Cuba’s former president, revolutionary leader Fidel Castro died Friday, according to Cuban state media via the Associated Press.
The notorious dictator’s influence lasted over the terms of no less than eleven U.S. presidents.
Castro presided over the only Communist government in the Western Hemisphere and sought support from the Soviet Union, triggering a trade embargo that started in 1962. The embargo and Castro’s policies kept the country in poverty despite universal health care and a high literacy rate.
Castro and a group of fellow revolutionaries overthrew an unpopular dictator and took power in 1959, promising democracy.
Fidel Castro turned over his duties to his brother Raul when he fell ill in 2006. Raul took over permanently when Fidel Castro resigned in 2008.
At the end of 2014, President Barack Obama moved to normalize relations between the two countries, at last giving Cubans a chance to participate economically with the U.S.
Politics 2016: Fidel Castro, Cuba’s Leader, Dies at 90
Cuba’s former president, revolutionary leader Fidel Castro died Friday, according to Cuban state media via the Associated Press.
The notorious dictator’s influence lasted over the terms of no less than eleven U.S. presidents.
Castro presided over the only Communist government in the Western Hemisphere and sought support from the Soviet Union, triggering a trade embargo that started in 1962. The embargo and Castro’s policies kept the country in poverty despite universal health care and a high literacy rate.
Castro and a group of fellow revolutionaries overthrew an unpopular dictator and took power in 1959, promising democracy.
Fidel Castro turned over his duties to his brother Raul when he fell ill in 2006. Raul took over permanently when Fidel Castro resigned in 2008.