By Tristian Villegas, courier staff writer
Over the Thanksgiving break on the 25th, Cuba’s Fidel Castro died at the age of 90.
Fidel was born on August 13, 1926, near Biran, in Cuba’s eastern Oriente Province. He’s been the prime minister for Cuba since 1959 and then became President in 1976. He was the third of six children, including his two brothers, Raul and Roman, and three sisters, Angela, Emma and Agustina. His father, Angel, was a wealthy sugar plantation owner originally from Spain who did most of his business with the American-owned United Fruit Company, which dominated the agriculture in that region at the time. By the time Fidel was 15, his father dissolved his first marriage and wed Fidel’s mother. At the age of 17, Fidel was formally recognized by his father and his name was changed from Ruz to Castro. Fidel grew up in wealthy circumstances amid poverty of Cuba but was also imbued with a sense of Spanish pride from his teacher. Throughout his time of being president he’s been through a lot of assassination attempts. Many people have different perspectives about his time being a communist, but some say that he was like a father to them, while others say that he was like Satan, spreading hate throughout the world. He has shaped Cuba in good and bad ways, but most importantly, he helped lead Cuba’s Revolution and crushed opposition at home from the moment he took power in 1959. During his time as the president, Castro implemented communist domestic policies and initiated military and economic relations with the Soviet Union that led the strained relations with the United States, which culminated in the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis.
Castro made many improvements to the country, such as health care and education, while he maintained a dictatorial control over the country and brutally persecuted or imprisoned anyone thought to be enemies of the regime. Thousands of people were killed or died trying to flee the dictatorship. Castro was also responsible for fomenting communist revolutions in countries around the world. He became a historic figure way out of proportion to the national base in which he operated, becoming famous enough that he could be identified by only one name. Many people have different opinions over his death, some are happy that he is gone, while others are mourning over his death.
