Fidel Castro

Born: 1926-08-13

Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz (13 August 1926 – 25 November 2016) was a Cuban revolutionary and politician who served as 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, Oriente, 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 traveled to Mexico where he formed a revolutionary group, the 26th of July Movement, with his brother Raúl Castro and Ernesto "Che" Guevara. Returning to Cuba, Castro took a key role in the Cuban Revolution by leading the Movement in a guerrilla war against Batista's forces from the Sierra Maestra. After Batista's overthrow in 1959, Castro assumed military and political power as Cuba's Prime Minister. The United States came to oppose Castro's government and unsuccessfully attempted to remove him by assassination, economic blockade, and counter-revolution, including the Bay of Pigs Invasion of 1961. Countering these threats, Castro aligned with the Soviet Union and allowed the Soviets to place nuclear weapons in Cuba, resulting in the Cuban Missile Crisis – a defining incident of the Cold War – in 1962. Adopting a Marxist–Leninist model of development, Castro converted Cuba into a one-party, socialist state under Communist Party rule, the first in the Western Hemisphere. Policies introducing central economic planning and expanding healthcare and education were accompanied by state control of the press and the suppression of internal dissent. Abroad, Castro supported anti-imperialist revolutionary groups, backing the establishment of Marxist governments in Chile, Nicaragua, and Grenada, as well as sending troops to aid allies in the Yom Kippur, Ogaden, and Angolan Civil War. These actions, coupled with Castro's leadership of the Non-Aligned Movement from 1979 to 1983 and Cuba's medical internationalism, increased Cuba's profile on the world stage. Following the Soviet Union's dissolution in 1991, Castro led Cuba through the economic downturn of the "Special Period", embracing environmentalist and anti-globalization ideas. In the 2000s, Castro forged alliances in the Latin American "pink tide" – namely with Hugo Chávez's Venezuela – and formed the Bolivarian Alliance for the Americas. In 2006, Castro transferred his responsibilities to Vice President Raúl Castro, who was elected to the presidency by the National Assembly in 2008. Description above from the Wikipedia article Fidel Castro, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.


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Cuba and the Cameraman

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Oliver Stone spends three days filming with Fidel Castro in Cuba, discussing an array of...

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Salut les Cubains

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Leap of Faith: William Friedkin on The Exorcist

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The Society of the Spectacle

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The Secret KGB JFK Assassination Files

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Far from Vietnam

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In seven different parts, Godard, Ivens, Klein, Lelouch, Marker, Resnais, and Varda show their...

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Yanki No!

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The Mayor

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Improper Conduct

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Castro: The World's Most Watched Man

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Brascuba

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My Brother, Fidel

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The Inconclusive Independence

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Assassinating Franco

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Looking for Fidel

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On Company Business

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Released: 1980-04-14

A controversial three part critical documentary on the history of the CIA.

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Fidel

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Released: 1971-06-25

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8A

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Anxiety. Thoughts of an Old Man

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Chop Chop Chang: Operation C.H.I.M.P

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Released: 1961-12-31

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Fidel Castro: America's Nemesis

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Historien ska frikänna mig

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Released: 1962-07-25

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638 Ways to Kill Castro

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Released: 2006-11-28

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Un Giorno con Fidel

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Released: 2007-01-01

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Waiting for Fidel

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Released: 1975-11-14

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Fidel Castro: Life for the Revolution

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Released: 2004-04-26

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Ernesto Che Guevara - Uomo, Compagno, Amico

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Released: 1995-01-01

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Did the Mob Kill JFK?

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Released: 2009-11-22

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Released: 1971-01-01

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CUBA: Defending Socialism, Resisting Imperialism

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The Necessary War

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Released: 1980-01-01

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Fidel Racconta il Che

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Released: 1987-01-01

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Cuba 30 Anni Dopo

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Released: 1990-01-01

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El Diálogo de América

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Released: 1972-06-01

In November 1971, Salvador Allende and Fidel Castro chat to each other about revolution,...

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Celia - la más hermosa flor

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Released: 2015-10-10

Celia Sánchez Manduley (1920 - 1980) was a Cuban revolutionary, politician, researcher and...

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Angola: The War

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Released: 2017-06-01

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The CIA's War Against Cuba

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Released: 1987-01-11

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Cuba, un aller et un retour

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Released: 2018-12-31

According to the official Cuban version, Fidel Castro died on his bed on November 25, 2016....

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Cuba, el valor de una utopía

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Released: 2006-12-01

Eyewitnesses, including Castro himself, look back on the period of resistance and the toppling...

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I Am a Son of America

as Él mismo
Released: 1972-01-02

Recollections of Fidel Castro's visit to Chile on November, 1971, and of the historical...

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Franco and Fidel: A Strange Friendship

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Released: 2016-12-07

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And Heaven Was Taken by Storm

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Released: 1973-01-01

A chronicle of Fidel Castro's two-month tour of ten East European and African nations in mid-1972.

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Compromiso con Chile

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Released: 1972-09-01

Made by Fernando Balmaceda in 1972, it is a documentary that shows the presence of the State...

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Chile, el gran desafío

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Released: 1973-03-10

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A History of an Assignment

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Released: 2021-08-28

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First aired: 2015-06-24

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First aired: 2011-10-11

Daily interviews discussing the guest's personal lives and national contingency.

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First aired: 1948-06-20

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First aired: 2018-05-23

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First aired: 2021-07-09

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Informe especial

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First aired: 1984-07-06

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First aired: 1999-10-06

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Guerilleros

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First aired: 2015-08-26

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Cuba, la révolution et le monde

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First aired: 2019-11-26

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