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Does Fidel Castro deserve to be remembered as a hero, or a villain? Cuba's former president Fidel Castro, one of the world's longest-serving and most iconic leaders, has died aged 90. Castro ruled Cuba as a one party state for almost half a century. An accomplished tactician on the battlefield, he and his small army of guerrillas overthrew the US-backed military dictator Fulgencio Batista in 1959. The new Cuban government promised to give the land back to the people and to defend the rights of the poor. But the government also imposed a one-party system. Scores of supporters of the Batista government were executed. Thousands of mainly middle class Cuban's fled into exile. In 1960, Fidel Castro nationalised all US-owned businesses on the island. In response, Washington put Cuba under a trade embargo that was to last into the 21st century. In 1961, he defeated the CIA-sponsored Bay of Pigs invasion by Cuban exiles. The following year, he sparked the Cuban missile crisis by agreeing that USSR could deploy nuclear missiles in Cuba to fend off any further US attacks. Despite the constant threat of a US invasion as well as the long- standing economic embargo on the island, Castro managed to maintain a communist revolution in a nation just 90 miles (145km) off the coast of Florida. Despised by his critics as much as he was revered by his followers, he maintained his rule through 10 US presidents and survived scores of attempts on his life by the CIA. A divisive figure, his supporters say Castro was a soldier-politician who gave Cuba back to the people. But he also faced accusations of brutally suppressing opposition and pursuing policies that crippled the Cuban economy. In Miami, where there is a large Cuban community, there have been celebrations in some parts of the city, with people banging pots and cheering. A Cuban exile group, the Cuban Democratic Directorate, said Castro left "legacy of intolerance" and had set up a "vicious totalitarian regime". On the other hand, Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro said "revolutionaries of the world must follow his legacy" whilst the Soviet Union's last leader, Mikhail Gorbachev, said: "Fidel stood up and strengthened his country during the harshest American blockade, when there was colossal pressure on him." For French President Francois Hollande, Castro embodied Cuba's revolution in both its "hopes" and its later "disappointments". HERO! VILLAIN!
