Goodbye comrade: Ten pictures that define Fidel Castro

Havana: Fidel Castro, the communist revolutionary who presided over Cuba for nearly half a century, died at the age of 90 on November 25 this year. 

Dec 18, 2016, 18:32 PM IST

Havana: Fidel Castro, the communist revolutionary who presided over Cuba for nearly half a century, died at the age of 90 on November 25 this year. 

Fidel was a Cuban politician and revolutionary who governed the Republic of Cuba as Prime Minister from 1959 to 1976 and then as President from 1976 to 2008. 

For fifty years, Castro captured the American political imagination as the face of communism in Cuba. Under his administration, Cuba became a one-party socialist state; industry and business were nationalized, and state socialist reforms were implemented throughout society.

According to the Cuba government, he survived at least 634 assassination plots, allegedly orchestrated by the US government.
 

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At presidential palace in Havana

At presidential palace in Havana

Fidel Castro exhales cigar smoke during an interview at his presidential palace in Havana, March 1985. 

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Fidel Castro with brother and Cuban president

Fidel Castro with brother and Cuban president

Raul Castro, in white, acts as a chauffeur for his brother, Fidel, in a passenger seat, 1964.

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Fidel Castro with his command staff in a secret jungle hideout, 1958. 

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With Argentine revolutionary Che Guevara

With Argentine revolutionary Che Guevara

Cuban revolutionary Fidel Castro (left) lights his cigar while Argentine revolutionary Che Guevara looks on in the early days of their guerrilla campaign in the Sierra Maestra Mountains of Cuba, circa 1956. Castro wears a military uniform while Guevara wears fatigues and a beret. 

 

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The Cuban leader while speaking to tobacco workers

The Cuban leader while speaking to tobacco workers

Fidel Castro speaks to tobacco workers for whom he founded a new workers' town in Pinar del Rio, Cuba, 1960.

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Fidel Castro at the Town Square of Camaguey

Fidel Castro at the Town Square of Camaguey

Cuban leader Fidel Castro speaks to the people of Santa Clara at the Town Square of Camaguey, 1959. 

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On victorious march to Havana

On victorious march to Havana

Rebel leader Fidel Castro waves to a cheering crowd on the victorious march to Havana after ousting dictator Fulgencio Batista. 

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On a trip to New York City

On a trip to New York City

Cuban President Fidel Castro entertains a group of people at a dinner table in Harlem during a trip to New York City, as the press takes photographs in the background, 1959. 

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Fidel Castro with Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev

Fidel Castro with Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev

At the height of the Soviet-Cuban cooperation, Nikita Khrushchev welcomes Cuban President Fidel Castro at the podium of the Kremlin in front of the Red Square in Moscow, 1961. 

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Fidel Castro meets Pope Francis at Cuban leader's residence

Fidel Castro meets Pope Francis at Cuban leader's residence

Pope Francis and Fidel Castro embrace hands at a 40-minute meeting at Castro's residence during the pontiff's trip to Havana in 2015. The meeting between Francis and Castro at the time was described by the Vatican as 'friendly and informal,' with the two swapping books about religion and talking about “the common problems of humanity,” including environmental degradation.

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