Fidel Castro

               No street bears his name and there is not a single statue in his honour but Fidel Castro did not want or need that type of recognition. From tip to tip, he made Cuba his living, breathing creation.

By 1947, Castro became completely inclined to bring social justice and economic freedom in his country, Cuba. He traveled to the Dominican Republic and then Columbia to participate in anti-government rioting. He then planned to overthrow Cuban President Fulgencio Batista. After failing in his attempt and imprisonment of a year, he travelled to Mexico and formed a revolutionary group the 26th July Movement with Che Guevara and Raul Castro.

He returned to Cuba in 1956 with around 80 insurgents and weapons and started a guerrilla war against the Batista government. Over the course of the next two years, he succeeded in organizing many resistance groups. He also formed a parallel government and brought some reforms in the agricultural and manufacturing sector.

After some eventful military campaigns, Castro was fortunate to bring down Batista’s government. By the age of 32, he fruitfully concluded his guerrilla campaign and took control over Cuba. Castro was sworn in as the Prime Minister of Cuba in 1959. On April 14, 1961, Castro declared Cuba as a socialist state. The Bay of Pigs incident soon after soured the relations between the United States andCuba. The United States government tried many times to collapse Castro’s rule but in vain.

After the Bay of Pigs incident, Castro strengthened his relation with the Soviet Union. This political tie-up brought the world closer to a nuclear war. As Castro anticipated a sudden US invasion in Cuba, he and the Soviet Premier Khrushchev conceived the idea of keeping nuclear missiles in Cuba. After 13 days of high anxiety, and communications between the US President and 

Soviet Premier, the missiles were removed from the state.

In 1965, Fidel Castro merged Cuba’s Communist party with his radical organizations. In the 1970s, he projected himself as the spokesman of the third world countries and aided many pro-Soviet countries like Yemen and Ethiopia.

Under Castro’s regime in Cuba, around 10,000 schools were opened, and the literacy rate increased up to 98%. The Cubans also got a better health care system. The infant mortality dropped significantly. Castro curbed the freedom of people in many ways; the unions had no right to strike; the independent newspapers were shut and made to go out of business while many religious institutions also suffered a setback.

               Many governments around the world honoured him for his social reforms. He passed away on 25th November 2016 at the age of 90.

                                                                                                                     - KEERTHIGA