Fidel — the defiant survivor

2007 marked the 40th anniversary of the death of Che Guevara, icon of the Cuban revolution and an inspiration to freedom fighters across the globe. The anniversary occurred at a time when Che’s comrade in arms and leader of the Cuban revolution President Fidel Castro, was recovering from illness and had transferred responsibilities to the country’s First Vice-President, younger brother Raúl Castro.
SEÁN Ó FLOINN looks back at the fascinating career of Cuba’s defiant 81-year-old leader who has survived nine US administrations, several of which have attempted to kill him.

Since spearheading the Cuban revolution to triumph in 1959, Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz has become the most controversial political leader of our time. He has remained a constant thorn in the side of the United States and been a champion of the poor and the oppressed throughout the world. He has outlived nine US presidents and though currently ill, the longevity of Fidel’s life has received much attention. When presented with a Galapagos turtle whose average life expectancy was 150 years, Fidel retorted “That is the problem with pets, you become attached to them and then they die”.
Fidel was born on a sugar plantation in the Holguín province in Cuba in 1926 to a servant mother and wealthy father. Rebellious from a young age he helped organise a workers’ strike on his father’s plantation in his early teens. After coming to power he led by example and nationalised his parents’ sizeable plantation as part of agrarian land reform.
A bright student excelling at sports, he became involved in politics in the forties, joining Partido Ortodoxo (the Orthodox Party) aspiring to free Cuba from the imperialist chains of the United States and introduce social reform. Fidel married twice, having six sons and a daughter.
In 1950 he graduated as a lawyer and represented the underprivileged. As most of his clients could not afford to pay him, he was constantly short of money. Fidel’s frustration at the inequalities that existed in Cuban society grew.
In 1952 Fidel decided to contest an upcoming election, which his party were likely to win. However, General Fulgencio Batista had other plans for Cuba and seized power in a coup, subsequently cancelling all elections. Batista, backed by the US, ruthlessly, crushed dissent. Fidel became convinced that armed revolution was the only way to free Cuba. On 26 July 1953 he led over 100 men and women in an attack on the Moncada Army Barracks. The plan to overthrow Batista failed and around half the rebels were killed. Fidel was imprisoned and sentenced to 15 years, by chance avoiding execution. Released two years later as a result of an amnesty, he immediately began to prepare the ground for the Cuban revolution, using Mexico as his base. Movimiento 26 de Julio was born. It was here that Fidel first met Ernesto ‘Che’ Guevara, who was to have a profound impact on his political views.
Fidel and 82 other revolutionaries set sail for Cuba in 1956. On reaching the Carribean island they were ambushed by Batista’s forces. Only a fraction survived. Taking to the Sierra Maestra mountains, they set about spreading the revolution and redistributed land among the peasants. After three long years of struggle the Cuban revolutionaries overthrew Batista, who fled to the Dominican Republic.
Cuba, for so long a den for the American Mafia and wealthy capitalists, was to change irrevocably. The doors of brothels, casinos and seedy night-clubs were shut and radical new reforms were announced. The socialists implemented land redistributions, nationalised companies, expropriated properties from major US corporations, undertook a massive literacy crusade and abolished separate facilities for Blacks and Whites.
In 1960 Fidel signed an agreement to purchase oil from the Soviet Union. When US-owned refineries refused to process it they were nationalised. Relations between the US and Cuba became frosty. Fidel went on to sign a variety of economic and military agreements with Soviet leader Khrushchev. The new Cuban government was extremely popular with the poor but over one million of the middle-classes and privileged fled to Miami, Florida which is still used as a base in plotting against Fidel.
In April 1961, the US supported a 1,400 strong armed force of Cuban exiles to invade the island. Commonly referred to as the Bay of Pigs, the adventure was a disaster. The invaders proved no match for Fidel’s army.
Some months later Fidel publicly declared his adherence to Marxism-Leninism and stated that Cuba was following a Communist path. In early 1962 the US administration imposed an economic embargo on Cuba, which to this day drastically curtails the rights of American businesses and their subsidiaries from trading with Cuba and means virtual travel ban for Americans wishing to visit the island. That same year the Cold War between the US and USSR nearly exploded in nuclear conflict with the Cuban Missile Crisis. Khruschev, with Fidel’s blessing, placed nuclear missiles on Cuban soil to deter the US from another invasion of the island. The world’s two superpowers were on the brink of a cataclysmic confrontation but after tense negotiations the warheads were eventually removed.
Successive US governments have attempted to remove Castro from power. It is estimated that Fidel has been the subject of 638 assassination attempts. In 1960 the CIA offered the Mafia $150,000 to kill Fidel. There have also been anecdotes of exploding cigars, poisonous food and even a plan to contaminate Fidel’s body to make his beard fall out. Fidel has previously remarked that he would win the gold medal if surviving assassination attempts were an Olympic event.
Arguably the toughest challenge Fidel and Cuba have faced came with the destruction of the USSR. By 1991 Cuba’s economy had virtually collapsed, as eighty-five per cent of its trade had been with the USSR. In 1994 the ‘Special Period’ was announced as Cubans had to endure harsh food and medical supply shortages to maintain the socialist revolution. In addition with this economic catastrophe, the US embargo tightened the noose around Cuba’s neck. However Fidel introduced brave measures and the island looked to tourism to survive.
The achievements of the Cuban revolution have been remarkable. Cuba was transformed from a playground for wealthy Americans to exploit to an island that guarantees all its citizens basic requirements of cheap food, the right to employment, social security protections and free comprehensive healthcare and education. There is one doctor per 165 inhabitants, boasting the best doctor-patient ratio in the world. The World Health Organisation recognises the Cuban health care system as one of the best in the world, which is quite an achievement as the whole budget for the system is equal to that of Dublin’s Beaumont Hospital.
On 31 July last year Fidel transferred his responsibilities to his younger brother Raúl, after undergoing intestinal surgery for a problematic digestive disease. Fidel’s once dominant frame may be more frail, his beard may be greyer, his voice may be weaker, but his revolutionary message remains strong. Fidel is akin to a socialist David who has stood up to a capitalist Goliath just 90 miles off his coast.