Fidel Castro
Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz (; ; 13 August 1926 – 25 November 2016) was a Cuban revolutionary and politician who was the leader of Cuba from 1959 to 2008, serving as the prime minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976 and president from 1976 to 2008. Ideologically a Marxist–Leninist and Cuban nationalist, he also served as the first secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba from 1961 until 2011. Under his administration, Cuba became a one-party communist state; industry and business were nationalized, and state socialist reforms were implemented throughout society. Born in Birán, the son of a wealthy Spanish farmer, Castro adopted leftist and anti-imperialist ideas while studying law at the University of Havana. After participating in rebellions against right-wing governments in the Dominican Republic and Colombia, he planned the overthrow of Cuban President Fulgencio Batista, launching a failed attack on the Moncada Barracks in 1953. After a year's imprisonment, Castro travel ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Bay Of Pigs Invasion
The Bay of Pigs Invasion (, sometimes called ''Invasión de Playa Girón'' or ''Batalla de Playa Girón'' after the Playa Girón) was a failed military landing operation on the southwestern coast of Cuba in 1961 by Cuban exiles, covertly financed and directed by the United States. It was aimed at overthrowing Fidel Castro's communist government. The operation took place at the height of the Cold War, and its failure influenced relations between Cuba, the United States, and the Soviet Union. In December 1958, American ally General Fulgencio Batista was deposed by Castro's 26th of July Movement during the Cuban Revolution. Castro nationalized American businesses—including banks, oil refineries, and sugar and coffee plantations—then severed Cuba's formerly close relations with the United States and reached out to its Cold War rival, the Soviet Union. The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) began planning the overthrow of Castro, which U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower appr ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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First Secretary Of The Central Committee Of The Communist Party Of Cuba
The First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba ( es, Primer Secretario del Comité Central del Partido Comunista de Cuba) is the ''de facto'' leader of Cuba. The First Secretary is the highest office within the Communist Party of Cuba as well as ranking first in the Politburo, the highest decision-making body in Cuba, which makes the office holder the most powerful person in the Cuban government. In communist states the First or General Secretary of the Communist Party is typically the ''de facto'' leader of the country and a more powerful position than state offices such as President (head of state) or Prime Minister (head of government), when those positions are held by different individuals. From 1961 until 2011, the position of First Secretary was held by Fidel Castro, who was Prime Minister of Cuba and, until 2008, President of the Council of State. Miguel Díaz-Canel, who has been President of Cuba since 2019, was elected First Secretary of the ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Ramón Castro Ruz
Ramón Eusebio Castro Ruz (14 October 1924 – 23 February 2016) was a Cuban revolutionary and activist. He was the eldest brother of Fidel and Raúl Castro and a key figure of the Cuban Revolution. Biography Ramón, the eldest of the Castro brothers, the son of Ángel Castro, a Spanish-born rancher, and his second wife, Lina Ruz, grew up on his family's large farm in Birán, Holguin province, in eastern Cuba. Ramon Castro, who studied agricultural engineering, spent his life tending crops and livestock. He oversaw Cuba's sugar production in the 1960s to help increase output, and he founded several state companies handling production and transport of food crops. He also participated in agricultural research. "Physically, he is stunningly like his brother Fidel, an enormous, heavy-set, gruff bear of a man, with a scraggly beard, a red face, a blustery manner, a ready teasing smile and bright dancing eyes," wrote American journalist, Sally Quinn, who in 1977 was rare in being off ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Angolan Civil War
The Angolan Civil War ( pt, Guerra Civil Angolana) was a civil war in Angola, beginning in 1975 and continuing, with interludes, until 2002. The war immediately began after Angola became independent from Portugal in November 1975. The war was a power struggle between two former anti-colonial guerrilla movements, the communist People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) and the turned anti-communist National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA). The war was used as a surrogate battleground for the Cold War by rival states such as the Soviet Union, Cuba, South Africa, and the United States. The MPLA and UNITA had different roots in Angolan society and mutually incompatible leaderships, despite their shared aim of ending colonial rule. A third movement, the National Front for the Liberation of Angola (FNLA), having fought the MPLA with UNITA during the war for independence, played almost no role in the Civil War. Additionally, the Front for the Liberati ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Machurucuto Incident
The Machurucuto raid, also known as the Invasion of Machurucuto, was a battle involving Venezuelan Army and National Guard troops against Cuban trained guerrillas. On 10 May 1967, a dozen guerrillas landed in Venezuela at the beach of Machurucuto. The Army of Venezuela and the National Guard engaged them on the night of 10 May and the battle lasted into 11 May. Two men were captured while the remaining were killed in battle. The guerrillas had completed paramilitary training in Cuba so they could recruit guerrillas in the Venezuelan Andes region to overthrow President Raúl Leoni. Events Landing On 8 May, twelve guerrillas arrived on the coast of Machurucuto in two rafts. While preparing to land one of the rafts capsized drowning one guerrilla. The rest disembarked on the coast and abandoned their rafts. Confrontation with the Venezuelan army A fisherman spotted the two rafts and notified the armed forces. They discovered and engaged the guerrillas on the evening of 10 Ma ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Cuban Missile Crisis
The Cuban Missile Crisis, also known as the October Crisis (of 1962) ( es, Crisis de Octubre) in Cuba, the Caribbean Crisis () in Russia, or the Missile Scare, was a 35-day (16 October – 20 November 1962) confrontation between the United States and the Soviet Union, which escalated into an international crisis when American deployments of missiles in Italy and Turkey were matched by Soviet deployments of similar ballistic missiles in Cuba. Despite the short time frame, the Cuban Missile Crisis remains a defining moment in national security and nuclear war preparation. The confrontation is often considered the closest the Cold War came to escalating into a full-scale nuclear war. In response to the presence of American Jupiter ballistic missiles in Italy and Turkey, the failed Bay of Pigs Invasion of 1961, and Soviet fears of a Cuban drift towards China, Soviet First Secretary Nikita Khrushchev agreed to Cuba's request to place nuclear missiles on the island to deter a ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Escambray Rebellion
The Escambray rebellion was an armed conflict from 1959 to 1965 in the Escambray Mountains during which several insurgent groups fought against the Cuban government led by Fidel Castro. The military operation against the rebellion was called the Struggle Against Bandits ( es, Lucha contra Bandidos, or LCB) by the Cuban government. The rebels were a mix of former Batista soldiers, local farmers, and leftist ex-guerrillas who had fought alongside Castro against Batista during the Cuban Revolution. The end result was the elimination of all insurgents by Cuban government forces in 1965. Beginning The uprising began almost immediately after the success of the Cuban Revolution in 1959. It was led by an ex-guerrilla that had fought against Batista before, but rejected the socialist turn the Cuban Revolution had taken and the ensuing close ties with the Soviet Union. Small landowning farmers, who disagreed with the socialist government's collectivization of Cuban farmlands also played a ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Cuban Revolution
The Cuban Revolution ( es, Revolución Cubana) was carried out after the 1952 Cuban coup d'état which placed Fulgencio Batista as head of state and the failed mass strike in opposition that followed. After failing to contest Batista in court, Fidel Castro organized an armed attack on the Cuban military's Moncada Barracks. The rebels were arrested and while in prison formed the 26th of July Movement. After gaining amnesty the M-26-7 rebels organized an expedition from Mexico on the Granma yacht to invade Cuba. In the following years the M-26-7 rebel army would slowly defeat the Cuban army in the countryside, while its urban wing would engage in sabotage and rebel army recruitment. Over time the originally critical and ambivalent Popular Socialist Party would come to support the 26th of July Movement in late 1958. By the time the rebels were to oust Batista the revolution was being driven by the Popular Socialist Party, 26th of July Movement, and the Directorio Revoluci ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Cuban Revolutionary Armed Forces
The Cuban Revolutionary Armed Forces ( es, Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias; FAR) are the military forces of Cuba. They include ground forces, naval forces, air and air defence forces, and other paramilitary bodies including the Territorial Troops Militia (''Milicias de Tropas Territoriales'' – MTT), Youth Labor Army (''Ejército Juvenil del Trabajo'' – EJT), and the Defense and Production Brigades (''Brigadas de Producción y Defensa'' – BPD), plus the Civil Defense Organization (''Defensa Civil de Cuba'' – DCC) and the National Reserves Institution (''Instituto Nacional de las Reservas Estatales'' – INRE). All these groups are subordinated to the ''Ministro de las Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias'' (" Ministry of the Revolutionary Armed Forces" – MINFAR). The armed forces have long been the most powerful institution in Cuba. The military manages many enterprises in key economic sectors representing about 4% of the Cuban economy. The military has also served as forme ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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List Of Awards And Honours Bestowed Upon Fidel Castro
This is a comprehensive list of awards and honours bestowed upon the Cuban revolutionary and statesman Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz (except things named after him). Private awards State decorations Prizes of Cuba, other states, state institutions and subnationals entities. References {{Fidel Castro Castro, Fidel Fidel Castro ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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University Of Havana
The University of Havana or (UH, ''Universidad de La Habana'') is a university located in the Vedado district of Havana, the capital of the Republic of Cuba. Founded on January 5, 1728, the university is the oldest in Cuba, and one of the first to be founded in the Americas (the oldest, National University of San Marcos, was founded in Lima in 1551). Originally a religious institution, today the University of Havana has 15 faculties (colleges) at its Havana campus and distance learning centers throughout Cuba. History Founded by Dominican friars belonging to the Order of Preachers (''la Orden de Predicadores'') as Real y Pontificia Universidad de San Gerónimo de la Habana (''Royal and Pontifical University of Saint Jerome of Havana'') with six original faculties: Art and Philosophy, Theology, Canons, Law, and Medicine. In 1842, the university changed its status to become a secular, royal and literary institution. Its name became Real y Literaria Universidad de La Habana ('' ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Fidel Castro Díaz-Balart
Fidel Ángel Castro Díaz-Balart (1 September 1949 – 1 February 2018) was a Cuban nuclear physicist and government official. Frequently known by the diminutive Fidelito (little Fidel), he was the eldest son of Cuban leader Fidel Castro and his first wife, Mirta Diaz-Balart. Life and career Castro Díaz-Balart's parents divorced in 1955, prior to the Cuban Revolution in which his father seized power in the country. His mother moved to Miami, United States, with the Diaz-Balart family, taking her son with her. Castro Díaz-Balart returned to Cuba as a child to visit his father, and remained there for the rest of his childhood. In 1959, he appeared as a 9-year-old during an interview with his father on U.S. television. Castro Díaz-Balart moved to Moscow (in what was then the Soviet Union), where he enrolled at Voronezh State University in 1968. For safety, he studied under the code name "José Raúl Fernández", which he claimed to have chosen in homage to world chess cha ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |