Fidel Castro ruled Cuba as a one party state for almost half a century.

As communist regimes collapsed across the world, Castro kept the red flag flying right on the doorstep of his greatest enemy, the United States.

A divisive figure his supporters praised him as a champion of socialism, the soldier-politician who had given Cuba back to the people.

But he faced accusations of brutally suppressing opposition and pursuing policies that crippled the Cuban economy.

Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz was born on 13 August 1926, the illegitimate son of a wealthy farmer, Angel María Bautista Castro y Argiz, who had emigrated to Cuba from Spain

Batista (l) enjoyed US support

His mother, Lina Ruz González was a farm servant who became his father's mistress, and later, after Fidel's birth, his wife.

Castro attended Catholic schools in Santiago before going on to the Jesuit-run El Colegio de Belen in Havana.

However, he failed to excel academically, preferring to spend his time in sporting activities.

It was while studying law at Havana University in the mid-1940s that he became a political activist, honing his skills as a passionate public speaker.

Marxism

His targets included the Cuban government, led by the president Ramon Grau, which was mired in accusations of corruption.

Violent protests became the order of the day and Castro found himself targeted by the police.

He also became part of a plot to overthrow Rafael Trujillo, the right-wing leader of the Dominican Republic but the attempt was thwarted after US intervention.

Castro was arrested after an unsuccessful raid on the Moncada Garrison in 1953

In 1948 Castro married Mirta Diaz-Balart, the daughter of a wealthy Cuban politician. Far from encouraging him to join the country's elite, he turned increasingly to Marxism.

He believed Cuba's economic problems were a result of unbridled capitalism that could only be solved by a people's revolution.

After graduating Castro set up a legal practice but it failed to prosper and he was continually in debt. He remained a political activist, taking part in a series of often violent demonstrations.

In 1952 Fulgencio Batista launched a military coup which overthrew the government of the Cuban president, Carlos Prío.

Attack

Batista's policy of closer ties with the United States and the suppression of socialist organisations ran counter to Castro's fundamental political beliefs.

After legal challenges had failed Castro formed an organisation called The Movement, which worked underground in a bid to overthrow the Batista regime.

Cuba had become a haven for the playboy rich, and was run largely by organised crime syndicates. Prostitution, gambling and drug trafficking were endemic.

Castro (l) with Che Guevara during his guerrilla campaign

In July 1953 Castro planned an attack on the Moncada army barracks near Santiago in order to seize weapons for use in an armed uprising.

The attack failed and many revolutionaries were killed or captured. Castro was one of a number of prisoners who went on trial in Sep 1953.

Castro used his court appearance to expose atrocities committed by the army which further raised his profile, particularly among members of the foreign press who were allowed to attend the hearing.

Guerrilla warfare

He was sentenced to 15 years in prison. In the event he was released in a general amnesty in May 1955 having served just 19 months in relatively comfortable conditions.

During his short time in prison he divorced his wife and immersed himself in Marxist texts.

As Batista continued to crack down on his opponents, Castro fled to Mexico to avoid being arrested. There he met a young revolutionary named Ernesto "Che" Guevara.

In November 1956 Castro returned to Cuba with 81 armed companions on board a leaking cabin cruiser designed to carry just 12 people.

Castro's forces entered Havana in 1959

The party took refuge in the Sierra Maestra mountains. From this base Castro launched a two-year guerrilla campaign against the regime in Havana.

On 2 January, 1959, the rebel army entered the Cuban capital and Batista fled.

Hundreds of Batista's former supporters were executed after trials that many foreign observers deemed as less than fair.

Ideology

Castro responded by insisting that "revolutionary justice is not based on legal precepts, but on moral conviction".

The new Cuban government promised to give the land back to the people and to defend the rights of the poor.

But the government quickly imposed a one-party system. Hundreds of people were sent to jail and labour camps as political prisoners. Thousands of mainly middle class Cuban's fled into exile.

Castro clamed he was driven into an alliance with the USSR's Nikita Khrushchev

Castro insisted his ideology was, first and foremost, Cuban.

"There is not communism or Marxism, but representative democracy and social justice in a well-planned economy," he said at the time.

In 1960, Fidel Castro nationalised all US-owned businesses on the island. In response, Washington put Cuba under a trade embargo that was to last into the 21st century.