Fidel Castro (August 13, 1926–November 25, 2016) took control of Cuba by force in 1959 and remained its dictatorial leader for nearly five decades. As the leader of the only communist country in the Western Hemisphere, Castro was long the focus of international controversy.
- Born in April 1981, Michelle Knight was 21 years old when she was kidnapped on August 23, 2002, in Cleveland, Ohio. She was held prisoner by Ariel Castro, suffering abuse at his hands.
- Jul 10, 2018 Father of Janet Bandu who disappeared with Castro four years ago has said Asamoah Gyan knows a lot about his daughter’s ‘death’. He said Asamoah Gyan is refusing to help them find their.
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Fast Facts: Fidel Castro
Perpetrator background. Ariel Castro (July 10, 1960 – September 3, 2013) was born in Duey, Yauco, Puerto Rico, the son of Pedro Castro (1938–2004) and Lillian Rodriguez (born 1942). His parents divorced when he was a child, and he moved to mainland United States with his.
- Known For: President of Cuba, 1959–2008
- Born: August 13, 1926 in the province of Orient, Cuba
- Parents: Ángel Maria Bautista Castro y Argiz and Lina Ruz González
- Died: November 25, 2016 in Havana, Cuba
- Education: Colegio de Dolores in Santiago de Cuba, Colegio de Belén, University of Havana
- Spouse(s): Mirta Diaz-Balart (m. 1948–1955), Dalia Soto del Valle (1980–2016); Partners: Naty Revuelta (1955–1956), Celia Sánchez, others.
- Children: One son Fidel Castro Diaz-Balart (known as Fidelito, 1949–2018) with Diaz-Balart; five sons (Alexis, Alexander, Alejandro, Antonio, and Ángel) with Soto del Valle; one daughter (Alina Fernandez) with Naty Revuelta
Early Life
Fidel Castro was born Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz on August 13, 1926 (some sources say 1927) near his father's farm, Birán, in southeast Cuba in what was then the Oriente Province. Castro's father Ángel Maria Bautista Castro y Argiz came to Cuba from Spain to fight in the Spanish American War and stayed. Ángel Castro prospered as a sugarcane farmer, eventually owning 26,000 acres. Fidel was the third of seven children born to Lina Ruz González, who worked for Ángel Castro as a maid and cook. At the time, the elder Castro was married to Maria Luisa Argota, but that marriage eventually ended and then Ángel and Lina married. Fidel's full siblings were Ramon, Raúl, Angela, Juanita, Emma, and Agustina.
Fidel spent his youngest years on his father's farm, and at the age of 6 he began school at Colegio de Dolores in Santiago de Cuba, transferring to the Colegio de Belén, an exclusive Jesuit high school in Havana.
Becoming a Revolutionary
In 1945, Fidel Castro started work on a law degree at the University of Havana, where he excelled at oratory and quickly became involved in politics.
In 1947, Castro joined the Caribbean Legion, a group of political exiles from Caribbean countries who planned to rid the Caribbean of dictator-led governments. When Castro joined, the Legion was planning to overthrow Generalissimo Rafael Trujillo of the Dominican Republic, but the plan was later canceled because of international pressure.
In 1948, Castro traveled to Bogotá, Colombia with plans to disrupt the Pan-American Union Conference, when country-wide riots broke out in response to the assassination of Jorge Eliecer Gaitán. Castro grabbed a rifle and joined the rioters. While handing out anti-U.S. pamphlets to the crowds, Castro gained first-hand experience of popular uprisings.
After returning to Cuba, Castro married fellow student Mirta Diaz-Balart in October 1948. Castro and Mirta had one child together, Fidel Castro Diaz-Balart (known as Fidelito, 1949–2018).
Castro vs. Batista
In 1950, Castro graduated from law school and began practicing law. Retaining a strong interest in politics, Castro became a candidate for a seat in Cuba's House of Representatives during the election of June 1952. However, before the elections could be held, a successful coup led by General Fulgencio Batista toppled the previous Cuban government, canceling the elections.
From the beginning of Batista's rule, Castro fought against him. At first, Castro took to the courts to try legal means to oust Batista. However, when that failed, Castro began to organize an underground group of rebels.
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Castro Attacks the Moncada Barracks
On the morning of July 26, 1953, Castro, his brother Raúl, and a group of about 160 armed men attacked the second-largest military base in Cuba—the Moncada Barracks in Santiago de Cuba. Confronted with hundreds of trained soldiers at the base, there was little chance that the attack could have succeeded. Sixty of Castro's rebels were killed; Castro and Raúl were captured and then given a trial.
After delivering a speech at his trial which ended with, 'Condemn me. It does not matter. History will absolve me,' Castro was sentenced to 15 years in prison. He was released two years later, in May 1955.
The 26th of July Movement
https://cleversole293.weebly.com/frigidaire-front-load-washer-manual.html. Upon his release, Castro went to Mexico where he spent the next year organizing the '26th of July Movement' (based on the date of the failed Moncada Barracks attack). There he became involved with Naty Revuelta, a Cuban fellow fighter against Batista. Although the affair did not last, Naty and Fidel had a daughter, Alina Fernandez. The affair also ended Fidel's first marriage: Mirta and Fidel were divorced in 1955.
On December 2, 1956, Castro and the rest of the 26th of July Movement rebels landed on Cuban soil with the intention of starting a revolution. Met by heavy Batista defenses, nearly everyone in the Movement was killed, with merely a handful escaping, including Castro, Raúl, and Che Guevara.
For the next two years, Castro continued guerrilla attacks and succeeded in gaining large numbers of volunteers. Using guerrilla warfare tactics, Castro and his supporters attacked Batista's forces, overtaking town after town. Batista quickly lost popular support and suffered numerous defeats. On January 1, 1959, Batista fled Cuba.
Castro Becomes Cuba's Leader
In January, Manuel Urrutia was selected as president of the new government and Castro was placed in charge of the military. However, by July 1959, Castro had effectively taken over as leader of Cuba, which he remained for the next five decades.
During 1959 and 1960, Castro made radical changes in Cuba, including nationalizing industry, collectivizing agriculture, and seizing American-owned businesses and farms. Also during these two years, Castro alienated the United States and established strong ties with the Soviet Union. Castro transformed Cuba into a communist country.
The United States wanted Castro out of power. In one attempt to overthrow Castro, the U.S. sponsored the failed incursion of Cuban-exiles into Cuba in April 1961 (the Bay of Pigs Invasion). Over the years, the U.S. https://cleversole293.weebly.com/blog/file-downloader-for-mac. has made hundreds of attempts to assassinate Castro, all with no success.
Fidel was rumored to have had many partners and illegitimate children over his lifetime. In the 1950s, Fidel began a relationship with the Cuban revolutionary Celia Sánchez Manduley (1920–1980) which lasted until her death. In 1961, Castro met Cuban teacher Dalia Soto del Valle. Castro and Dalia had five children together (Alexis, Alexander, Alejandro, Antonio, and Ángel) and married in 1980, after Sánchez's death. During his presidency, Vilma Espín de Castro, a fellow revolutionary and the wife of Raúl Castro, acted as First Lady.
Cuban Missile Crisis
In 1962, Cuba was the center of world focus when the U.S. discovered the construction sites of Soviet nuclear missiles. The struggle that ensued between the U.S. and the Soviet Union, the Cuban Missile Crisis, brought the world the closest it has ever come to nuclear war.
Over the next four decades, Castro ruled Cuba as a dictator. While some Cubans benefited from Castro's educational and land reforms, others suffered from the food shortages and lack of personal freedoms. Hundreds of thousands of Cubans fled Cuba to live in the United States.
Having relied heavily on Soviet aid and trade, Castro found himself suddenly alone after the downfall of the Soviet Union in 1991; many speculated that Castro would fall as well. Even though the U.S. embargo against Cuba was still in effect and damaging Cuba's economic situation throughout the 1990s, Castro remained in power.
Retirement
In July 2006, Castro announced that he was temporarily handing over power to his brother Raúl while he underwent gastrointestinal surgery. Complications with the surgery caused infections for which Castro underwent several additional surgeries. Rumors of his death appeared frequently in news reports for the next decade, but they were all proven false until 2016.
Still in ill health, Castro announced on February 19, 2008, that he would not seek nor accept another term as president of Cuba, effectively resigning as its leader. The handover of power to Raúl raised more anger among United States officials, who characterized the transfer as the prolonging of a dictatorship. In 2014, President Barack Obama used his executive powers to attempt to normalize diplomatic relations and exchange prisoners with Cuba. But after Obama's visit, Castro publicly denigrated his offer and insisted that Cuba needed nothing from the U.S.
Death and Legacy
Fidel Castro was in power through 10 U.S. presidential administrations, from Eisenhower to Obama, and he sustained personal relationships in Latin America with political leaders such as Hugo Chavez of Venezuela and literary leaders such as the Colombian writer Gabriel Garcia Marquez, whose novel 'The Autumn of the Patriarch' is in part based on Fidel.
Castro made his final public appearance to a congress of the Cuban Communist Party in April 2016. He died of undisclosed causes in Havana on November 25, 2016.
Sources
- Archibold, Randal C. et al. 'Decades in the Making: Fidel Castro's Obituary.' The New York Times, November 29, 2016.
- Arsenault, Chris. 'Obituary: Fidel Castro.' Al Jazeera, November 26, 2018.
- DePalma, Anthony. 'Fidel Castro, Cuban Revolutionary Who Defied U.S., Dies at 90,' The New York Times, November 26, 2016.
- 'Meet Fidel Castro's family: torn by bitterness, rows and dysfunction.' The Telegraph, November 26, 2016.
- Sullivan, Kevin and J.Y. Smith. 'Fidel Castro, revolutionary leader who remade Cuba as a socialist state, dies at 90. The Washington Post, November 26, 2016.
Quick Facts
- Name
- Michelle Knight
- Birth Date
- April, 1981 (age 38)
- Nickname
- Shorty
- Full Name
- Michelle Knight
In 2002, Michelle Knight was kidnapped by Ariel Castro in Cleveland, Ohio. She was held captive and sexually abused by Castro for more than a decade.
Synopsis
Born in April 1981, Michelle Knight was 21 years old when she was kidnapped on August 23, 2002, in Cleveland, Ohio. She was held prisoner by Ariel Castro, suffering abuse at his hands for more than 10 years. After another captive, Amanda Berry, escaped, Knight and a third victim, Gina DeJesus, were rescued in May 2013. The women's harrowing ordeal made the case a media sensation.
Early Life
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Born in April 1981, Michelle Knight grew up in Cleveland, Ohio. As a girl, she wanted to pursue a career as a firefighter, and later aspired to become a veterinarian. Unfortunately, Knight—whose height of 4 feet 7 inches earned her the nickname 'Shorty'—was bullied in high school. At the age of 17, she told her mother that she had been assaulted at school.
Knight dropped out of school after becoming pregnant. She had a son, whom she named Joey. When the boy was a toddler, an injury—possibly caused by an abusive boyfriend of her mother's—led to his being taken away from Knight and placed in foster care.
Kidnapping and Captivity
On August 23, 2002, Knight left her cousin's house and subsequently disappeared. Her family reported her as missing, but most eventually came to believe that Knight, distraught over losing her son and unable to deal with the negative turns her life had taken, had run away on her own. Though her mother continued to post fliers about her daughter, Knight was removed from the FBI's database of missing persons in 2003.
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In fact, Knight had been offered a ride by Ariel Castro on that fateful August day. As she knew one of his daughters, Knight accepted the lift. She then agreed to enter Castro's Cleveland home, located at 2207 Seymour Avenue, when he promised to give her a puppy for her son. Once inside, Knight was restrained and imprisoned. It was the beginning of years of torture.
As a result of the sexual abuse Knight suffered during her time as a prisoner, she reportedly became pregnant five times, but miscarried each time after being starved and beaten by Castro. Two other young women, Amanda Berry and Gina DeJesus, were later abducted by Castro; Knight was forced to deliver the child Berry gave birth to while in captivity. Castro also taunted Knight about the fact that DeJesus and Berry had family members desperate to find them, while no one was looking for her.
Rescue and After
When Castro left his house on May 6, 2013, Berry managed to get to the front door and scream for help, getting the attention of a neighbor. After Berry escaped, she called 911. The authorities who arrived at the scene soon rescued Knight and DeJesus as well. Knight had been held by Castro for more than 10 years.
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After her release, Knight was brought to the hospital; having been severely beaten by Castro, she was left with a loss of vision and nerve damage. Her mother told the press that she hoped to reunite with her daughter, and to introduce Knight to a younger sister who had been born during the time she was captive. However, Knight chose to avoid her family after leaving the hospital.
At Castro's sentencing in August 2013, Knight stated, 'I've got my life back. I spent 11 years in hell. Now your hell is just beginning.' Castro hanged himself in prison on September 3, 2013.
In November 2013, Knight spoke to television host Dr. Phil McGraw about her ordeal. In May 2014, she wrote Finding Me: A Decade of Darkness, a Life Reclaimed: A Memoir of the Cleveland Kidnappings about her experience.
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