On this day in 1959, Fidel Castro was sworn in as Prime Minister of Cuba. Castro led a guerrilla campaign that forced right-wing dictator Fulgencio Batista into exile.

Castro. A Brief Bio. Castro was born in eastern Cuba, the son of a Spanish immigrant who had made a fortune building rail systems to transport sugar cane. He was a star athlete in high school and studied law at the University of Havana.

• He became a lawyer, and a member of the Ortodoxo Party, a social-democrat party.
• He was critical of the government of Fulgencio Batista.
• He became involved in revolutionary politics when he was a student.
  

Revolutionary Path.

• In 1947, he took part in an unsuccessful attempt by Dominican exiles and Cubans to overthrow Dominican dictator Rafael Trujillo.
  
• In 1948, he took part in urban riots in Bogotá, Colombia.
  
• In 1951, he ran for a seat in the Cuban House of Representatives as a member of the reformist Ortodoxo Party. General Batista seized power in a bloodless coup d'etat before the election could be held.
  

Opposition to Batista. Several groups formed to oppose Batista's dictatorship.

• In 1953, Castro led rebels in an attack on the Moncada Barracks in Santiago de Cuba, a large Cuban military base.
• His goal: to seize weapons and announce his revolution from the base radio station.
  

Results. The barracks were heavily defended; many of Castro's men were captured or killed. Castro was arrested and put on trial for conspiring to overthrow the Cuban government. Castro argued that he and his rebels were fighting to restore democracy to Cuba. He was found guilty and sentenced to 15 years in prison.

What He Said. Condemn me. It does not matter. History will absolve me.

Amnesty. Two years later, Batista was feeling sufficiently in control to grant a general amnesty for all political prisoners, including Castro. This proved to be Batista's downfall.

What Castro Did. Castro went to Mexico with his brother Raúl. There they organized the revolutionary 26th of July Movement. They enlisted recruits and joined up with Ernesto "Che" Guevara, who was a Marxist from Argentina.

Armed and Dangerous. On December 2, 1956, Castro and 81 armed guerrillas landed on the coast of Cuba. Almost all were killed or captured. Castro, Raúl, Che, and nine others slipped away and hid in the Sierra Maestra mountain range. From there, they waged guerrilla warfare against the Batista government.

The Movement Grows. Revolutionary volunteers from all over Cuba joined the rebels. Castro, who promised land reform, had the support of the peasants. Batista, on the other hand, received aid from the US. He bombed suspected revolutionary positions.

And Grows. By mid-1958, more Cuban groups were opposing Batista. The US cut off military aid to his regime. That December, when the 26th of July forces under Che Guevara attacked the city of Santa Clara, Batista's forces crumbled.

New Year's Revolution? On January 1 of 1959, Batista fled to the Dominican Republic. Castro, with less than 1,000 fighters, took control of the Cuban government's 30,000-man army.

On This Day in 1959... he was sworn in as Prime Minister.

Recognition? The United States initially recognized the new Cuban dictator. However, US support was withdrawn after Castro began his land reform, nationalized all US property on the island, and declared a Marxist government. Because of the Marxist government, many of Cuba's wealthy fled to the United States. There they joined the CIA in its attempts to overthrow Castro's regime.