Fidel Castro

Dr. Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz (born August 13, 1926) has been the ruler of Cuba since he became Premier on February 16, 1959 and President of the Cuban Republic on December 3, 1976.

Pope John XXIII excommunicated Castro on January 3, 1962. This was consistent with a 1949 decree by Pope Pius XII forbidding catholics from supporting communist governments. For Castro, who had previously renounced catholicism, this was an event of very little consequence, nor was it expected to be. It was however aimed at undermining support for Castro among Catholics. There is little evidence that it did, however.

In October, 1962, the Cuban missile crisis occurred. After the tensions were defused, relations remained mutually hostile, and the CIA continued to sponsor a number of assassination schemes over the following years.

In 1976, Pierre Elliott Trudeau, then Prime Minister of Canada, made one of the first state visits to Havana, Cuba by a Western leader during the height of the American blockade and personally embraced the Cuban leader. Trudeau gave him a $4 million gift, and arranged a loan for another $10 million. In a speech delivered by Trudeau, he said "Long live Prime Minister and Commander-in-Chief Fidel Castro. Long live [the] Cuban-Canadian friendship."

Castro consolidated control of the nation by further nationalizing industry, confiscating property owned by non-Cubans, collectivizing agriculture, and enacting policies to benefit workers. Many Cubans fled the country, some to Miami, Florida, where they established a large, active anti-Castro community. Because of the harsh embargo imposed by the United States, Cuba became increasingly dependent on Soviet subsidies to finance large improvements in Cuba's social conditions. The collapse of the Soviet Union in 1990 brought real economic hardship to Cuba.

Education and health care were made available to all, even those living in the remotest corners of the island. UNESCO statistics confirm that Cuba's rate of basic literacy is now among the highest in Latin America. Forty-four years later even those critical of the country's communist authorities are proud of what their revolution has done for the country's children.

Few Cuban children live on the streets - unlike in many neighbouring countries. Infant mortality rates are the lowest in the region (and slightly lower that those in the United States), health care is excellent and all receive free milk until the age of six. The Cuban media often highlight the contrast between contented Cuban children and their counterparts in Bogotà, Los Angeles or Buenos Aires - dealing in drugs, dragged into prostitution or living in shanty towns.

Castro's leadership of Cuba has remained largely unchallenged, his supporters claim this because the masses -- whose living conditions they believe he improved -- rallied behind him. Castro's opponents believe his continued leadership is due to coercion and repression.

Supporters of Fidel Castro's regime point to Cuba's relatively advanced healthcare and educational systems as a success of his government since it came to power in 1959. Much of the post-revolutionary rebuilding of the country focused on children. Cuban life expectancy as of 2002 is only slightly lower than the USA's.

Critics of Castro's regime, however, believe that these advances were made possible only because of generous subsidies from the former Soviet Union and that now these subsidies have gone Cuba's economy is now in serious trouble. Additionally, critics suggest that Cuba's communist economic system also have contributed to Cuba's economic problems.

Supporters, however, point out that Cuba is subject to harsh American-led economic sanctions which they claim is the main reason for Cuba's economic troubles.

Critics also point to Cuba's human rights record and point out that many opponents of Castro's regime are imprisoned. And they also point to censorship, the lack of press freedom in Cuba, the lack of civil rights and the inability for a vote to result in someone other than Castro leading Cuba. Supporters reply that Cuba's human rights record is significantly better than many other countries in the Caribbean/Latin America region.