Fidelismo

Castro's personal beliefs changed throughout his life, and went through a great deal of development after the Cuban Revolution. In the aftermath of the 1959 revolution, Castro stated to Meet the Press, that: "I am not a communist", and that he was a "revolutionary idealist". In early 1961, Castro stated in a speech that: "What the imperialists cannot forgive us, is that we have made a Socialist revolution under their noses". This was his first announcement that his government was "socialist". In December 1961, Castro said he was a Marxist–Leninist.

History

Early influences

In his youth, Castro attended schools run by Jesuits, which he said "contributed to my development and influenced my sense of justice." Castro also stated that it was at his Jesuit-run high school that he became influenced by Falangism, the Spanish variety of national syndicalism, and its founder, José Antonio Primo de Rivera. Castro also participated in Hispanidad, a movement that criticized Anglo-American material values and admired the moral values of Spanish and Spanish American culture.

In late 1945, Castro began studying law at the University of Havana. Admitting he was "politically illiterate", he became embroiled in the student protest movement. During his time at university, Castro has stated in his autobiography, that he became interested in the literature of José Martí, and Karl Marx. Castro said that from Martí he adopted: "Ethics, as a mode of behavior", and from Marx, Castro comprehended the "concept of what human society is", without which, Castro argued, "you can't formulate any argument that leads to a reasonable interpretation of historical events."

Castro became critical of the corruption and violence of Grau's regime, delivering a public speech on the subject in November 1946 that earned him a place on the front page of several newspapers. In contact with members of student leftist groups – including the Popular Socialist Party (Partido Socialista Popular – PSP), the Socialist Revolutionary Movement (Movimiento Socialista Revolucionaria – MSR) and the Insurrectional Revolutionary Union (Unión Insurrecional Revolucionaria – UIR) – he grew close to the UIR, although biographers are unsure whether he became a member. In 1947, Castro joined a new populist group, the Party of the Cuban People (Partido Ortodoxo), founded by veteran politician Eduardo Chibás (1907–1951). A charismatic figure, Chibás advocated national revolution, social justice, political freedom, and anti-corruption measures. Though Chibás lost the election, Castro remained committed to working on his behalf.

After a botched mission to overthrow Trujillo in the Dominican Republic, Castro's opposition to the Grau administration grew after returning to Havana. After violent clashes between protesters and police in February 1948, in which Castro was badly beaten, his public speeches took on a distinctively leftist slant, condemning the social and economic inequalities of Cuba, something in contrast to his former public criticisms, which had centered on condemning corruption and U.S. imperialism.

In the early 1950s, Castro's hopes for Cuba still centered on Eduardo Chibás and the Partido Ortodoxo; however Chibás had made a mistake when he accused Education Minister Aureliano Sánchez of purchasing a Guatemalan ranch with misappropriated funds, but was unable to substantiate his allegations. The government accused Chibás of being a liar, and in 1951 he shot himself during a radio broadcast, issuing a "last wake-up call" to the Cuban people. Castro was present and accompanied him to the hospital where he died.

Cuban Revolution

In March 1952, Cuban military general Fulgencio Batista seized power in a military coup, with the elected President Carlos Prío Socarrás fleeing to Mexico. Declaring himself president, Batista cancelled the planned presidential elections, describing his new system as "disciplined democracy"; Castro, like many others, considered it a one-man dictatorship.

Dissatisfied with the Partido Ortodoxo's non-violent opposition, Castro formed "The Movement", a group consisting of both a civil and a military committee. The former agitated through underground newspaper El Acusador (The Accuser), while the latter armed and trained anti-Batista recruits. With Castro as the Movement's head, the organization was based upon a clandestine cell system, with each cell containing 10 members. A dozen individuals formed the Movement's nucleus, many also dissatisfied Ortodoxo members, although from July 1952 they went on a recruitment drive, gaining around 1,200 members in a year, organized into over a hundred cells, with the majority coming from Havana's poorer districts. Although he had close ties to revolutionary socialism, Castro avoided an alliance with the communist PSP, fearing it would frighten away political moderates, but kept in contact with several PSP members, including his brother Raúl. He later related that the Movement's members were simply anti-Batista, and few had strong socialist or anti-imperialist views, something which Castro attributed to "the overwhelming weight of the Yankees' ideological and advertising machinery" which he believed suppressed class consciousness among Cuba's working class.

In 1953, Fidel and Raúl Castro gathered 70 fighters and planned a multi-pronged attack on several Cuban military installations. On 26 July 1953, the rebels attacked the Moncada Barracks in Santiago and the barracks in Bayamo, only to be decisively defeated by the far more numerous government soldiers. During Castro's court trial for the attack, Castro presented a speech that contained numerous evocations of the "father of Cuban independence" José Martí, whilst depicting Batista as a tyrant. According to Castro, Batista was a "monstrum horrendum ... without entrails" who had committed an act of treachery in 1933 when he initiated a coup to oust Cuban president Ramón Grau. Castro went on to speak of "700,000 Cubans without work", launching an attack on Cuba's extant healthcare and schooling, and stating that 30% of Cuba's farm people could not even write their own names.

In Castro's published manifesto, based on his 1953 speech, he gave details of the "five revolutionary laws" he wished to see implemented on the island:

1. The reinstatement of the 1940 Cuban constitution.
2. A reformation of land rights.
3. The right of industrial workers to a 30% share of company profits.
4. The right of sugar workers to receive 55% of company profits.
5. The confiscation of holdings of those found guilty of fraud under previous administrative powers.

After being exiled, Castro formed the 26th of July Movement, and returned to Cuba to overthrow Batista by guerilla war. The beliefs of Fidel Castro during the revolution have been the subject of much historical debate. Fidel Castro was openly ambiguous about his beliefs at the time. Some orthodox historians argue Castro was a communist from the beginning with a long-term plan; however, others have argued he had no strong ideological loyalties. Leslie Dewart has stated that there is no evidence to suggest Castro was ever a communist agent. Levine and Papasotiriou believe Castro believed in little outside of a distaste for American imperialism. As evidence for his lack of communist leanings they note his friendly relations with the United States shortly after the revolution and him not joining the Cuban Communist Party during the beginning of his land reforms.

At the time of the revolution the 26th of July Movement involved people of various political persuasions, but most were in agreement and desired the reinstatement of the 1940 Constitution of Cuba and supported the ideals of Jose Marti. Che Guevara commented to Jorge Masetti in an interview during the revolution that "Fidel isn't a communist" also stating "politically you can define Fidel and his movement as 'revolutionary nationalist'. Of course he is anti-American, in the sense that Americans are anti-revolutionaries". Initially the Movimiento 26 de Julio, along with Castro personally, were not primarily Marxist or Marxist–Leninist, instead favoring a broad front of progressive forces. Historians place Castro's adoption of Marxism–Leninism as happening around 1961.

Provisional government

On December 30, 1958, General Cantillo privately advised Batista that he should flee the country. On January 2, 1959, Castro called for a general strike, and began his trek to capture Havana in his self-stylized "Freedom Caravan".

After the revolution, Castro made a series of statements defining his ideology and governing style. On January 11, 1959, television host Ed Sullivan would interview Castro in Matanzas and broadcast it on The Ed Sullivan Show. In the interview Ed Sullivan emphasizes the Castro and the rebels held a deep admiration for Catholicism, and Castro himself would comment that he was not a communist.

On January 15, at a Rotary Club meeting, Castro claimed: "I am not a communist", and that "Anyone who doesn't sell out or knuckle under is smeared as a Communist. As for me, I am not selling out to the Americans nor will I take orders from the Americans". He also claimed to revere Martí's belief that true independence comes from economic independence. During a televised speech on May 21, Castro stated: "Our revolution is not red, but olive green. It bears the color of the uniform of the Rebel Army which emerged from the very heart of the Sierra Maestra".

During the spring and summer months of 1959, communist and anti-communist polemics were exchanged in Hoy, the newspaper of the Popular Socialist Party, and in Revolucion, the newspaper of the 26th of July Movement. There was a skepticism about Castro's policies that was shared by the Popular Socialist Party, and their benefactors in Moscow, like Nikita Khrushchev. It was believed that Castro's cause against Batista was justified, but that Castro was "ideologically confusing", and that any radical economic actions would pointlessly anger the United States and endanger the doctrine of peaceful coexistence.

Past 1959, Castro's ideologically ambiguous rhetoric began taking a more radical tone, as relations with the United States continued to decline. After the Bay of Pigs invasion in 1961, Castro stated that Cuba needed a "new social system" that is "called socialism". Castro also began to shut down Catholic churches within the same year. In the Second Declaration of Havana of 1962, Castro outlined his basic conception of Marxism, and advocated for the export of the Cuban Revolution, whether or not the "objective conditions" existed in pre-revolutionary countries. This call for revolutionary export put him at odds with the Soviet leadership, which was afraid of overly-radical movements and international conflict. Fidelismo slowly became more politically popular in Latin America, as it was seen as an ideology of immediate revolution and land reform. Guerrillas in Guatemala, Peru, Venezuela, and Colombia took up arms while also adopting Fidelista sympathies.