A voracious reader, Castro was a close friend of
Colombian writer, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, who affirmed that "an
intellectual friendship" united them and they often discussed literature
together, Xinhua news agency reported.
Castro once described himself as a
"frustrated journalist" and, since leaving power in 2008, has often
written opinion pieces for the state media.
The former President has remained politically
active, beginning his column, "Reflections of comrade Fidel", in
March 2007, which eventually grew to over 400 articles on international and
historical matters.
On various occasions, Castro referred to himself
as "a soldier of ideas".
In 2011, Fidel Castro passed on the mantle of
First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba (PCC)
to his brother Raul Castro.
At that time, Raul said: "Fidel is Fidel and
does not need any rank to always occupy a leading place in the history, in the
present, and the future of the Cuban nation."
"While he has the strength to do so, and as
he is luckily at the height of his political thought, from his modest condition
of party militant and soldier of ideas, he will continue to contribute to the
revolutionary struggle and to humanity's most noble proposals," Raul had
said.
Since then, Castro was rarely seen or heard in
public, a fact many saw as him not wanting to interfere in the updating of the
island's economic model, led by Raul.
However, Castro published a number of books,
including "One Hundred Hours with Fidel", a lengthy auto-biographical
interview with French-Spanish journalist, Ignacio Ramonet, in 2006.
In November 2008 was published "Peace in
Colombia", a text in which Castro revealed the inner workings of
negotiations between different Colombian governments and Cuba, and Havana's
participation in the Colombian peace process.
In 2010, the Cuban leader published "The
Strategic Victory", chronicling his early setback in the Sierra Maestra in
the summer of 1958 and his constant days of struggle against the dictatorship
of Fulgencio Batista.
That same year, "The Strategic Counteroffensive"
was published, which was a continuation of the previous volume, containing war
stories, military orders, letters, photos and maps of the push onto Havana and
victory.
In 2012, came out "Guerrilla of Time",
another long auto-biographical interview, spanning over 1,000 pages in two
volumes, this time with Cuban journalist Katiushka Blanco.
Son of a Spanish immigrant and a Cuban farmer,
Castro was born in Biran, a village in Holguin province, and went on to become
one of the most prominent figures of the 20th century.
