1926-08-13 Birán, Cuba
Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz (13 August 1926 – 25 November 2016) was a Cuban revolutionary and politician who served as Prime Minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976 and President from 1976 to 2008. Ideologically a Marxist–Leninist and Cuban nationalist, he also served as the First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba from 1961 until 2011. Under his administration, Cuba became a one-party communist state; industry and business were nationalized, and state socialist reforms were implemented throughout society. Born in Birán, Oriente, the son of a wealthy Spanish farmer, Castro adopted leftist and anti-imperialist ideas while studying law at the University of Havana. After participating in rebellions against right-wing governments in the Dominican Republic and Colombia, he planned the overthrow of Cuban President Fulgencio Batista, launching a failed attack on the Moncada Barracks in 1953. After a year's imprisonment, Castro traveled to Mexico where he formed a revolutionary group, the 26th of July Movement, with his brother Raúl Castro and Ernesto "Che" Guevara. Returning to Cuba, Castro took a key role in the Cuban Revolution by leading the Movement in a guerrilla war against Batista's forces from the Sierra Maestra. After Batista's overthrow in 1959, Castro assumed military and political power as Cuba's Prime Minister. The United States came to oppose Castro's government and unsuccessfully attempted to remove him by assassination, economic blockade, and counter-revolution, including the Bay of Pigs Invasion of 1961. Countering these threats, Castro aligned with the Soviet Union and allowed the Soviets to place nuclear weapons in Cuba, resulting in the Cuban Missile Crisis – a defining incident of the Cold War – in 1962. Adopting a Marxist–Leninist model of development, Castro converted Cuba into a one-party, socialist state under Communist Party rule, the first in the Western Hemisphere. Policies introducing central economic planning and expanding healthcare and education were accompanied by state control of the press and the suppression of internal dissent. Abroad, Castro supported anti-imperialist revolutionary groups, backing the establishment of Marxist governments in Chile, Nicaragua, and Grenada, as well as sending troops to aid allies in the Yom Kippur, Ogaden, and Angolan Civil War. These actions, coupled with Castro's leadership of the Non-Aligned Movement from 1979 to 1983 and Cuba's medical internationalism, increased Cuba's profile on the world stage. Following the Soviet Union's dissolution in 1991, Castro led Cuba through the economic downturn of the "Special Period", embracing environmentalist and anti-globalization ideas. In the 2000s, Castro forged alliances in the Latin American "pink tide" – namely with Hugo Chávez's Venezuela – and formed the Bolivarian Alliance for the Americas. In 2006, Castro transferred his responsibilities to Vice President Raúl Castro, who was elected to the presidency by the National Assembly in 2008. Description above from the Wikipedia article Fidel Castro, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
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Nostalgia for the Future | Himself (Archive Footage) | 2026-05-18 |
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Revolution's Daughter | Self (archive footage) | 2026-04-10 |
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Germán Araújo | Himself (archival footage) | 2025-10-30 |
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JFK Assassination: A New Perspective | Self (Archive Footage) | 2025-09-08 |
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Dronningen og statsministrene - i al fortrolighed | Sig selv (arkiv) | 2024-01-13 |
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Soundtrack to a Coup d'Etat | Self (archive footage) | 2024-09-11 |
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Suite tortilla nro. 59: Las mujeres del celuloide | Self (Voice) | 2024-03-03 |
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Mário | 2024-01-25 | |
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El caso Padilla | Self (archive footage) | 2023-06-02 |
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Rat Pack | Self (archive footage) | 2022-01-11 |
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Andança: Os Encontros e as Memórias de Beth Carvalho | Self (archive footage) | 2022-10-06 |
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Summer of Soul (...Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised) | Self (archive footage) | 2021-07-02 |
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Becoming Cousteau | Self (archive footage) | 2021-10-22 |
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История одной командировки | Self (archive footage) | 2021-08-28 |
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537 Votes | Self (archive footage) | 2020-10-21 |
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Wasp Network | Self (archive footage) | 2020-01-29 |
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Chop Chop Chang: Operation C.H.I.M.P | Self (archive footage) | 2019-01-11 |
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Amérique latine, l'année de tous les dangers | Self (archive footage) | 2019-03-15 |
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Laboratory Greece | Self (archive footage) | 2019-12-08 |
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ReMastered: Massacre at the Stadium | Self (archive footage) | 2019-01-11 |
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Another Day of Life | Himself (archive footage) | 2018-10-26 |
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Karl Marx und seine Erben | Self (archive footage) | 2018-04-28 |
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Chavismo: La peste del siglo XXI | Self (archive footage) | 2018-06-15 |
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Cuba, un aller et un retour | Himself (archive footage) | 2018-12-31 |
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El Che | Self (archive footage) | 2017-09-01 |
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Che Guevara, naissance d'un mythe | 2017-10-08 | |
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Angola: The War | Himself - President of Cuba (archive footage) | 2017-06-01 |
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Nadie | Himself | 2017-01-13 |
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Cuba and the Cameraman | Self | 2017-09-08 |
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Two Meetings and a Funeral | 2017-06-07 | |
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Elián | himself | 2017-04-21 |
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Franco i Fidel, una amistat incòmoda | Himself | 2016-12-07 |
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Alger, la Mecque des Révolutionnaires (1962-1974) | Self | 2016-01-01 |
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Attentate auf Franco - Widerstand gegen einen Diktator | Self | 2016-11-25 |
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Fidel Castro: America's Nemesis | Himself (Archive Footage) | 2016-11-28 |
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Historien ska frikänna mig | Self | 2016-12-31 |
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Fidel Castro en la Mira | Himself (archive footage) | 2015-10-22 |
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Celia - la más hermosa flor | 2015-10-10 | |
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Laissez-faire | Self (archive footage) | 2015-01-30 |
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Lee Harvey Oswald: 48 Hours to Live | Self (archive footage) | 2013-01-01 |
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7 días en La Habana | Self (segment "Diary of a Beginner") (archive footage) | 2012-04-05 |
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Castro in Winter | Self | 2012-02-03 |
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El Alcalde | 2012-08-18 | |
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Ethel | Self (archive footage) | 2012-01-20 |
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O Dia Que Durou 21 Anos | Self (archive footage) | 2012-09-30 |
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Palme | Self (archive footage) | 2012-09-14 |
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The Man Who Saved the World | Self (archive footage) | 2012-10-22 |
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Cuba, Batista et la mafia | Fidel Castro | 2012-12-23 |
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Memorias del Desarrollo | Self (archive footage) | 2011-11-26 |
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El día más largo | 2011-01-01 | |
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Santiago Files | Self (archive footage) | 2011-09-23 |
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La independencia inconclusa | Self (archive footage) | 2010-01-05 |
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CUBA: Defending Socialism, Resisting Imperialism | Himself | 2010-06-11 |
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Memória Cubana | Self (archive footage) | 2010-09-27 |
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Dans la peau de Fidel Castro | Himself (archive footage) | 2010-01-19 |
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Did the Mob Kill JFK? | Self (archive footage) | 2009-11-22 |
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South of the Border | Self (archive footage) | 2009-09-07 |
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Året var 1958 | Self (archive footage) | 2008-01-06 |
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RFK Must Die: The Assassination of Bobby Kennedy | Self (archive footage) | 2007-11-20 |
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Un Giorno con Fidel | Himself | 2007-01-01 |
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Oswald's Ghost | Self (archive footage) | 2007-07-14 |
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The War on Democracy | Self (archive footage) | 2007-06-15 |
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Tasmanian Devil: The Fast and Furious Life of Errol Flynn | Self (archive footage) | 2007-10-17 |
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Lejos de la isla | Himself (archive footage) | 2007-01-25 |
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Looking for Fidel | Himself | 2006-06-19 |
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Cuba, el valor de una utopía | Himself | 2006-12-01 |
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638 Ways to Kill Castro | Self (archive footage) | 2006-11-28 |
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Soy Cuba, o mamute Siberiano | Self (archive footage) | 2005-09-16 |
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The Adventures of Errol Flynn | Self (archive footage) | 2005-04-05 |
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Kordavision: The man who shot Che Guevara | 2005-04-27 | |
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Looking for Fidel | Self | 2004-04-14 |
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el moro | Self | 2004-01-01 |
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Fidel Castro. Ewiger Revolutionär | Self | 2004-04-26 |
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Salvador Allende | Self (archive footage) | 2004-09-08 |
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Jack Paar: Smart Television | Self | 2003-11-29 |
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The Fog of War | Self (archive footage) (uncredited) | 2003-10-26 |
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Che Guevara - Hasta La Victoria Siempre | 2003-01-01 | |
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Surplus: Terrorized Into Being Consumers | Self | 2003-11-21 |
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Comandante | Self | 2003-02-14 |
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Balseros | Self (archive footage) | 2002-04-12 |
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Reel Radicals: The Sixties Revolution in Film | Self (archive footage) (uncredited) | 2002-04-02 |
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Naqoyqatsi | Self (archive footage) (uncredited) | 2002-09-02 |
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El juego de Cuba | Himself (footage) | 2001-11-23 |
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Lieber Fidel - Maritas Geschichte | Self (archive footage) | 2001-11-14 |
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Kubánske otázniky | archívne zábery | 2000-08-01 |
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The Secret KGB JFK Assassination Files | Self (archive footage) | 1999-01-01 |
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Soviet Union: The Rise and Fall - Part 2 | Self (archive footage) | 1996-02-20 |
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Ernesto Che Guevara - Uomo, Compagno, Amico | 1995-01-01 | |
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8A | Self | 1993-01-01 |
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The JFK Conspiracy | Self | 1992-04-15 |
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Portrait of Castro's Cuba | Himself | 1991-04-07 |
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Tribulation 99: Alien Anomalies Under America | Self(archive footage) | 1991-12-07 |
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JFK | Self (archive footage) | 1991-12-20 |
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Cuba 30 Anni Dopo | Himself | 1990-01-01 |
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Hồ Chí Minh - Chân dung một con người | Self (archival footage) | 1990-05-19 |
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The Uncompromising Revolution | Self | 1988-01-01 |
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American Expose: Who Murdered JFK? | Self (archive footage) | 1988-11-02 |
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Fidel Racconta il Che | Himself | 1987-01-01 |
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Brascuba | Self (archive footage) | 1987-06-25 |
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Parlez-moi du Che | Self | 1987-06-01 |
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La guerra de la CIA contra Cuba | 1987-01-11 | |
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Cuba: In the Shadow of Doubt | 1986-06-21 | |
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Acta General de Chile | 1986-09-13 | |
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Тревога. Раздумья старого человека | Self (archive footage) | 1984-01-01 |
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Mauvaise Conduite | Self - Politician (archive footage) | 1984-03-21 |
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Che, Hoy y Siempre | Fidel Castro | 1983-01-01 |
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James Bond: The First 21 Years | Self (archive footage) | 1983-05-27 |
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La guerra necesaria | Himself | 1980-01-01 |
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On Company Business | Self - Prime Minister of Cuba (archive footage) | 1980-04-14 |
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A propósito de nuestra historia | Archive | 1980-01-01 |
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Mission Mind Control | Self (archive footage) | 1979-01-30 |
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The CIA's Secret Army | Self | 1977-06-10 |
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Mi hermano Fidel | Self | 1977-01-01 |
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Le fond de l'air est rouge | Self (archive footage) (uncredited) | 1977-11-23 |
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Waiting for Fidel | Self | 1975-11-14 |
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La Société du spectacle | Self (archive footage) | 1974-05-01 |
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Général Idi Amin Dada: Autoportrait | Himself (archive footage) (uncredited) | 1974-05-29 |
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Cuba and Fidel | Self | 1974-01-01 |
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...Y el cielo fue tomado por asalto | Self | 1973-01-01 |
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Chile, el gran desafío | Self | 1973-03-10 |
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Venceremos, solidaridad | Self (archive footage) | 1973-12-31 |
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El Diálogo de América | Él mismo | 1972-06-01 |
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El primer año | Self | 1972-07-31 |
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La Explotación del Hombre por el Hombre | Self | 1972-10-18 |
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De América soy hijo... y a ella me debo | Él mismo | 1972-01-02 |
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Compromiso con Chile | 1972-09-01 | |
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Fidel | Self | 1971-06-25 |
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La bataille des dix millions | 1971-01-01 | |
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On vous parle du Brésil : Carlos Marighella | Himself (archive footage) | 1970-10-20 |
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Topaz | Self (archive footage) | 1969-12-17 |
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La hora de los hornos | Self (archive footage) | 1968-09-30 |
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World in Action: End of a Revolution | 1967-12-11 | |
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Loin du Vietnam | Self (segment "Fidel Castro") | 1967-10-18 |
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Salut les Cubains | Self (uncredited) | 1963-11-26 |
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Muerte al invasor | Self (archive footage) | 1962-07-25 |
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Пылающий остров | Self | 1961-01-01 |
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¡Cuba Sí! | Self - Cuban Politician (uncredited) | 1961-12-31 |
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ABC Close-Up: Yanki, No! | Self | 1960-07-07 |
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Asamblea general | Fidel Castro | 1960-07-01 |
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Cuban Rebel Girls | Self (uncredited) | 1959-12-25 |
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Attack on the Americas | Himself | |
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Fidel Castro no Rio de Janeiro, 1959 |
