Fidel Castro Becomes Cuban Leader

Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz became Prime Minister of Cuba on February 16, 1959 after leading the Cuban Revolution to overthrow the Cuban military leader General Fulgencio Batista. Later Castro became Cuban President after transforming the country into a socialist republic. Castro was born on a sugar plantation in 1926, the illegitimate son of a Spanish immigrant and his servant. He was very bright and studied law at the University of Havana, which is where he first got involved in politics. After nearly 5 decades of power at the helm of the only communist country in the west, Castro's legacy is unclear – by aligning his country towards the Soviet Union and against the US, his country suffered immeasurably when communism collapsed in the 1980s. Since becoming ill in 2006, he has transferred power to his younger brother Raul Castro.