A tribute to Fidel Castro: ‘¡Venceremos!’ (‘We will win!’)

By Monica Moorehead

August 13 marks the centennial birthday commemoration of Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz, affectionately known as “Fidel” to hundreds of millions of people around the globe. Fidel was the leader of the 26th of July Movement that eventually defeated the U.S.-backed puppet regime of President Fulgencio Batista in Cuba on Jan. 1, 1959.

It was in early 1961, at the time of a revolutionary victory over a CIA-sponsored invasion at the Bay of Pigs (Playa Girón), that Fidel declared that a “socialist revolution” was made under the noses of the U.S. By the end of the same year, he stated that he was a Marxist-Leninist.

For the next 52 years, from the triumph of the Revolution until his formal resignation in 2008, Fidel was the leader of the Cuban people. He died at the age of 90 on Nov. 25, 2016.

There will be commemorations of every aspect of Fidel’s legacy, not only among the Cuban people, but also on almost every continent, especially within countries in the Global South. And rightfully so! Fidel was more than an individual survivor of hundreds of plots to assassinate him by several U.S. administrations. Fidel’s survival meant in many ways the survival of the Cuban Revolution; that is, Cuba’s independence and sovereignty in a world dominated by imperialist aggression and treachery.

Fidel’s exemplary revolutionary guidance helped Cuba to navigate through difficult times, including the U.S.-led Bay of Pigs invasion, the Cuban Missile Crisis, the collapse of the Soviet Union and loss of Cuba’s main trading partners, and, of course, the ongoing devastating U.S. blockade.

It was Fidel who oriented the Cuban masses that it was necessary to take a step backward to survive during what was referred to as the “special period” in the early 1990s. This period ushered in capitalist reforms, including private investments, where dollars were integrated in certain sectors of the Cuban economy to help keep afloat crucial socialist measures, such as free healthcare and free education.

Looking toward the future

Fidel was also a fierce anti-imperialist internationalist. He encouraged Cuban brigades to travel — especially to other developing countries throughout the Global South — to provide healthcare to underserved populations.

Africa held a special place in Fidel’s heart. He helped to supervise Cuban militias battling side by side with the People’s Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) against invading South African apartheid troops during the Battle of Cuito Cuanavale. Fidel and Nelson Mandela maintained a close personal relationship until Mandela’s death in 2013.

Fidel expressed solidarity in words and deeds with national liberation struggles inside the U.S., despite ongoing hostility from the U.S. government. The late Black Liberation fighter Assata Shakur was granted permanent asylum in Cuba from 1987 until her death in September 2025. Rallies to free Angela Davis were organized throughout Cuba when she was arrested by the FBI on phony charges in 1970 for supporting imprisoned Black Panther Party (BPP) leader, the martyred George Jackson. Fidel also publicly expressed solidarity with another political prisoner and former BPP member, Mumia Abu-Jamal.

This Workers World commentary could go on and on with many other awe-inspiring examples of what Fidel has done to defend the sovereignty of the Cuban people and to promote the interests of all the world’s workers and oppressed peoples. Arguably his greatest gift is what his passing represents: his undying optimism in the revolutionary struggle for worldwide socialism for future generations. And that optimism is embedded deeply within the fabric of Cuban society.

Cuba continues to defend its socialist gains today and beyond despite a devastating oil and gas blockade and the current threat of a U.S. military invasion.

As Fidel repeated time and time again: “¡Venceremos! (We will win!) ”