The former Cuban dictator, Fidel Castro, has died at age 90 on Friday November 25th 2016 due to poor health conditions as no public release of information to Castro’s cause of death has been released. Some are mourning in grief, and some are morning in joy as the former Cuban dictator left a mixed legacy. Some saw Castro has a ruthless totalitarian dictator; on the other hand, some viewed Castro as a hero that uplifted Cuba’s quality of life. Here’s 10 things you need to know about Fidel Castro’s legacy:

• He was the hero of the Pan-African liberation struggle.
  • Answering calls of help from Angola and Ethiopia, over 4,300 Cuban troops died in attempt to liberate Africa.

• Castro survived over 600 assassination attempts by the CIA.One attempt involved putting explosive gunpowder in one of Castro’s cigars. And the idea was that it would burn Castro’s iconic beard off and the people of Cuba would laugh hysterically losing all respect for him.

• Castro led the world to the brink of a nuclear war during the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1969.He asked for the support of the Soviet Union to place ballistic nuclear missiles on Bay of Pigs, Cuba in attempt to stop the US’s interference on the island.

• Under Castro’s dictatorship, Cuba’s literacy rate was at one of the highest at 99.7%
  • Castro enforced education to be free and public.

• Castro has been accused of killing and imprisoning political opponents and journalists .Castro took libel and any opposing propaganda against his ideologies to be extremely threatening.

• Castro gave free healthcare for all Cubans.
  • This made Cuba providing more medical personnel to developing countries than all the G8 countries combined.

• Castro invited Pope John II to Cuba and officially reinstated Christmas as an official holiday in 1998.

• Castro outlived 11 US presidents; ruling Cuba for over 50 years.
  • Castro is the longest to hold national power second on Queen Elizabeth II.

• Castro legalized the US dollar in Cuba in the 1950’s in efforts to save Cuba’s rapidly collapsing economy.

• Castro engaged in harassment and guerilla warfare in the 1952 Garrison Revolt with Che Guevara.

“A revolution is a struggle to the death between the future and the past.” – some words that characterized his beliefs as an individual and a revolutionary. Conclusively, Fidel Castro is an iconic historical figure that forever shaped Cuba and its people.