Hot! Fidel Castro

Using guerrilla warfare tactics, Castro and his supporters attacked Batista's forces, overtaking town after town.

Batista quickly lost popular support and suffered numerous defeats. On January 1, 1959, Batista fled Cuba.

Castro Becomes Cuba's Leader

In January, Manuel Urrutia was selected as president of the new government and Castro was placed in charge of the military. However, by July 1959, Castro had effectively taken over as leader of Cuba, which he remained for the next four decades.

During 1959 and 1960, Castro made radical changes in Cuba, including nationalizing industry, collectivizing agriculture, and seizing American-owned businesses and farms. Also during these two years, Castro alienated the United States and established strong ties with the Soviet Union. Castro transformed Cuba into a communist country.

The United States wanted Castro out of power. In one attempt to overthrow Castro, the U.S. sponsored the failed incursion of Cuban-exiles into Cuba in April 1961 (the Bay of Pigs Invasion). Over the years, the U.S. has made hundreds of attempts to assassinate Castro, all with no success.

In 1961, Castro met Dalia Soto del Valle. Castro and Dalia had five children together and finally married in 1980.

In 1962, Cuba was the center of world focus when the U.S. discovered the construction sites of Soviet nuclear missiles. The struggle that ensued between the U.S. and the Soviet Union, the Cuban Missile Crisis, brought the world the closest it ever came to nuclear war.

Over the next four decades, Castro ruled Cuba as a dictator. While some Cubans benefited from Castro's educational and land reforms, others suffered from the food shortages and lack of personal freedoms. Hundreds of thousands of Cubans have fled Cuba to live in the United States.

Having relied heavily on Soviet aid and trade, Castro found himself suddenly alone after the downfall of the Soviet Union in 1991. With the U.S. embargo against Cuba still in effect, Cuba's economic situation suffered greatly in the 1990s.

In July 2006, Castro announced that he was temporarily handing over power to his brother, Ra l, while he underwent gastrointestinal surgery. Since then, complications with the surgery caused infections for which Castro underwent several additional surgeries. Still in ill health, Castro announced on February 19, 2008 that he would not seek nor accept another term as president of Cuba, effectively resigning as the leader of Cuba.