Oxford Dictionary of World History | Castro, Fidel
Castro, Fidel
(
Ruz
Fidel
)
(
1927
–
) Cuban revolutionary and statesman. Son of an immigrant sugar planter, he joined the Cuban People's Party in
1947
and led a revolution in Santiago in
1953
, for which he was imprisoned. His self-defence at this trial, known by its concluding words, History Will Absolve Me, was to become his major policy statement at the time. Exiled in
1955
he went to Mexico and in
1956
landed on the Cuban coast with 82 men, including
Ché
Guevara
, but only 12 men survived the landing. He conducted successful guerrilla operations from the Sierra Maestra mountains and in
December
1958
led a march on Havana. The ruthless and corrupt dictator, General...
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