KEY POINTS:
Time appears to be running out for Fidel Castro as he struggles with illness. We look at the beard, the cigars, the interminable speeches, and all the other things that made him a global icon.
ASSASSINATION PLOTS
Attempts made on Castro's life since he came to power in 1959: 638 (according to Fabian Escalante, former Cuban security chief).
Quote attributed to Castro: "If surviving assassination attempts were an Olympic event, I would win the gold medal."
Selected CIA plots:
The exploding cigar. Scientist contaminated Fidel's favourite brand with botulinum toxin, but the cigars were never delivered.
The exploding conch. Exploiting Castro's love of scuba diving, the CIA planned to pack a mollusc with explosives and paint it in bright colours to attract Castro's attention.
The poison wetsuit. Plans to send Castro scuba-diving equipment contaminated with deadly fungi were never followed through.
The LSD. Agents planned to spray Castro's TV studio with the drug in an attempt to induce a humiliating psychedelic episode live on air.
The lover. The CIA recruited a woman who was in a relationship with Castro. Agents gave her poison pills, which she hid in a jar of cream. She aborted the mission when they dissolved, but Castro, who was aware of the plot, handed her his gun. "I can't do it, Fidel," she told him.
BASEBALL
Number of US teams Castro is rumoured to have been scouted by in the 1940s: 2 (the New York Yankees and the Washington Senators).
Truth in the rumours: none, but he is a fan and excelled at Cuba's national sport as a student.
BATISTA, FULGENCIO
Size of the original rebel army led by Castro and including Che Guevara that sailed to Cuba in 1956, eventually toppling President Batista on 1 January 1959: 82. Batista, who had ruled Cuba with an iron fist, fled to Portugal and then Spain, where he died in 1973.
BAY OF PIGS INVASION
Number of exiled Cubans who carried out the botched invasion of Cuba in 1961: 1400 (with US support from the sea and the air).
Number imprisoned by Castro's forces after the three-day battle: 1189.
Number killed: at least 100. The force's main landing point was the Bay of Pigs, which was surrounded by mosquito-infested swamps. Their only way through was via three well-defended roads.
Months that passed before the Cuban Missile Crisis, of which the failed invasion is seen as a catalyst: 18.
CHINA
Percentage of the total value of imports to Cuba accounted for by China (2005): 14.9 (more than any other country).
Bilateral trade between Cuba and China (2005): US$777 million ($1.124 billion).
CIGARS
Age at which Castro began smoking cigars: 15.
Age at which Castro gave up smoking cigars: 59.
Preferred brand: Cohiba Esplendido.
Brand of Cuban cigar favoured by former US President John F Kennedy: Petit Upmann Coronas.
Number of Petit Upmanns Kennedy ordered his press secretary, Pierre Salinger, to buy the day before he signed the 1962 Cuban trade embargo (which stopped legal trade in Cuban cigars): 1000.
Number obtained by Salinger, according to an article he wrote in 1992: 1200.
Annual value of Cuban cigar exports: US$200m. CIVIL PROTEST Acts of "civil disobedience" logged in Cuba in 2005, according to a report by the exiled Cuban Democratic Directorate: 3322
CUBA STATISTICS
Capital: Havana
Area: 64,239sq km.
Population: 11,382,820 (July 2006 estimate).
Ethnic groups: 51 per cent mixed; 37 per cent white, 11 per cent black; 1 per cent Chinese.
ECONOMY GDP: US$40 billion.
Biggest export partners: Netherlands 25.4 per cent, Canada 20.7 per cent, China 9.8 per cent, Spain 6.8 per cent.
Biggest import partners: China 14.9 per cent, Spain 13.9 per cent, Canada 8.6 per cent, US 8.5 per cent.
Average monthly state wage: US$15-$20
ELECTIONS
Castro, on abolishing general elections in 1961: "The revolution has no time for elections. There is no more democratic government in Latin America than the revolutionary government."
Percentage of the 609-seat National Assembly that re-elected Castro in March 2003: 100
EMBARGO
After Castro began nationalising American-owned land and aligned himself with the Soviet Union, the US responded by imposing a trade embargo. It remains in place 44 years later.
Estimated annual loss to US exporters due to the embargo: US$1.2 billion.
Result of last year's United Nations General Assembly vote on lifting the embargo: for, 183; against, 4 (US, Israel, Marshall Islands and Palau).
Consecutive years that the UN has voted for the embargo to be lifted: 15. Washington says it will lift the embargo only if Havana embraces democratic reforms.
FAMILY MEMBERS, NOTABLE
Angel Castro, father. Moved to Cuba from Spain and prospered as a sugar farmer. Fathered eight children, six of them (including Fidel) illegitimate.
Raul Castro, brother. Vice-President, Defence minister and, more recently, acting President. Only emerged from his older brother's shadow when Fidel fell ill last year.
Juanita Castro, sister. Emigrated to Miami, Florida in the 1960s. Subject of the 1964 Andy Warhol film, The Life of Juanita Castro. Criticised Miami's exile community after thousands celebrated the announcement of her brother's failing health.
Alina Fernandez, daughter. Result of an affair during Castro's first marriage. Fled Cuba in 1993, disguised as a Spanish tourist. Now living in Miami, she is one of her father's most vocal critics.
Dalia Soto del Valle, second wife. The couple, who have been married for more than 30 years, have five sons: Alexis, Alexander, Alejandro, Antonio, and Angel.
FASHION
Number of trademark olive-green military fatigue uniforms owned by Castro: unknown (though in 47 years as Cuban leader, he has rarely been seen wearing anything else).
GONZALEZ, ELIAN
Number of Cubans killed in November 1999 when a boat carrying 5-year-old Elian encountered a storm short of Florida: 11, including the boy's mother. Barely alive and tied to an inner tube, he was rescued by fishermen and later released to his Miami-based relatives by the US Coast Guard.
Days of political wrangling before US ordered the return of Elian to his father's custody in Cuba: 138.
Number of Swat team officers who in April 2000 stormed the Miami house where Elian was staying: 8. Associated Press photographer Alan Diaz won a Pulitzer Prize for his image of an officer directing his machine-gun at a distressed Elian.
Now 13 years old, Elian lives with his family in Cardenas, Cuba. His father is a waiter but in 2003 was elected to Cuba's National Assembly. A room in the town's museum is dedicated to Elian, and Castro was filmed at his seventh birthday party.
GRANMA
The rickety yacht used by Castro and his band of revolutionaries to sail from Mexico to Cuba in 1956. After toppling President Batista in 1959, Castro recognised the vessel's significance by assigning its name to a province, as well as the official newspaper of the Communist Party.
GUANTANAMO BAY
The 116sq km of Cuban territory was ceded in perpetuity to the US under a treaty signed by President Theodore Roosevelt in 1903.
Annual rent agreed in 1903: US$2000 in gold.
Rent cheques reported to have been cashed by Castro, an opponent of America's presence at Guantanamo: 1 (the first he received).
GUEVARA, CHE
The iconic Argentinian revolutionary was introduced to Fidel by his brother Raul, in Mexico in 1955. He joined Castro's movement to topple Cuban President Batista and became a key figure in the revolution. According to a 1967 British Foreign Office report released in 2004, London recognised Guevara as the second most important figure in Cuba after Castro.
Guevara eventually left Cuba and continued to lead revolutionary movements in Africa and elsewhere, including in Bolivia, where he was killed by the Bolivian army in October 1967.
HUMAN RIGHTS RECORD
Number of Cubans in prison for political reasons, according to a 2005 report by the Cuban Commission for Human Rights and Reconciliation: 306.
Number of political dissidents, journalists and human rights advocates imprisoned in a Government crackdown in 2003: 75.
Average prison sentence handed down after their trials: about 20 years (ranging from six to 28 years).
Number who remain in prison, according to Human Rights Watch: 61.
Selected evidence on which prisoners have been prosecuted and imprisoned:
- Publishing articles or giving interviews said to be critical of economic, social or human rights matters in Cuba.
- Communicating with international human rights organisations.
- Human rights awards won by Fidel Castro: 1 (the Muammar Gaddafi Human Rights Prize, presented in 1998 by the Libyan leader in recognition of Castro's "resistance to imperialism and defence of democratic values").
LONGEST SERVING LEADER
Percentage of Cubans who have known no other leader: about 70. Castro has ruled for 47 years.
MISSILE CRISIS, CUBAN
Number of nuclear missiles shipped to Cuba by the Soviet Union in 1962, according to Fidel Castro: 162. Soviet President Nikita Khrushchev and Castro agreed to the missile installations to protect the island from US invasion and to counterbalance US superiority in the Cold War arms race.
Number of days that October the world teetered on the brink of nuclear war: 14.
Key moments:
October 14: Photographs taken from US aircraft reveal missile launch sites.
October 16: President John F. Kennedy is informed and considers his response.
October 22: Kennedy denounces the Soviet's actions and threatens the USSR with attack if Cuban missiles are fired at the US. He declares a naval blockade around Cuba as both sides prepare for war.
October 26: Khrushchev agrees to withdraw the missiles in return for a US guarantee not to invade Cuba and the removal of Jupiter missiles from Turkey. Kennedy agrees publicly to the first demand, and privately to the second.
MOVIE CAREER
Number of entries for Fidel Castro on movie website IMDB.com: 88 (of these, 85 are documentaries, but a pre-revolutionary Castro appeared as an extra in three 1940s Hollywood films.
OPPONENTS, AMERICAN
Fidel Castro has faced 10 US presidents during his 47-year leadership.
1: Dwight Eisenhower 1953-61; 2: John F. Kennedy 1961-63; 3: Lyndon Johnson 1963-69; 4: Richard Nixon 1969-74; 5: Gerald Ford 1974-77; 6: Jimmy Carter 1977-81; 7: Ronald Reagan 1981-89; 8: George Bush 1989-93; 9: Bill Clinton 1993-2001; 10: George W. Bush 2001-
ORGANIC REVOLUTION
Number of "organoponicos" (organic urban allotments) in Cuba: more than 7000, totalling about 32,5000 ha.
Number of such gardens in Havana: more than 200 (which supply the city with more than 90 per cent of its fruit and vegetables).
The organic revolution was seen by Castro as the only solution to the crisis brought on by the collapse of the Soviet Union, which had subsidised Cuban agriculture, and the US embargo.
PINOCHET, AUGUSTO
When General Pinochet toppled Chile's socialist President Salvador Allende in 1973, Castro lost one of his closest allies. Two years before the coup, Castro and Pinochet met in Santiago.
Pinochet on Castro, in an interview in the 1990s: "He had a lot of charisma with civilians because he's pretty macho, attentive with the ladies. But I didn't like him much."
PRESS FREEDOM
The bottom of the Reporters Without Borders 2006 Press Freedom Index: 162: Iran; 163: China; 164: Burma; 165: Cuba; 166: Eritrea; 167: Turkmenistan; 168: North Korea.
In 2003, 27 independent journalists were tried summarily and imprisoned in a wide-ranging crackdown on political dissent. The journalists received sentences of up to 27 years. A handful have been released conditionally.
Current number of journalist imprisoned in Cuba: 25 (including two sentenced last month).
PRISONS
Number of prisons and correctional facilities thought to be in Cuba: more than 500.
Last year the UN described food and hygiene levels as "sub-standard" and medical care as "either unavailable or inappropriate".
According the Cuban Commission for Human Rights and National Reconciliation, thousands of young Cubans are in prison on the charge of "peligrosidad predelectiva" (that is, they are considered likely to commit a crime).
Castro himself served two years of a 15-year sentence handed down after his failed attempt to topple President Batista. After a period of exile in Mexico he achieved his goal in 1959.
QUOTES, SELECTED
Fidel Castro:
"Condemn me. It does not matter. History will absolve me." October 1953, while on trial for the failed rebel attack that launched the Cuban Revolution.
"If Mr Kennedy does not like socialism, we do not like imperialism. We do not like capitalism. We have as much right to complain about the existence of a capitalist imperialist regime 90 miles from our coast as he has to complain about a socialist regime 90 miles from his coast." May 1961, at a parade in Havana.
"We will win this battle for life, and not only for your lives, but also for the lives of all children in the world." December 1999, during the custody battle for Elian Gonzalez.
"Now, when our enemies have prematurely declared me moribund or dead, I'm happy to send to our compatriots and friends around the world this short film footage." October 2006, in a video released to quell rumours of his demise.
RELIGION
Percentage of Cubans who are Catholic: 85. Castro was himself raised a Roman Catholic but he expelled priests and nationalised Catholic schools soon after taking control of the country. In 1962 Pope John XXIII excommunicated the Cuban leader.
In 1998 Pope John Paul II became the first pontiff to visit Cuba. That same year, Castro reinstated Christmas as a national holiday. In 2005 Castro visited Havana's cathedral to mourn the Pope's death.
RAUL CASTRO
Fidel's younger brother and acting President. Less charismatic than his brother, Raul, 75, has a reputation as Fidel's enforcer. SPEECHES Castro is famous for his long speeches.
Duration of a speech Castro made at the UN in 1960: 4 hours 29 minutes (listed by the Guinness Book of Records as the longest speech made in the UN).
In 2000 Castro caused a rare outbreak of laughter at the greatest ever gathering of world leaders. Before beginning his speech at the UN Millennium Summit, he draped a white handkerchief over the yellow light that would, after five minutes, signal the end of his allotted time. He went on to speak for precisely five minutes, before removing the handkerchief and leaving the stage.
Typical Castro sign-off: "Patriotism or death! Socialism or death! We shall overcome!"
SUCCESSION
Raul Castro, Fidel's 75-year-old brother and acting President, is Fidel's designated successor, but his rule is expected to be transitional.
The post-Castro contenders:
Felipe Perez Roque, Foreign Minister. Only member of the Cuban cabinet to be born after the 1959 revolution. Key figure in Cuba's growing trade relations with China.
Ricardo Alarcon, President of the National Assembly. Formerly Castro's representative at the UN.
Carlos Lage Davila, Secretary of the Council of Ministers. A key player in the country's economic affairs.
Fidelito Castro, Fidel's son. Wild-card in the succession stakes. Ran Cuba's nuclear energy programme until his dismissal in the early 1990s. Recently appointed as an adviser to his father, to whom he bears a striking resemblance.
SUPPORTERS, HIGH PROFILE
Naomi Campbell. During a 1998 trip to Havana, the supermodel compared Castro with Nelson Mandela. She said: "Fidel Castro and Nelson Mandela are two sources of inspiration for me. "
Diego Maradona. The retired Argentinian footballer has a tattoo of Castro on his left leg. In 2005 he secured a rare interview with the Cuban leader on his talk show La Noche del 10. He has said of Castro: "For me, the Comandante is a god."
Steven Spielberg. The film director described a 2002 meeting with Castro as "the eight most important hours of my life".
Oliver Stone. The acclaimed director praised Castro while promoting his film Comandante in 2003. He said: "We should look to him as one of the Earth's wisest people, one of the people we should consult." TOURISM Castro, at a speech in 1998: "Tourism has a great future and it is up to us to take over as much of that market as possible."
Annual growth in tourism in Cuba in the past five years: 19.3 per cent.
Visitors to the island in 1999: 1.9 million.
Visitors to the island in 2005: 2.5 million.
UBRE BLANCA (WHITE UDDER)
Quantity of milk yielded by Ubre Blanca, a cow turned propaganda tool, on 23 June 1982: 110 litres (four times the average yield). The feat was acknowledged by the Guinness Book of Records to be the highest reported milk yield in a day. Castro seized the opportunity to visit the farm and appeared on television stroking the cow, pointing out that no American animal could match White Udder's productivity.
VENEZUELA
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez openly admires Fidel Castro as his political mentor. In 2000 the two leaders sang a duet live on Venezuelan radio.
Venezuela is an important trading partner for Cuba and part of what Chavez has called the "axis of good" - an anti-American trading bloc that includes Bolivia.
Barrels of oil Venezuela sends to Cuba each day: 90,000 (at heavily subsidised prices). In return, Cuba provides Venezuela with, among other things, doctors and, in 2005, free eye treatment for 5,000 people.
WEALTH, PERSONAL
Size of Fidel Castro's fortune, according to Forbes' Rich List 2006: US$900m. According to Fidel Castro, it's $0. An incensed Castro appeared on TV to dismiss the Forbes claim, calling it "repugnant slander".
Forbes admits that estimating the wealth of world leaders is "more art than science", but says the figure is based on Castro's "economic power over a web of state-owned companies".
Some claim the true figure is much higher, pointing to billions of dollars in real estate, yachts and other assets in Europe, Latin America and Asia.
YANK TANKS
Cuba has been described as the largest American car museum in the world. One-sixth of Cuba's 500,000 cars were imported from the US in the 1950s. The supply of classic "yank tanks" stopped when America declared a trade embargo in 1962, forcing Cubans to become experts in car maintenance.
ZAPATERO, JOSE LUIS RODRIGUEZ
The leftist Spanish Prime Minister has been strongly critical of the Bush Administration while embracing Castro. He has played an important role in the improvement of relations between the Cuban Government and the European Union.
- INDEPENDENT
