Fidel Castro was a leader of Cuba from 1959 until 2006, when he transferred power to his brother Raul. Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz was born in the Oriente Province, Cuba. He became involved in revolutionary politics as a student at the University of Havana in the 1940s. Castro formed an underground organization and attempted to overthrow Cuban dictator Gen. Fulgencio Batista. He was briefly imprisoned in 1953–1955 and then went into exile in Mexico.

Castro returned to lead a successful revolution to overthrow Batista in January 1959. Washington recognized the new regime, but tensions emerged over Castro’s expropriation of land and repression of wealthy Cubans and opponents of the government. Meanwhile, Castro opened relations with the Soviet Union. Successive American efforts to remove the Cuban leader during the Cold War failed. Economic and political sanctions were placed on Cuba following the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, in which the United States and the Soviet Union almost went to war over the deployment of Soviet nuclear weapons on the island.

Throughout the Cold War, Cuba received large subsidies from the Soviet Union, including shipments of food and fuel. With the end of the Cold War, however, Moscow ended support for the regime, resulting in a massive economic downturn in the Cuban economy. The administration of William J. Clinton expanded enforcement of the embargo in 1993 in an effort to force Castro from power. In 1996, Cuban forces downed two civilian aircraft piloted by a Miami-based exile group. In response, Congress enacted new legislation that made aspects of the embargo permanent and repealable only by legislation instead of executive action. Nonetheless, in 1998, restrictions on remittances to Cuba were eased and, in 2000, Congress authorized the sale of U.S. food products to Cuba in the aftermath of Hurricane Michelle. Meanwhile, in 1999, U.S. authorities rescued six-year-old Elian Gonzalez off the coast of Florida after his mother and other relatives died while trying to flee to the United States. Gonzalez became the center of a significant controversy when his birth father, who was still in Cuba, requested his return from relatives in Miami. The Clinton administration raided the home where the child was staying and forcibly returned him to Cuba, provoking significant domestic criticism. In October 2003, the administration of George W. Bush launched a new anti-Castro campaign, which included more rigorous enforcement of travel restrictions and new funding for antiregime propaganda.

Castro sought to allow limited economic reforms, including the legalization of some private enterprises and joint ventures with foreign firms. The Cuban leader also developed a close relationship with Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez, who subsequently provided energy and economic aid to the island. In 2006, Castro became ill and transferred power to his younger brother. The transfer was initially temporary, but Castro’s declining health precluded a return to power.

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