Editing Fidel Castro (section)

===Early life===
Born in Birán, Oriente as the son of a wealthy Spanish farmer, Castro adopted leftist anti-imperialist politics while studying law at the University of Havana. After participating in rebellions against right-wing governments in the Dominican Republic and Colombia, he planned the overthrow of Cuban President [[Fulgencio Batista]], launching a failed attack on the Moncada Barracks in 1953. He had been known to try to assassinate the leader as well. He allied with the Soviet Union, and the CIA tried to assassinate him, including the Bay of Pigs invasion of 1961. After the CIA failed, the Soviet Union gave Cuba permission to use nuclear missiles. This resulted in the [[Cuban Missile Crisis]], where the United States eventually needed to agree that it would never invade Russia and Cuba and that they would never use the missiles. 

There is much that is not known of Castro's rural youth. However, it is generally conceded that his father was Ángel María Bautista Castro y Argiz and his mother Lina Ruz González. Official biographies are essentially hagiographies and the more extreme of his many detractors portray a wild and irregular life typical of the worst elements of his class. Castro has numerous siblings of various combination of parentage; for instance, it is widely believed that Raul Castro has the same mother but is not a son of Fidel Castro's father. The most accepted biography is that of Geyer 2002  while a new series biographies by Norberto Fuentes 2004, and later, a former propagandist for the Cuban Government, are attracting attention.

During his student years Fidel Castro was deeply involved in lethal violence. This violence also extended overseas to his involvement in the 1948 Colombian Bogotazo. Deeply inspired by politics, at the age of 14, he wrote a letter to US President Franklin D. Roosevelt, congratulating him on his re-election as well as requesting a $10 bill. Castro was trained as a lawyer studying at the University of Havana. In 1953 he led the first of many assaults against the ruling military regime of general Fulgencio Batista. A 1953 attack against military barracks in Santiago de Cuba was a failure, and Castro, alongside his brother Raul, was captured they, unlike a number of his companions, were spared irregular execution by intervention of Roman Catholic Church members. In a courtroom speech in his defense (heavily edited in published form, and titled "La Historia me absolverá", or "History will absolve me"), Castro outlined his plans for reforms, demanding a return to the 1940 constitution, the ending of corrupt practices and a more equal distribution of land. There was no formal death penalty in Cuba at the time. After three years of incarceration on the Isle of Youth (then Isle of Pines), both Castro brothers were released during an amnesty.