FIFTY years ago today Fidel Castro finally led his band of rebels to victory over Fulgencio Batista, the US-backed dictator who ran Cuba, and in doing so became one of the most revered, hated and always-controversial figures of the modern era.
Despite five decades of unstinting opposition and an economic embargo from the nearby United States, the revolution he started goes on with Cuba firmly in its grip, in what some view as a triumph and others a tragedy.
Castro, 32 when he took power
on 1 January, 1959, has become a sick old man; companions such as fellow revolutionary Ernesto "Che" Guevara are long dead; and communism has almost vanished around the world.
In February, Cuba managed a smooth succession of power when Raul Castro, 77, officially replaced his older brother as president. Fidel, now 82, has not been seen in public since undergoing intestinal surgery in July 2006, but he is still thought to wield considerable power.
He and his rebels were greeted by ecstatic crowds when they rolled into Havana after chasing Batista from power. But the euphoria faded as Castro and the US – only 90 miles away – became locked in a Cold War showdown as, allied with the Soviet Union, he imposed communism on Cuba.
The bitterness generated in those early years never went away as Castro opponents fled to Miami, unsuccessfully plotted his demise and waited in vain for the US trade embargo against the island to topple him.
Cubans remain divided on whether it has all been worth it.
"History will absolve me," Castro said in a 1953 courtroom speech as Batista tried to jail him, but there is little agreement on his legacy.
For supporters, Castro threw off the yoke of tyranny and brought economic justice and benefits such as free education and health care for all.
Opponents say he simply imposed a new dictatorship that impoverished a once-prosperous nation and robbed its people of opportunities.
Almost everyone chafes at monthly salaries that average $20. Government food rations meet part of their dietary needs, but many Cubans participate in a thriving black market to make ends meet.
"I can't live on my salary … I have to 'invent' because it can't be done," said teacher Pedro Perez, using a Cuban term for bending the rules to survive.
"Fifty years in this struggle and there's no progress," said 46-year-old security guard Gabriel Mata as he took a break under a tree in Havana's Vedado district. "We see other countries advancing, but not ours. There just aren't any options here."
Others say Cuba is a better place that will keep improving. "People don't remember what Cuba was before the revolution. It was sold out to the US and the poor had no opportunities," said a 61-year-old public employee who gave his name only as Robert. "The revolution brought equality of opportunity."
The support of many people like him and a strong security apparatus are two reasons the revolution looks solidly in place. Only a small number of dissidents speak out publicly, and 200 of them have been jailed. The government views dissidents as mercenaries working for the US.
Most Cubans who are unhappy with the government shrug their shoulders as if to say "why bother?" when asked why there is not more dissent. The better option, some say, is to leave the country, as at least one million Cubans have since 1959.
The inefficiencies of a centrally planned economy, lack of incentive for greater productivity and a general malaise surrounding the ageing revolution have held back the economy. A taxi driver, discussing the pluses and minuses of modern Cuba as he wound through Havana's uncrowded streets, summed it up: "The great thing about this country is that if you don't want to work, you don't have to."
The government places much of the blame for the country's woes on the US embargo, imposed in 1962 in hopes of strangling the economy and bringing down Castro. But critics say Castro's pursuit of social equality turned one of Latin America's most prosperous nations into a basket case dependent on benefactor countries like the Soviet Union before its 1991 collapse, and now oil-rich Venezuela.
"They dealt with inequality by making all the people poor," said Frank Mora at the National War College in Washington.
Fidel Castro makes no apologies for what Cuba has become, saying it was required because the fight for socialism is ultimately against an opponent more formidable than any one man or country.
"In the hard battle for those objectives, the worst enemy is the selfish instinct of the human being," he said recently in a newspaper column. "If capitalism means the constant utilisation of that instinct, socialism is the incessant battle against such natural tendency."
Many Cubans were excited about the prospect for change when the more pragmatic Raul Castro took power and instituted reforms that allowed them for the first time to buy computers, mobile phones and DVD players and to go to hotels and stores previously open only to foreigners. Since then, most reforms have come to a halt for reasons no-one outside the government really understands.
Some Cubans now say their best hope for change may come from the US, where President-elect Barack Obama has promised to ease the embargo and possibly pursue talks with Cuba.
FACT BOX
As Cuba prepares to mark the 50th anniversary of the revolution that put Fidel Castro in power on 1 January 1959, its people say they struggle to survive on low salaries.
Here are some facts about Cuban society:
• Cuba has a population of 11.2 million.
• Cuba's government says the average Cuban per capita income is $6,000 a year, including social benefits such as free health care and education and a subsidised monthly food ration.
• Cubans earn on average about $20 a month and many augment their salaries or make them go further by buying or selling on the black market where goods, often stolen, are cheaper than in state-run stores.
• Cuba's life expectancy is 77.9 years, just behind the United States at 78 years.
• Cuba has a 99.8 per cent literacy rate, second only to the nation of Georgia, which has 100 per cent, according to the UN Human Development Report.
Timeline of a revolution1 January 1959 – US-backed dictator Fulgencio Batista flees as Fidel Castro's revolutionaries take control.
3 January 1961 – US breaks off diplomatic relations after nationalisation of US-owned properties.
17 April 1961 – Bay of Pigs invasion by exiles backed by the CIA defeated.
7 February 1962 – US imposes embargo on Cuba.
October 1962 – Soviet Union backs down in confrontation with US over missiles on Cuba.
April-Oct 1980 – Cuba allows 125,000 people to travel to the US in Mariel Boatlift.
December 1991 – Collapse of Soviet Union, Cuba's biggest benefactor, sparks economic crisis from which the island has not fully recovered.
August-September 1994 – More than 35,000 people leave for US in fragile boats.
January 1998 – Pope John Paul II visits Cuba.
31 July 2006 – Fidel Castro provisionally turns over power to brother Raul Castro after emergency intestinal surgery.
24 February 2008 – Raul Castro is elected president by National Assembly, formally replacing Fidel.
