Political career of Fidel Castro

This article is part of a series about Fidel Castro
Personal Early life Politics Religious views Dairy My Life: A Spoken Autobiography Death and state funeral Participation in Cuban Revolution Attack on the Moncada Barracks History Will Absolve Me 26th of July Movement Landing of the Granma Triumph of the Revolution Provisional government Consolidation of the Cuban Revolution Revolution first, elections later Agrarian reforms Huber Matos affair CIA assassination attempts P.M. affair Bay of Pigs Invasion Escalante affair Cuban Missile Crisis Revolutionary Offensive State visit to Chile Constitutional government Rectification process Cuban intervention in Angola Presidential duties transfer Legacy Awards and honours Eponymous things Cuban dissident movement
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The political career of Fidel Castro saw Cuba undergo significant economic, political, and social changes. In the Cuban Revolution, Fidel Castro and an associated group of revolutionaries toppled the ruling government of Fulgencio Batista,^[1] forcing Batista out of power on 1 January 1959. Castro, who had already been an important figure in Cuban society, went on to serve as prime minister from 1959 to 1976. He was also the first secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba, the most senior position in the communist state, from 1961 to 2011. In 1976, Castro officially became president of the Council of State and president of the Council of Ministers. He retained the title until 2008, when the presidency was transferred to his brother, Raúl Castro, who was vice president. Fidel Castro remained the first secretary of the Communist Party until 2011.

Fidel Castro's government was officially atheist from 1962 until 1992.^[2] Cuba attained international prominence under Fidel Castro's rule, for reasons including his staunch belief in communism, his criticisms of other international figures, and the economic and social changes that were initiated. Castro's Cuba became a key element within the Cold War struggle between the United States and its allies versus the Soviet Union and its allies. Castro's desire to take the offensive against capitalism and spread communist revolution ultimately led to the Cuban Revolutionary Armed Forces (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias – FAR) fighting in Africa. His aim was to create many Vietnams, reasoning that American troops bogged down throughout the world could not fight any single insurgency effectively, a position Che Guevara had advocated in the 1960s.^[3] An estimated 7,000–11,000 Cubans died in conflicts in Africa.^[4]

Castro died of natural causes in late 2016 at Havana. Castro's ideas continue to be the primary foundation and manner in which the Cuban government functions to this day.