[kas-troh; Sp. kahs-traw] 
| 1. | Ci⋅pri⋅a⋅no [sip-ree-ah-noh; Sp. see-pree-ah-naw] , 1858?–1924, Venezuelan military and political leader: president 1901–08; exiled 1908. |
| 2. | Fidel [fi-del; Sp. fee-th el] , (Fidel Castro Ruz), born 1927, Cuban revolutionary and political leader: prime minister 1959–76 and president since 1976. |
| Castro, Fidel Born 1931. Cuban revolutionary leader who overthrew the regime of the dictator Fulgencio Batista in 1959 and soon after established a Communist state. He was Cuba's prime minister from 1959 until 1976, when he became president of the government and First Secretary of the Communist Party. In declining health he passed de facto control of the government to his younger brother Raúl in 2007 and officially retired in 2008. |
A Cuban political leader of the twentieth century. He led the revolution that in 1959 overthrew the dictator of Cuba, who had the support of the United States. Castro then presided over his country's transformation into a communist state. His beard and frequent wearing of combat uniforms have given him a distinctive appearance among heads of national governments. (See Cuban missile crisis.)