Fidel Castro, the Cuban revolutionary leader who built a communist state on the doorstep of the United States (US) and for five decades defied US efforts to topple him, died on Friday, state-run Cuban Television said. He was 90.
Fidel Castro, the Cuban revolutionary leader who built a communist state on the doorstep of the United States (US) and for five decades defied US efforts to topple him, died on Friday, state-run Cuban Television said. He was 90.
Castro, in poor health since an intestinal ailment nearly killed him in 2006. The bearded Fidel Castro took power in a 1959 revolution and ruled Cuba for 49 years with a mix of charisma and iron will, creating a one-party state and becoming a central figure in the Cold War.
Guerrilla revolutionary and communist idol, Fidel Castro was a holdout against history who turned tiny Cuba into a thorn in the paw of the mighty capitalist United States. The former Cuban president said he would never retire from politics. But emergency intestinal surgery in July 2006 drove him to hand power to Raul Castro, who ended his brother's antagonistic approach to Washington, shocking the world in December 2014 in announcing a rapprochement with US President Barack Obama.
Here are some pictures chronicling the life of Castro.
(With Agency inputs.)
1. Fidel Castro and Ernesto Che Guevara in Mexican jail in 1956
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Fidel Castro (L) and Ernesto Che Guevara in Miguel Schultz jail in Mexico city in June-July 1956 (in June they were arrested by Mexican police when they prepared expedition in Cuba). This photo may be the 1st one showing Castro and Guevara together. (Photo Courtesy - Getty Images)
2. Comandante Fidel Castro in New York in 1959
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Comandante Fidel Castro, the new leader of Cuba talks to reporters about his successful Cuban revolution to ouster Dictator Batista at a press conference in his suite at the Hotel New Yorker on April 22, 1959 in New York City. (Photo Courtesy - Getty Images)
3. In Havana in 1962
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Fidel Castro announces general mobilisation after the announcement of Cuba blockade by US President John F Kennedy, in Havana, on October 29, 1962. (Photo Courtesy - Getty Images)
4. Cuban President Fidel Castro with Iraqi VP Saddam Hussein in 1979
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Iraqi vice-president Saddam Hussein (C), stands with Cuban President Fidel Castro (L) and Defense minister General Raul Castro (R), January 30, 1979 in Havana, during his visit to Cuba. (Photo Courtesy - Getty Images)
5. Cuban president Fidel Castro delivers speech in 1989
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This file photo taken on January 8, 1989 shows a white dove landing on Cuban president Fidel Castro's shoulder as he delivers a speech to Cuban youth at a ceremony to commemorate the 30th Anniversary of the Cuban Revolution in Havana. (Photo Courtesy - AFP)
6. Fidel Castro and Nelson Mandela in 1991
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Fidel Castro (R) and Nelson Mandela attend the anniversary of Moncada barracks attack on July 26, 1991 in Matanzas, Cuba. (Photo Courtesy - Getty Images)
7. Post brother Raul Castro's election in 2011
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Cuba's Revolution leader Fidel Castro listens to a speech during the closing session of the 6th Party Congress after his brother Raul Castro had been officially elected as Fidel Castro's successor as head of Cuba's ruling communist Party PCC in the Palacio de las Convenciones on April 19, 2011 in Havana, Cuba. (Photo Courtesy - Getty Images)
8. Castro makes a rare public appearance in 2014
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Fidel Castro, Cuba's former President and revolutionary leader, makes a rare public appearance to attend the inauguration of an art gallery on January 8, 2014 in Havana, Cuba. Castro, who ceded power to his brother Raul Castro in 2008 after falling ill in 2006, has last been seen in public in February 2013 at a National Assembly meeting. (Photo Courtesy - Getty Images)
9. 'Fidel is Cuba, the CDR unites us'
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A woman walks past a poster with an image of Cuba's former President Fidel Castro and the writing reading "Fidel is Cuba, the CDR (Committee of the Defence of the Revolution) unites us", after his death was announced in Havana, Cuba, November 26, 2016. (Photo Courtesy - Reuters)
