Leader of Cuba from 1959 to 2011 Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz was a Cuban communist revolutionary and politician who was the leader of Cuba from 1959 to 2011. He served as prime minister from 1959 to 1976, president from 1976 to 2008, and first secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba from 1965 until 2011. Ideologically a Marxist–Leninist and Cuban nationalist, under his administration Cuba became a one-party communist state; industry and business were nationalized, and socialist reforms were implemented throughout society. 1,784,848 views on November 26, 2016 — Wikipedia's most-read article that day. Also most read: HTTP 404, Che Guevara, Raúl Castro, Florence Henderson. Wiki link