Fidel Castro: Smoke and mirrors in the island in the sun

Fidel Castro was ‘the great master of political seduction’ and survived over 100 assassination attempts to build his revolutionary state, write Reuters journalists Daniel Trotta and Sarah Marsh

THE son of a wealthy landowner, Fidel Castro turned his back on a life of privilege to lead a left-wing revolution in Cuba that endured for decades and was shaped by his political cunning, keen sense of destiny, and boundless ego.

Castro, who has died at the age of 90, was at once idealistic and pragmatic, sharply intelligent and reckless, charismatic and intolerant.