phenomenal memory and, thanks to his perseverance, after some time he became one of the best.

In his free time, he played with his four dogs. He was also fascinated by information about military battles. At the insistence of the teacher, the gifted boy continued his education in Santiago de Cuba. The next steps are Salesian and two Jesuit colleges. Young Fidel studied well everywhere, was especially drawn to humanities, and was very fond of sports.

It is noteworthy that he began to show himself early as a rebel - he was always indignant if teachers (at the Biran school) punished children from poor families, and he, a richer boy, got away with something. And at the age of 13 he even became a participant in the rebellion of his father’s workers. In 1945, the Law Faculty of the University of Havana opened its doors to Castro. 1950 – year of graduation and receiving two academic degrees– bachelor and doctor.

Castro becomes a private lawyer, and he helps the poor for free.

Revolutionary activities

Having entered adulthood, Castro does not remain aloof from political processes. He becomes a member of the Cuban People's Party. He was going to participate in the parliamentary elections of 1952, but his candidacy was rejected. This happened on March 10th. And already on the 11th, as a result of a coup, power ended up in the hands of Fulgencio Batista. His government terminated the guarantees of the Constitution, and then abolished the main document of the country.

Castro joined the ranks of the fighters against the dictatorship. He filed a lawsuit in the Havana court to prosecute Batista for seizing power and demanded punishment. He called on the judges to lay down their robes if they did not fulfill their duty. Fighting against the current government, the party in which Castro was a member gradually lost its supporters and eventually disintegrated. Fidel rallied several movement activists around himself. Together they prepared for almost a year to seize military barracks in Bayamo and Santiago de Cuba.

In July 1953, the assault began. But the operation ended in failure and arrests followed. In August, Fidel was also taken into custody. At one of the meetings of the military tribunal, Castro in his speech called on the Cuban people to fight against the dictatorship and outlined a plan for transformation in the republic. The leader was sentenced to 15 years in prison. But under pressure public opinion in '55 he was released and went to Mexico.

Here Fidel and his supporters created the “26 July Movement” and again began preparing a rebellion. In November 1956, he and his comrades returned to Cuba. But the revolutionaries were attacked and many were killed. The peasants joined the remnants of the rebels. Some members of Batista’s army also took their side. The year 1958 was fatal for the dictator. He dealt another blow to the rebels. But at this time, the ranks of Castro’s movement were replenished with student detachments. And victory remained with Fidel’s supporters.

Political activity

In the new government, Castro receives the post of Minister of War. 1959 - headed the government. 1961 - declares the past revolution socialist. In the same year, he led the efforts to destroy the American mercenaries who had invaded the southern coast of Cuba. 1965 – First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba. Since 1976, he has held two positions at once - head of state and government.

Little Castro remained without a name for some time - until his baptism. And when the sacrament took place, the boy was given a name in honor of the chosen godfather - a friend of the father of the millionaire Fidel. Castro's middle name is Alejandro. He added it himself. During the years of struggle, the name was a pseudonym for the leader;

• Fidel's favorite historical figure is Alexander the Great. And the letter “A” begins with the names of all five of Castro’s sons. Just “A”s all around. Perhaps this is no coincidence;
• As a 12-year-old boy, Fidel was not afraid to send a letter to US President Roosevelt himself. In a naive message, Castro congratulated the US leader on his re-election to a second term and asked to send him a $10 bill, since he had never seen one. Fidel received the answer. True, not from the president himself, but from an employee of his administration. And, unfortunately, there was no banknote in it;
• During Fidel Castro's stay in power, there were many attempts on his life. Once, a plan was even developed according to which the Cuban leader would have to lose his beard, which would have damaged the image of the leader to which everyone was accustomed. But Castro survived this treachery.

Fidel Castro is a world-famous commandant and permanent Cuban leader who ruled Cuba for more than half a century. There are many legends about his activities and life, which often contradict each other. It is difficult to give a definite description of the “great and terrible” political figure, since one part of the world community considers him a people’s ruler, and the other – the most brutal dictator of humanity.

The biography of Fidel Castro is full of various events, he survived more than 600 attempts on his life, became the leader of the Cuban revolution and was the most terrible enemy of the United States, who entered into a nuclear and economic alliance with the USSR.

Childhood and youth

Fidel Castro was born on August 13, 1926 in the small provincial town of Biran in Cuba in the family of a small landowner and a cook. The parents of the future ruler were uneducated people, so they tried to give their children the most worthy education possible. Taking into account the fact that Fidel had a phenomenal memory since childhood, he became the best student at the school. In addition to his ability to learn, Castro was distinguished by an ambitious and purposeful character, displaying a revolutionary disposition. Already at the age of 13, he took part in the workers' uprising on his father's plantation, in which he occupied a leadership position.

In 1941, the future Cuban leader graduated from school with honors and entered a privileged college, where he is remembered as a vain student and participant in all the fights. After college, Fidel Castro became a law student at the University of Havana. During his student years, he was especially fond of revolutionary books, which engendered the spirit of a revolutionary in his soul. At that time, he had little sympathy for the communists, but was ready to join their ranks if they “made” him.

In 1950, Fidel Castro received a law degree and opened a private practice, the activities of which were based on helping solve the legal problems of poor people. The future commandant became the people's lawyer and provided free legal assistance to the population, which won considerable support in society.

Policy

Start political career Fidel Castro has a revolutionary character. First, he becomes a member of the Party of the Cuban People, from whose ranks he tries to get into parliament. But the first attempt was unsuccessful - his candidacy for deputy was not approved due to radicalism. Then he decides to take more desperate steps and becomes the leader of the fighters against the dictatorship, with whom in 1953 he conspires against the then-current Cuban leader Fulgencio Batista.

This attempt to get to the top of the country’s power also turns out to be a failure, since as a result of the conspiracy, many of Fidel Castro’s associates died, and the revolutionary himself was imprisoned for 15 years.

Two years later, the future head of Cuba came under a general amnesty and was released from prison, where he spent 22 months. The released prisoner immediately left the country and moved to Mexico, where he organized the revolutionary “26th of July Movement” in memory of the rebellion against Batista. The ranks of the movement included many famous revolutionaries of the time, such as the brother of the future Cuban ruler Raul Castro.

Fidel Castro's return to his homeland was fateful both for him and for the entire Cuban people - he and the rebel army were able to capture Havana and overthrow the Batista regime, which allowed him to first become the commander-in-chief of the Cuban troops, and later take the post of prime minister of the country.

In almost 20 years as head of the government of Cuba, Fidel Castro completely transformed the state - the country into a very short time came to prosperity and experienced an unprecedented economic boom. The new head of Cuba took special care of the social sphere, making medicine free for the population and increasing the level of education to 98%. At the same time, the nationalization of private companies was carried out and a “friendship” with the USSR began.

In 1962, Soviet nuclear missiles were stationed on the island, worsening relations between the United States and Cuba. Hostility with the West provoked the Cuban missile crisis on the island, due to which many of Castro's associates fled the country and took the side of the Americans. Despite this, the Cuban leader continued to act towards the overthrow of world capitalism, supporting foreign revolutionary movements in Angola, Afghanistan, South Yemen, Ethiopia, Syria, Algeria, Nicaragua, Libya and other third world countries.

The economic growth and stability in Cuba stopped in the early 80s, when the USSR stopped providing financial support to the country. This led to economic crisis, as a result of which Cuba became the poorest country in the world. Against this background, people began to try by any means to leave their homeland and move to the United States, and in Cuba, oppositionists began to organize a movement to overthrow the Castro regime.

In 2006, for health reasons, the Cuban leader was forced to transfer powers to his brother Raul, who in 2008 became the rightful ruler of Cuba, since Fidel Castro was physically no longer able to govern the country and lead the Cuban army.

Assassinations and health

The attempts on Fidel Castro's life are the most widely discussed chapter of his biography. There is information that during the reign of Cuba and cooperation with the USSR, the American CIA made about 600 attempts to destroy the Cuban leader. All of them, for unknown reasons, were canceled at the last moment and completely stopped by the island’s special agents. They tried to kill Castro while spearfishing, shoot him with a miniature pistol built into a reporter's camera, and poison him with a deadly poison that was soaked in Castro's cigars.

In 2006, Fidel Castro's health deteriorated significantly and fell into the category of state secret of the peninsula. Despite this, some of the Cuban leader’s illnesses became public knowledge and were made public after the declassification of one of the American CIA reports.

It is known that since 1998, Castro began to suffer from Parkinson's disease, which made him a paranoid jealous of all the people's favorites. Also, a local doctor who fled from Cuba said that the politician had rectal cancer and was operated on because of a cerebral hemorrhage back in 1989. Against the backdrop of such data, the famous Cuban commandant was “buried” several times in the media, but he always suddenly appeared in public and denied widespread rumors about his death.

In 2014, the heads of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. After a meeting with the Cuban leader, the Russian Foreign Minister said that he is certainly weak, but his eyes are burning with life and readiness for new revolutionary achievements.

Personal life

The personal life of Fidel Castro, like his health, is a closed and secret topic in society. It is known that in his life there were three truly beloved women who bore him seven children, of which only one son is legitimate. Fidel Castro's first wife, Mirta Diaz Balart, was the daughter of Cuban government minister Batista. She gave birth to the Cuban leader's only official heir, Fidelito, who was at one time married to a Russian woman.

Fidel Castro's second wife was the legendary Havana beauty of the 50s, Nati Revuelta, who gave birth to his daughter Alina. The daughter of the Cuban leader fled from Cuba to the United States in her youth using a fake Spanish passport. According to Alina’s recollections, in addition to Castro, he has at least five more children, whom his beloved woman named Deliv Soto gave birth to. The third wife of the Cuban revolutionary, Celia Sanchez, was Castro's assistant for many years, but in 1985 she committed suicide.

Death

Fidel Castro's fortune as of 2005 reached $550 million, and a year later it increased to almost a billion. In this regard, according to Forbes magazine, he became one of richest people planets. At the same time, the Cuban ruler himself denies his income from state-owned enterprises, but is very fond of luxury, as evidenced by his numerous yachts, residences and thousands of security guards. The extravagant politician does not spoil his children special attention- He provided them with only food rations and security.

At 22.29 on November 25, 2016 (06.29 Moscow time on November 26). The Cuban revolutionary passed away after a long illness. After his death, Fidel Castro's body was cremated, according to his will.