On 16 February 1959, Fidel Castro was sworn in as Prime Minister of Cuba, just weeks after the overthrow of President Fulgencio Batista. The moment marked a turning point not only for Cuba but for global Cold War politics.
Who was Fidel Castro?
Born in 1926 in Birán, eastern Cuba, Castro trained as a lawyer before becoming a revolutionary activist. He first rose to prominence after leading a failed attack on the Moncada Barracks in 1953, an event that nevertheless made him a symbol of resistance against Batista’s authoritarian regime. After imprisonment and exile in Mexico, Castro returned to Cuba in 1956 aboard the yacht Granma, launching a guerrilla campaign in the Sierra Maestra mountains.
By January 1959, Batista had fled the country, and Castro’s revolutionary forces entered Havana to widespread attention.
What did he do?
As Prime Minister, Castro rapidly transformed Cuba’s political and economic systems:
- Nationalised major industries, banks and foreign-owned businesses
- Implemented sweeping land reforms
- Expanded education and healthcare
- Established a one-party socialist state
His government aligned closely with the Soviet Union, bringing Cuba into direct confrontation with the United States. This tension culminated in events such as the 1961 Bay of Pigs invasion and the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis.
His politics and ideology
Castro identified as a Marxist–Leninist and positioned himself as an anti-imperialist leader. He argued that his revolution freed Cuba from corruption, inequality and foreign exploitation. Critics, however, pointed to restrictions on political freedoms, imprisonment of opponents and limits on free speech.
Cuba under Castro became a centrally planned socialist state, governed by the Communist Party, with little tolerance for political pluralism.
Affiliation with Che Guevara
Castro’s closest revolutionary ally was Che Guevara, the Argentine-born Marxist who joined him in Mexico and fought alongside him in the guerrilla campaign. Guevara became a key figure in the new government before leaving Cuba to support revolutionary movements abroad. Their partnership became one of the most iconic alliances in modern revolutionary history.
Reception at home and abroad
At home, many Cubans initially welcomed Castro as a liberator who had toppled a corrupt dictatorship. His early reforms, particularly in literacy and healthcare, gained strong support.
Internationally, opinion was sharply divided. In much of Latin America and parts of Africa, he was admired as a champion of anti-colonial struggle. In the United States and among Cuban exiles, he was widely condemned as a dictator whose rule drove thousands to flee the island.
His legacy and final years
Castro formally stepped down as Prime Minister in 1976, becoming President under Cuba’s new constitution, and remained the dominant political figure until ill health forced him to transfer power to his brother, Raúl Castro, in 2006. He died in 2016 at the age of 90.
His legacy remains deeply contested. Supporters credit him with improving literacy, healthcare and national sovereignty. Critics argue that his decades-long rule suppressed dissent and left Cuba economically isolated.
Also read: ON THIS DAY: Bay of Pigs invasion begins in Cuba (1961)
