|
Timeline of Fidel Castro's life
19/02/2008 12:27 - (SA)
|
|
|
 |
|
| Cuban President Fidel Castro is seen in Havana in this 2004 file photo. (Cristobal Herrera, AP file) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Key events in the life of Cuban President Fidel Castro, who stepped aside on Tuesday after almost 50 years in power.
August 13, 1926: Castro is born in Biran, southeastern Cuba, the third of seven children.
1947: Joins a failed coup attempt against Dominican dictator Rafael Trujillo.
October 12, 1948: Marries Mirta Diaz-Balart. They spend their honeymoon in the United States.
1949: His first son, Fidelito, is born. Under death threats from rival politicians, he moves to New York for a time.
1950: Graduates from University of Havana with a doctorate in law.
1952: Fulgencio Batista takes power in a coup, sparking protests from Castro, who goes underground with his anti-government activities.
1953: Leads a failed attack on Santiago de Cuba's Moncada military barracks. Castro is arrested and dozens of his men are jailed.
1954: Files for divorce from Mirta.
May 15, 1955: Gets out of jail under amnesty and establishes the July 26 Movement.
July 7, 1955: Flees to Mexico where he meets Argentine revolutionary Ernesto "Che" Guevara and Maria Laborde, who would give birth to Castro's son Jorge Angel.
March 3, 1956: Daughter Alina Fernandez Revuelta is born. The mother is Naty Revuelta.
December 2, 1956: Lands in southeastern Cuba on the ship Granma with 81 fighters and launches a 25-month-long military campaign in the Sierra Maestra mountains.
February 16, 1957: Meets Celia Sanchez, who becomes his main lifetime partner and right-hand aide until her death in 1980.
January 1, 1959: Batista flees the country. Castro makes a victorious entry into Havana on January 8 and is appointed prime minister in February.
March 10, 1959: Foils a US assassination plot against him.
April 15-27, 1959: Meets US Vice-President Richard Nixon in the United States.
1960: Establishes diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union.
1961: The United States severs diplomatic relations with Cuba. Castro meets Dalia Soto del Valle, with whom he has five children.
April 17-19, 1961: Defeats 1 400 anti-Castro fighters in the US-backed Bay of Pigs invasion.
October 1962: The Soviet Union deploys missiles in Cuban waters but eventually agrees to withdraw them in exchange for guarantees the United States would not invade Cuba.
April 1963: Castro makes his first visit to the Soviet Union.
October 15, 1967: Castro announces that "Che" Guevara was killed in Bolivia.
1975: Sends troops to help Angola independence fighters.
1979: Hosts non-aligned movement summit and becomes its president until 1982.
1980: Gives green light to refugee exodus of 125 000 on the so-called Mariel boatlift to the United States.
1985: Stops smoking his cherished Cohiba cigars.
1988: Criticises Mikhail Gorbachev's perestroika in the Soviet Union.
1990: Cuba plunges into extreme economic difficulties following the collapse of the Soviet Union.
1995: Castro visits China for the first time.
1998: Welcomes Pope John Paul II on his historic visit to Cuba.
1999: Launches a successful campaign for the return of six-year-old Cuban shipwreck survivor Elian Gonzalez from Florida.
June 23, 2001: Passes out during a public event in Havana.
March 2003: Orders the arrest of 75 opposition leaders.
October 20, 2004: Falls while giving a speech in Santa Clara, injuring his left knee and right arm.
April 2005: Signs an alliance with Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez, whose country's oil is key to keeping Cuba's economy afloat.
July 31, 2006: Temporarily transfers power to his brother, defence chief Raul Castro, 75, after what a statement attributed to him called delicate intestinal surgery.
Late November-December 3, 2006: Fails to appear during celebrations for his 80th birthday and the 50th anniversary of the landing of the Granma.
February 19, 2008: Castro relinquishes power in a message, writing: "I neither will aspire to nor will I accept the position of president of the council of state and commander in chief."
|
