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Castro is the only 
left-wing leader 
in the world to 
have held power 
continuously from
the day he won it. 
Communist leaders 
- entire communist 
empires - have 
passed away, but 
Fidel and his 
revolution are 
still there
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Cuba in the Fifties 
was a right-wing
dictatorship. Fidel
Castro and a hand-
ful of followers
landed in Cuba
from Mexico in
1956, determined
to overthrow 
General Fulgencio
Batista, the ruler.
Castro had led an 
unsuccessful 
revolt in 1953
#
In January 1959, 
after three years 
of guerrilla 
warfare, Castro 
overthrew Batista 
and marched into 
the capital, 
Havana. Batista's 
regime had been
hated, so Castro's 
triumph was an
enormously 
popular one
#
In the early part 
of the revolution, 
Castro had given 
no sign of his 
political orient-
ation. But two
years later,
in 1961, he 
revealed his 
intention to take
Cuba down the 
communist path
#
The Soviet Union 
was delighted 
that Cuba was to 
be a communist 
state, because it 
offered a the USSR
strategic foothold 
only 90 miles from
the US coast. The
Soviet leader 
Nikita Khrushchev
was pleased to 
welcome Castro
to his residence 
near Moscow
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Many Cubans who
had welcomed the 
overthrow of 
General Batista
were alarmed by 
Castro's plan
to impose
communism.  
Thousands left 
for the US, where
they began to plan
a revolt against
Fidel Castro
#
The US backed an 
invasion of Cuba 
by anti-Castro 
exiles, which 
landed at the Bay 
of Pigs in April 
1961. The plan
ended in failure,
and severely 
embarrassed the 
US government
#
As tension grew
between Cuba 
and the US, the 
USSR installed 
nuclear missiles in
Cuba. They were
aimed at the US,
and were capable
of wiping out
American defences
in 17 minutes. 
President Kennedy
ordered a blockade
of Cuba on seeing 
photographic 
evidence of the 
missile base
#
The 'Cuban 
missile crisis' 
ended when the
Soviet leader
Nikita Khrushchev 
backed down and 
agreed to ship the 
missiles back to 
the Soviet Union 
in exchange for a 
promise from 
Kennedy not to 
invade Cuba
#
Having failed to 
oust Castro by 
more orthodox 
methods, the 
Central Intell-
igence Agency 
CIA) made 
several attempts
to assassinate or 
disable Castro
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Castro was very 
critical of 
Khrushchev for 
giving in to the 
US during the 
Cuban missile 
crisis. But he
won admiration
all over the world 
for his own
independent 
attitude
#
Although political 
freedoms were 
limited under 
Castro, the 
country made 
enormous strides 
in areas such as 
health and 
education. Cuba 
continued to be 
an inspiration to 
revolutionaries 
elsewhere 
#
In the Sixties, Castro expected communism to spread through Latin America. His
long-standing comrade, Che Guevara, who had joined Castro in 1955, left Cuba to
foment revolution abroad. He became an icon of revolutionary idealism after his death
#
In 1962, President
Kennedy imposed
an  economic
embargo on Cuba
which is still
in force. The long
years of privation
led eventually to 
political unrest.
In 1994 Castro 
decided to let 
dissidents leave:  
28,000 emigrants 
on home-made 
rafts were 
rescued from
the Straits of
Florida by the
US Coastguard
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