Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz (born August 13, 1926) is a Cuban revolutionary leader who was prime minister of Cuba from February 1959 to December 1976 and then president, premier until he officially handed responsibilities to his brother in February 2008.

Castro started his political career at university and was a recognized figure in Cuban politics.^[3] He eventually led the failed 1953 attack on the Moncada Barracks, after which he was captured, tried, incarcerated and later released. He then traveled to Mexico to organize and train for the invasion of Cuba that took place in December 1956.

Castro came to power as a result of the Cuban revolution that overthrew the government of Fulgencio Batista, and shortly thereafter became Prime Minister of Cuba.In 1965 he became First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba and led the transformation of Cuba into a one-partysocialist republic. In 1976 he became President of the Council of State as well as of the Council of Ministers. He also held the supreme military rank of Comandante en Jefe ("Commander in Chief") of the Cuban armed forces.

Following intestinal surgery from an undisclosed digestive illness believed to have been diverticulitis, Castro transferred his responsibilities to the First Vice-President, his younger brother Raúl Castro, on July 31, 2006. On February 19, 2008, five days before his mandate was to expire, he announced he would neither "neither aspire to nor accept the positions of President of the State Council and Commander in Chief".On February 24, 2008, the National Assembly elected Raúl Castro to succeed him as the President of Cuba.^[1] Fidel Castro remains First Secretary of the Communist Party.