Americas Features
Chronology: Key dates in life of Fidel Castro
By DPA
Aug 7, 2006, 19:00 GMT

Havana - Fidel Castro is one of the key figures in 20th- century Latin America, the object of praise and criticism during his near half-century, iron-handed transformation of and rule over Cuba.

1926: Born in the eastern Cuban town of Biran on August 13.

1945: Matriculates at the University of Havana; law degree 1950.

1947: Participates in failed revolutionary mission in the Dominican Republic.

1948: Attends the Anti-Imperialist Student Council in Bogota; participated in the popular revolt known as the 'Bogotazo.'

1948: Marries Mirta Diaz-Balart; one son, Fidelito, in 1949; divorced in 1954.

1953: Leads failed assault on the Moncada Barracks in Santiago de Cuba, the first effort to topple Fulgencio Batista's dictatorship; condemned to 15 years in prison.

1955: Freed after amnesty, travelled to Mexico.

1956: Returns to Cuba aboard the yacht 'Granma,' disembarked on the island's eastern coast on December 2.

1956-1959: Leads the guerrilla fight to oust Batista

1959: Enters Havana in triumph on January 8; travelled to receptions in Venezuela, the United States, Canada, Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay.

1961: Proclaims himself a Marxist-Leninist; rebuffs the Bay of Pigs invasion by the US.

1962: Accepts the withdrawal, after the Cuban Missile Crisis, of mid- range Soviet missiles stationed in the island.

1963: Visits the Soviet Union for the first time.

1986: Quits smoking his characteristic Cuban cigars.

1989: The last Soviet leader, Mikhail Gorbachov, travels to Havana. Castro orders the execution of general Arnoldo Ochoa, a hero of the revolution, and other high-ranking officials for drug trafficking.

1990: With Cold War ended, and with it, Soviet economic support, Castro decrees emergency economic programme. Changes country's motto from 'homeland or death' to 'socialism or death.'

1992: First visit to a West European country, to Spain.

1993: Allows some economic reforms, and limited US dollar holdings.

1996: Visits Pope John Paul II in the Vatican.

1998: Receives Pope John Paul II in Havana; John Paul asks Castro to to open Cuba to the world.

2001: Faints in public during speech in Havana.

2003: Orders detention of over 70 dissidents, execution of three people who hijacked boat to escape.

2004: Falls in the town of Santa Clara, breaking a knee and injuring an arm. Used wheelchair.

2004: Forbids commercial use of US dollars.

2006: Temporarily delegates power to brother Raul on July 31 during surgery for intestinal bleeding. Fidel recovering ahead of 80th birthday on August 13.