After sweeping to power in a communist uprising in 1959, Castro served as prime minister or president of the Caribbean island state for nearly 50 years, surviving a U.S.-backed military invasion, 10 U.S. presidents, U.S. economic sanctions, diplomatic isolation, and the demise of his chief Soviet sponsor. He also played a central role in bringing the world to the brink of nuclear war during the Cuban missile crisis.
Fidel Castro (1926-2016) -- A Life In Pictures
Fidel Castro, the man who led Cuba for nearly five decades, has died at the age of 90.
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Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez pays a visit to an ailing Castro in Havana in September 2006. Despite his failing health, the Cuban leader outlived Chavez, who died of complications from cancer in 2013.
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Holding a Cuban flag, Castro listens to a speaker during the May Day parade in Havana's Revolution Square in 2005.
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A frail-looking Fidel Castro at the Cuban Communist Party congress in Havana earlier this year.
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Cuba's current president, Raul Castro, announces the death of his brother, Fidel, on state television on November 26.