Fidel Castro: The American Experience

On January 3, 1959, a column of victorious young rebels advanced along Cuba's main highway towards Havan. At the head of the column rode 33-year-old Fidel Castro Ruz. As he went by, a Cuban peasant turned to an American journalist, and said: "There goes the hope of a people." Over the next few decades, by the force of his personality and the might of his Soviet benefactor, Castro turned himself and Cuba into significant players on the world stage. He did so while surviving the hostility of ten consecutive U.S. Presidents, an invasion, several CIA assassination attempts and an economic embargo. Castro's face, with its trademark beard, has become an iconic image worldwide, yet the man himself remains an enigma to all but a few. Through interviews with relatives, childhood friends, fellow rebel leaders, Bay of Pigs veterans, human rights activists and journalists, this AMERICAN EXPERIENCE production constructs an intimate and revealing portrait of the most resilient of leaders.