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== Early years of Castro ==

== Early years of Castro ==

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 <ref>Geyer, Georgie Anne 2002 Guerrilla Prince. Andrews McMeel Publishing Kansas City ISBN 0740720643</ref> while a new series biographies by Norberto Fuentes (2004, and later),<ref>Fuentes, Norberto 2004 La Autobiografia De Fidel Castro Editorial Planeta, Mexico D.F ISBN 8423336042, ISBN 9707490012</ref> a former propagandist for the Cuban Government, are attracting attention.

Castro was born on August 13, 1926, in Birán, Oriente, Cuba out of wedlock at his father's farm. 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 <ref>Geyer, Georgie Anne 2002 Guerrilla Prince. Andrews McMeel Publishing Kansas City ISBN 0740720643</ref> while a new series biographies by Norberto Fuentes (2004, and later),<ref>Fuentes, Norberto 2004 La Autobiografia De Fidel Castro Editorial Planeta, Mexico D.F ISBN 8423336042, ISBN 9707490012</ref> a former propagandist for the Cuban Government, are attracting attention.

During his student years Fidel Castro was deeply involved in lethal violence.<ref>Ros, Enrique 2003 Fidel Castro y El Gatillo Alegre: Sus A~nos Universitarios (Coleccion Cuba y Sus Jueces) Ediciones Universal Miami ISBN 1593880065</ref> This violence also extended overseas to his involvement in the 1948 Colombian Bogotazo.<ref>Bowden, Mark  2002 Killing Pablo: The Hunt for the World's Greatest Outlaw. Penguin ISBN-10 0142000957

During his student years Fidel Castro was deeply involved in lethal violence.<ref>Ros, Enrique 2003 Fidel Castro y El Gatillo Alegre: Sus A~nos Universitarios (Coleccion Cuba y Sus Jueces) Ediciones Universal Miami ISBN 1593880065</ref> This violence also extended overseas to his involvement in the 1948 Colombian Bogotazo.<ref>Bowden, Mark  2002 Killing Pablo: The Hunt for the World's Greatest Outlaw. Penguin ISBN-10 0142000957