Castro

Castro began his political life with nationalist critiques of Batista, and of United States political and corporate influence in Cuba. He gained an ardent, but limited, following and also drew the attention of the authorities.[6] He eventually led the failed 1953 attack on the Moncada Barracks, after which he was captured, tried, incarcerated and later released. He then travelled to Mexico[7][8] to organize and train for the guerrilla invasion of Cuba that took place in December 1956.

Castro's legacy is controversial. Detractors characterize Castro as a dictator who did not rise to power through open elections. His regime has often been criticized for tightly controlling the media, including the internet,[9] and for systematically persecuting Christianity[10] by forbidding church construction and restricting print, radio, and television content that references Christianity.[11] For decades Cuba was the only state in the Western hemisphere that did not grant Christmas Day as a public holiday. Cubans are rarely permitted to travel abroad, and never permitted to create political organizations.[12]

Supporters characterize Castro as a charismatic leader[9] whose authority is backed by a quasi-democratic system.[10] Proponents of the Castro regime emphasize the expansion of publicly funded health care and education under his tenure, contending that Cuba ranks better than many countries on the United Nations' list of countries by infant mortality rate, although critics question the data on which that conclusion is based.[11][12]

Outside of Cuba, Castro has been defined by his relationship with the United States and the former Soviet Union, both of whom courted Cuban attentions as part of their own global political agenda. While Cuba's relations with countries of the Soviet bloc were generally cordial during the Cold War, the Castro-led government has had an antagonistic relationship with the United States since the failed Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba in 1961 by U.S.-backed Cuban exile forces.

Following the collapse of the Soviet Union and Cuba's one major Latin American ally, Sandinista Nicaragua, in the early 1990s, the Cuban government found itself in a precarious spot. However, in recent years, Castro has found new regional allies in Latin America. Regional socialist and nationalist figures such as Hugo Chбvez in Venezuela and Evo Morales in Bolivia have been ready allies.