Fin de Fidel (End of Fidel) is believed to be the codename of the operation launched by the government under the then President of Cuba, General Fulgencio Batista, in the summer of 1958 to annihilate Fidel Castro and his band of guerrillas that were responsible for ambushes and raids from their outpost in the Sierra Maestra mountains during the Cuban revolution. The operation was a failure and it finally saw the victory of Castro and his revolutionaries by January the next year. So the end for one of the main protagonist of the Cuban revolution instead came only after 48 years that too not through Batista's forces but by life itself at the advanced age of 90. He is known to have survived the now legendary number of 633 assassination attempts on his life by his detractors mostly backed by the CIA.
Fidel Castro is one of those world figures who was debated intensely during his life time with a big divide between his admirers and his detractors. The debate continues today even in his death. His policies at home is adored by many mostly the poor but criticised often loathed by the erstwhile high society of Cuba from the pre revolution days. The news of his death brought gloom all over Cuba but it drew celebrations in Little Havana areas at Miami in the United States where most of the exiles reside. He had such a strong personality that he was loved and reviled by many across the world.
The defeat of the US backed General Batista at the end of the Cuban revolution and aligning of Cuba with the then Soviet regime angered Uncle Sam as it lost its face in the eyes of the world. For the US, a small island nation in its backyard to have the courage to defy the mighty USA was unacceptable. Cuba under Castro was also adamant to ensure that the Cuban brand of communist was not diluted in any way. The Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba in April 1961 against Castro's regime backed by the CIA sponsored paramilitary group also failed. Then it was again aggravated further by the missile crises in 1962, now known as the Cuban Missile Crises. During this crises Cuba under Castro was also made the main theatre of the Cold War by the then two superpowers, the USA and the USSR that nearly saw the world on the brink of nuclear war. Thereafter the bilateral relations between the two countries nosedived only to be partly restored after nearly 50 years. There are still many scholars and historians who claim that Castro was forced to choose Marxist-Leninist and align with the USSR, a declaration he made just few days before the Bay of Pigs invasion. The reason being Cuba was squeezed to a corner by the United States.
The embargo enforced by the United States aimed at forcing Fidel Castro to step down or to initiate more democratic reforms in Cuba went unheard but it did hurt the economy of Cuba. In spite of the poor economy Castro was able to steer the country with advancement in Education and Medicine; Cuba has the highest per capita doctors in the world. He then went on to outlast nine US presidents and died during the tenth when the eleventh was already elected. In later life after making way for his brother to be the President of Cuba, he made a strong appeal against nuclear weapons and all conventional weapons that make war and kill innocents. One may love him or hate him, and his statement 'history will absolve me' may or may not come true but his ideas, words and deeds will live for a long time to come.
