Fidel Alejandro Castro Obituary

Cuban dictator Fidel Castro was born near Birán, Cuba, in 1926. Beginning in 1958 Castro and his forces began a campaign of guerrilla warfare to successfully overthrow Cuban dictator , and Castro became the country's new leader. His communist domestic policies and military and economic relations with the Soviet Union led to strained relations with the United States that culminated in the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis.

He was also responsible for fomenting communist revolutions in other countries around the world. Under Castro, improvements were made to health care and education, while civil liberties were severely eroded with brutal retaliation against those thought to be enemies of the regime. Thousands were killed.

However, the 1991 collapse of communism in the Soviet Union and its negative impact on Cuba's economy led Castro to relax some restrictions over time. Amidst failing health, in 2008 Fidel Castro officially handed over power to his brother Raúl Castro, but still wielded some political influence in Cuba and abroad. Fidel Castro died on November 25, 2016 at the age of 90.http://www.biography.com/people/fidel-castro-9241487#synopsis