Who was Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz?

He was a Cuban politician and revolutionary who governed the republic of Cuban during 32 years (1976 to 2008). Under his administration, Cuba became a  one party socialist state; industry and business were nationalized, and  state socialist  reforms implemented throughout society.

He established the first communist state in the Western Hemisphere after leading an overthrow of the military dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista in 1959. He ruled Cuba for nearly five decades, until handing off power to his younger brother Raúl Castro in 2008. During that time, Fidel Castro’s regime was successful in reducing illiteracy, stamping out racism and improving public health care, but was widely criticized for stifling economic and political freedoms. Castro’s Cuba also had a highly antagonistic relationship with the United States–most notably resulting in the Bay of Pigs invasion and the Cuban Missile Crisis. The two nations officially normalized relations in July 2015, ending a trade embargo that had been in place since 1960, when U.S.-owned businesses in Cuba were nationalized without compensation. Castro died on November 25, 2016, at 90. His body will be cremated.