Fidel Castro was not alone - Characters overview

Many helped Castro to a successful 26th of July Movement. Some of these are worth knowing;

Raúl Castro: Castro's little brother who followed Castro from the beginning, as his right hand, to Castro's end in 2008, where Raúl was appointed president. However, Raúl has several leading position from 1956 to 2008; Minister of defense, Vice-president of council of state and head of the communist party.

Vilma Espín: Raúl's wife. Supporting the Granma expedition and later became a member of several government organizations until her death in 2007. Furthermore, she founded the FMC (Cuban women's federation).

Camilo Cienfuegos: Responsible for many victories in the Sierra Maestra mountains. He later became head of armed forces but unfortunately died in an flight accident in 1959.

Ernestro´Che´Guevara: A part of the Granma expedition and was later a leading figure in the Sierra Maestra mountains and became an icon of the revolution. He acted as head of Bank of Cuba and Minister of industry. He traveled to Congo to spread the revolution but was killed in Bolivia.

Haydée Santamaría: A member of the 26th of July Movement and sister to Able Santamaría. She was one of the few women paticipating in the Moncada assault and later helped distribute Castro's speech "History will absolve me". She was fundamental in the Cuban culture after the revolution, because she founded Casa de las Américas (1959) a key litterary institution of Cuba. It was visited by intellectuals from all over the world. She committed suicide on 26th of July 1980.

Celia Sánchez: An early member of the 26th of July Movement, provider of lang support at the Granma expedition and a close friend of Castro's. A part of the founding of the Mariana Grajales female army in Sierra. She as well occupied several governemt positions until her death in 1980



All information is from Pearsons 'History, 20th Century World, Authoritarian and single-Party States', 2010