Fidel Castro

Fidel Castro       (Lawyer, politician, revolutionary)
Born	Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz August 13, 1926 Birán, Holguin Province, Cuba
Died	25 November 2016 (Age 90) Havana, Cuba
Alma mater	University of Havana
Children	• Fidel Ángel Castro Diaz-Balart • Alina Fernández-Revuelta • Alexis Castro-Soto Alejandro Castro-Soto • Antonio Castro-Soto Angel Castro-Soto • Alex Castro-Soto Jorge Angel Castro Laborde • Francisca Pupo
Spouse	Mirta Diaz-Balart
Perpetrator of	Cuban Revolution
Party	Orthodox Party, 26th of July Movement, Communist Party of Cuba
Relatives	• Raúl Castro Ruz • Emma Castro Ruz Agustina Castro Ruz • Ramon Castro Ruz • Angela Castro Ruz • Juana Castro • Ruz Pedro Emilio Castro Argota • Manuel Castro Argota Lidia Castro Argota • Antonia Maria Castro Argota Georgina Castro Argota • Martin Castro
Survived an estimated 600 assassination attempts to be the longest ever non-royal leader.  President of Cuba  In office December 2, 1976 - February 24, 2008 Succeeded by Raúl Castro  First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba In office June 24, 1961 - April 19, 2011  President of the Council of Ministers of Cuba In office December 2, 1976 - February 24, 2008  Prime Minister of Cuba In office February 16, 1959 - December 2, 1976  Secretary-General of the Non-Aligned Movement In office September 16, 2006 - February 24, 2008 Succeeded by Raúl Castro  Secretary-General of the Non-Aligned Movement In office September 10, 1979 - March 6, 1983

Fidel Castro (13 August 1926 – 25 November 2016) was a Cuban politician and revolutionary who governed the Republic of Cuba for 47 years as Prime Minister from 1959 to 1976, and then as President from 1976 to 2006 (de jure until 2008).

Staunch opponent of Apartheid

Fidel Castro was a staunch opponent of Apartheid, and a hero to Nelson Mandela.

Epstein?

Castro is seen in a picture with Ghislaine Maxwell in a 2005 police raid video of Epstein's mansion, with Fox News suggesting the picture to have been from around 2003, as Colombian ex-President Andrés Pastrana said Epstein traveled to Cuba on Castro's invitation, with the Miami Herald being a source that corroborated that claim.

Eulogising Castro

George Galloway wrote:

“Fidel Castro did not die. He is not dead, he lives-on in all of us and in the lives of our children, even though as yet unborn. And that is why these gold-tooth, scar faces are dancing in Miami today, because they think that they will be going back to business as it was before.

"The greatest legacy of Fidel Castro is that Cuba will never ever again be anybody’s casino, anybody’s bordello. It is a free country, thanks to the Cuban revolution and its leader Fidel Castro, one of the greatest human beings who ever lived, who ever walked this earth.

"We were privileged to live in his era. Some of us were privileged to be his comrade and friend and to spend many hours with him.

"He is not gone. Hasta la victoria siempre, Comandante Fidel Castro!"

Leaders pay their respects

On 30 November 2016, Fidel Castro’s ashes began a four-day journey across Cuba from Havana to their final resting place in the eastern city of Santiago. A number of South American leaders indicated they would attend his funeral on Sunday, 4 December 2016: Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro, whose late mentor Hugo Chavez had a special bond with Castro, Ecuador's Rafael Correa, Bolivia's Evo Morales, Nicaragua's Daniel Ortega, Salvadorean President Salvador Sanchez Ceren and Mexico's President Enrique Pena Nieto.

Two southern African presidents will also fly to Cuba: South Africa's Jacob Zuma and Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe. But the European Union may be represented by just one leader: Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras. Other notable Europeans attending include: Ireland's Gerry Adams and Spain's ex-King Juan Carlos. UK Prime Minister Theresa May, France's President François Hollande and German Chancellor Angela Merkel are all staying away. However, they will be sending government representatives. Shadow Foreign Secretary Emily Thornberry will attend to represent the UK's Labour Party.

Fidel Castro watches the Bay of Pigs Invasion

 

An event carried out

Event	Location
Cuban Revolution	Cuba North America

 

An appointment by Fidel Castro

Appointee	Job	Appointed	End	Description
Pedro Luis Díaz Lanz	Head of The Cuban Air Force	1 January 1959	29 June 1959	Sacked by Fidel Castro after voicing opposition to communism.

 

Related Quotation

Page	Quote	Author	Date
Interpen	“Interpen (Intercontinental Penetration Force) was established in 1961 by Gerry P. Hemming. Other members included Loran Hall, Roy Hargraves, William Seymour, Lawrence Howard, Steve Wilson, Howard K. Davis, Edwin Collins, James Arthur Lewis, Dennis Harber, Bill Dempsey, Dick Whatley, Ramigo Arce, Ronald Augustinovich, Joe Garman, Edmund Kolby, Ralph Schlafter, Manuel Aguilar and Oscar Del Pinto. A recently declassified document says that in 1962, Robert Emmett Johnson was a member of Interpen. Later that year Johnson invited Robert K. Brown (USAR/CounterIntelligence Corps) to a meeting in Miami. Brown was the publisher of Alberto Bayo's 100 Questions for a Guerrilla. This book included an article written by Ulius Amoss called Leaderless Resistance which "referred to the proper strategy for conducting resistance operations against Castro and inside/outside of Cuba". The document also goes onto say: "Also included were numerous fotos of the G/W instructor cadre of InterPen which were taken by Brown at the Everglades training camp." Interpen was also involved in training members of the anti-Castro groups funded by people like Roland Masferrer, Carlos Prio and Santos Trafficante. When the government began to crack down on raids from Florida in 1962, Interpen set up a new training camp in New Orleans. The group carried out a series of raids on Cuba in an attempt to undermine the government of Fidel Castro. These stories were reported by the photo-journalist, Tom Dunkin, for Life Magazine. Roy Hargraves working closely with Felipe Vidal Santiago, carried out a series of raids on Cuba in the 1960s (23 in 1962). This involved a plan to create a war by simulating an attack on Guantanamo Naval Base. In 1963 Hargraves led a team of exiles in a successful raid on Cuba. After capturing two Cuban fishing boats Hargraves took them to the Bahamas. Some members such as William Seymour and Edwin Collins, worked with Bernardo De Torres on non-Interpen operations in 1963. Declassified FBI files show that the agency had an informer within Interpen. His code name was MM T-1. In one document dated 16th June, 1961, it said that MM T-1 had “been connected with Cuban revolutionary activities for the past three years”. One document dated 12th May, 1961, claims that Allen Lushane of Miami “had made a trip to Texas to recruit Americans for some future military action against the Government of Cuba”. The document adds that the “first training camp was established by Gerald Patrick Hemming with Dick Watley and Ed Colby running the camp.” In an interview that he gave to John M. Newman on 6th January, 1995, Hemming claims that the FBI informer was Steve Wilson. Some researchers believe that a combination of Interpen members, CIA agents and anti-Castro Cubans were involved in the assassination of John F. Kennedy. This included James Arthur Lewis, Roy Hargraves, Edwin Collins, Steve Wilson, Gerry P. Hemming, David Morales, Herminio Diaz Garcia, Tony Cuesta, Eugenio Martinez, Virgilio Gonzalez, Felipe Vidal Santiago, Robert Emmett Johnson, Carl E. Jenkins, Chi Chi Quintero and William Robertson.<a href="#cite_note-1">[1]</a>”	John Simkin	20 May 2015

 

Related Document

Title	Type	Publication date	Author(s)	Description
Document:Ken Livingstone: Venezuela should have followed my economic advice	Interview	3 August 2017	Julia Hartley-Brewer Luke Dolan	"America played a major part in Venezuela's current crisis but we won't know until 30 years from now, when all the papers get published."

Many thanks to our Patrons who cover ~2/3 of our hosting bill. Please join them if you can.