Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz (13 August 1926 - 25 November 2016) was a Cuban revolutionary leader who led his country from January 1959 until February 2008. He took power in an armed revolution that overthrew the dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista, and was shortly thereafter sworn in as the Prime Minister of Cuba. In 1965 he became First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba and led the transformation of Cuba into a one-party socialist republic. In 2008, a very ill Castro officially gave up the office of the presidency, turning power over to his brother Raúl. During his retirement he wrote lengthy essays commenting on the issues of the day, which were published by the state-run newspapers.
Fidel was a citizen of the Confederate state of Cuba.[2] Much more tolerant and favorable to black people than the other Confederate States, Cuba was home to many whites who did not stand idly by while Jake Featherston's men suppressed, and eventually mass-killed their black neighbors. During the Second Great War, Fidel, although only about 16 years old, was respected as a leader of a band of anti-Freedom Party guerrillas. In 1943, he met sailors from the USS Josephus Daniels who delivered American weapons as part of the orders Sam Carsten had to help foment revolution.
