The Most Famous

POLITICIANS from Cuba

This page contains a list of the greatest Cuban Politicians. The pantheon dataset contains 19,576 Politicians, 46 of which were born in Cuba. This makes Cuba the birth place of the 62nd most number of Politicians behind Australia, and Algeria.

Top 10

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the top 10 most legendary Cuban Politicians of all time. This list of famous Cuban Politicians is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity. Visit the rankings page to view the entire list of Cuban Politicians.

1. Fidel Castro (1926 - 2016)

With an HPI of 82.66, Fidel Castro is the most famous Cuban Politician. His biography has been translated into 151 different languages on wikipedia.

Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz ( KASS-troh, Latin American Spanish: [fiˈðel aleˈxandɾo ˈkastɾo ˈrus]; 13 August 1926 – 25 November 2016) was a Cuban revolutionary and politician who was the leader of Cuba from 1959 to 2008, serving as the prime minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976 and president from 1976 to 2008. Ideologically a Marxist–Leninist and Cuban nationalist, he also served as the first secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba from 1965 until 2011. Under his administration, Cuba became a one-party communist state; industry and business were nationalized, and socialist reforms were implemented throughout society. Born in Birán, the son of a wealthy Spanish farmer, Castro adopted leftist and anti-imperialist ideas while studying law at the University of Havana. After participating in rebellions against right-wing governments in the Dominican Republic and Colombia, he planned the overthrow of Cuban president Fulgencio Batista, launching a failed attack on the Moncada Barracks in 1953. After a year's imprisonment, Castro travelled to Mexico where he formed a revolutionary group, the 26th of July Movement, with his brother Raúl Castro and Ernesto "Che" Guevara. Returning to Cuba, Castro took a key role in the Cuban Revolution by leading the Movement in a guerrilla war against Batista's forces from the Sierra Maestra. After Batista's overthrow in 1959, Castro assumed military and political power as Cuba's prime minister. The United States came to oppose Castro's government and unsuccessfully attempted to remove him by assassination, economic embargo, and counter-revolution, including the Bay of Pigs Invasion of 1961. Countering these threats, Castro aligned with the Soviet Union and allowed the Soviets to place nuclear weapons in Cuba, resulting in the Cuban Missile Crisis—a defining incident of the Cold War—in 1962. Adopting a Marxist–Leninist model of development, Castro converted Cuba into a one-party, socialist state under Communist Party rule, the first in the Western Hemisphere. Policies introducing central economic planning and expanding healthcare and education were accompanied by state control of the press and the suppression of internal dissent. Abroad, Castro supported anti-imperialist revolutionary groups, backing the establishment of Marxist governments in Chile, Nicaragua, and Grenada, as well as sending troops to aid allies in the Yom Kippur, Ogaden, and Angolan Civil War. These actions, coupled with Castro's leadership of the Non-Aligned Movement from 1979 to 1983 and Cuban medical internationalism, increased Cuba's profile on the world stage. Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, Castro led Cuba through the economic downturn of the "Special Period", embracing environmentalist and anti-globalization ideas. In the 2000s, Castro forged alliances in the Latin American "pink tide"—namely with Hugo Chávez's Venezuela—and formed the Bolivarian Alliance for the Americas. In 2006, Castro transferred his responsibilities to Vice President Raúl Castro, who was elected to the presidency by the National Assembly in 2008. The longest-serving non-royal head of state in the 20th and 21st centuries, Castro polarized world opinion. His supporters view him as a champion of socialism and anti-imperialism whose revolutionary government advanced economic and social justice while securing Cuba's independence from American hegemony. His critics view him as a dictator whose administration oversaw human rights abuses, the exodus of many Cubans, and the impoverishment of the country's economy.

2. Raúl Castro (b. 1931)

With an HPI of 75.49, Raúl Castro is the 2nd most famous Cuban Politician. His biography has been translated into 96 different languages.

Raúl Modesto Castro Ruz ( KASS-troh, Latin American Spanish: [raˈul moˈðesto ˈkastɾo ˈrus]; born 3 June 1931) is a Cuban retired politician and general who served as the first secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba, the most senior position in the one-party communist state, from 2011 to 2021, and President of Cuba between 2008 and 2018, succeeding his brother Fidel Castro. One of the military leaders of the Cuban Revolution, Castro served as the minister of the Armed Forces from 1959 to 2008. His ministerial tenure made him the longest-serving minister of the armed forces. Castro was also a member of the Politburo of the Communist Party of Cuba, the highest decision-making body, from 1965 until 2021. Because of his brother's illness, Castro became the acting president of the Council of State in a temporary transfer of power from 31 July 2006. Castro was officially made president by the National Assembly on 24 February 2008, after his brother, who was still ailing, announced on 19 February 2008 that he would not stand again. He was re-elected president on 24 February 2013. Shortly thereafter, Castro announced that his second term would be his final term, and that he would not seek re-election in 2018. He stepped down from the presidency on 19 April 2018 after his successor, Miguel Díaz-Canel was elected by the National Assembly following parliamentary elections. Castro remained the first secretary of the Communist Party; he was still considered the de facto leader of the country, retaining oversight over the president. Castro announced at the Eighth Congress of the Communist Party of Cuba, which began on 16 April 2021, that he was retiring. His successor, Miguel Díaz-Canel, was voted in on 19 April. Castro was also the head of the constitutional reform commission, and continues to have a seat representing Santiago de Cuba's Segundo Frente municipality in the National Assembly.

3. Fulgencio Batista (1901 - 1973)

With an HPI of 73.48, Fulgencio Batista is the 3rd most famous Cuban Politician. His biography has been translated into 82 different languages.

Fulgencio Batista y Zaldívar (born Rubén Zaldívar; January 16, 1901 – August 6, 1973) was a Cuban military officer and politician who was the elected president of Cuba from 1940 to 1944 and military dictator of the country from 1952 until his overthrow in the Cuban Revolution in 1959. Batista initially rose to power as part of the 1933 Revolt of the Sergeants, which overthrew the provisional government of Carlos Manuel de Céspedes y Quesada. Batista then appointed himself chief of the armed forces, with the rank of colonel, and effectively controlled the five-member "pentarchy" that functioned as the collective head of state. He maintained control through a series of puppet presidents until 1940, when he was elected president on a populist platform. He then instated the 1940 Constitution of Cuba and served until 1944. After finishing his term, Batista moved to Florida, returning to Cuba to run for president in 1952. Facing certain electoral defeat, he led a military coup against President Carlos Prío Socarrás that pre-empted the election. Back in power and receiving financial, military and logistical support from the United States government, Batista suspended the 1940 Constitution and revoked most political liberties, including the right to strike. He then aligned with the wealthiest landowners who owned the largest sugar plantations, and presided over a stagnating economy that widened the gap between rich and poor Cubans. Eventually, it reached the point where most of the sugar industry was in U.S. hands, and foreigners owned 70% of the arable land. As such, Batista's repressive government then began to systematically profit from the exploitation of Cuba's commercial interests, by negotiating lucrative relationships both with the American Mafia, who controlled the drug, gambling, and prostitution businesses in Havana, and with large U.S.-based multinational companies who were awarded lucrative contracts. To quell the growing discontent amongst the populace—which was subsequently displayed through frequent student riots and demonstrations—Batista established tighter censorship of the media, while also utilizing his Bureau for the Repression of Communist Activities secret police to carry out wide-scale violence, torture and public executions. These murders mounted in 1957, as socialist ideas became more influential. While the exact numbers are unclear, it's believed the death toll is ranged between hundreds to up to 20,000. Batista's efforts to quell the unrest proved not only ineffective, but his tactics were the catalyst to even wider resistance against his regime. During this time, revolutionary leaders Fidel Castro and Che Guevara, founders of the July 26th Movement began a resistance campaign that saw a combination of peaceful protests and guerrilla warfare in both rural and urban areas of Cuba between 1956 and 1958. After almost two years of fighting, rebel forces led by Guevara successfully defeated Batista's forces at the Battle of Santa Clara on New Year's Eve, 1958, effectively collapsing the regime. On January 1, 1959, Batista announced his resignation, fleeing the country to the Dominican Republic under the protection of Rafael Trujillo, before settling in Spain, spending the rest of his life in exile until his death in 1973.

4. Emilio Mola (1887 - 1937)

With an HPI of 62.91, Emilio Mola is the 4th most famous Cuban Politician. His biography has been translated into 33 different languages.

Emilio Mola y Vidal (9 July 1887 – 3 June 1937) was a Spanish military officer who was one of the three leaders of the Nationalist coup of July 1936 that started the Spanish Civil War. After the death of Jose Sanjurjo on 20 July 1936, Mola commanded the Nationalists in the north of Spain, while Franco operated in the south. Attempting to take Madrid with his four columns, Mola praised local Nationalist sympathizers within the city as a "fifth column", possibly the first use of that phrase. He died in an plane crash in bad weather, leaving Franco as the pre-eminent Nationalist leader for the rest of the war. It was suspected that his death was a result of sabotage. However, this has never been proven.

5. Osvaldo Dorticós Torrado (1919 - 1983)

With an HPI of 62.13, Osvaldo Dorticós Torrado is the 5th most famous Cuban Politician. His biography has been translated into 37 different languages.

Osvaldo Dorticós Torrado (17 April 1919 – 23 June 1983) was a Cuban politician who served as the president of Cuba from 1959 to 1976. He was a close ally of Cuban revolutionary and longtime leader Fidel Castro.

6. Miguel Díaz-Canel (b. 1960)

With an HPI of 61.97, Miguel Díaz-Canel is the 6th most famous Cuban Politician. His biography has been translated into 67 different languages.

Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez (Latin American Spanish: [miˈɣel ˈdi.as kaˈnel]; born 20 April 1960) is a Cuban politician and engineer. He has served as the 8th First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba since 2021 and as the 17th President of Cuba since 2019. In his capacity as First Secretary he is the most powerful person in the Cuban government. Díaz-Canel succeeded the brothers Fidel and Raúl Castro, becoming Cuba's first non-Castro leader since its revolution and its first non-Castro head of state since 1976. He has been a member of the Politburo of the Communist Party since 2003. He served as Minister of Higher Education from 2009 until 2012, when he was promoted to Vice President of the Council of Ministers (Deputy Prime Minister). A year later, in 2013, he was elected as First Vice President of the Council of State. He succeeded Raúl Castro as the President of the Council of State in 2018; in December 2019 this office evolved into President of the Republic. On 19 April 2021, Díaz-Canel assumed the reins of the Communist Party when he replaced Raúl Castro as First Secretary.

7. Juan Almeida Bosque (1927 - 2009)

With an HPI of 61.43, Juan Almeida Bosque is the 7th most famous Cuban Politician. His biography has been translated into 32 different languages.

Juan Almeida Bosque (17 February 1927 – 11 September 2009) was a Cuban politician and one of the original commanders of the insurgent forces in the Cuban Revolution. After the rebels took power in 1959, he was a prominent figure in the Communist Party of Cuba. At the time of his death, he was a Vice-President of the Cuban Council of State and was its third ranking member. He received several decorations, and national and international awards, including the title of "Hero of the Republic of Cuba" and the Order of Máximo Gómez.

8. Sergio Oliva (1941 - 2012)

With an HPI of 61.34, Sergio Oliva is the 8th most famous Cuban Politician. His biography has been translated into 19 different languages.

Sergio Oliva (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈseɾxjo oˈliβa]; July 4, 1941 – November 12, 2012), often known by his epithet 'The Myth' for his physique and performance, was a Cuban American bodybuilder, and three-time Mr. Olympia winner.

9. Maria Teresa, Grand Duchess of Luxembourg (b. 1956)

With an HPI of 59.85, Maria Teresa, Grand Duchess of Luxembourg is the 9th most famous Cuban Politician. Her biography has been translated into 35 different languages.

Maria Teresa (born María Teresa Mestre y Batista; 22 March 1956) is Grand Duchess of Luxembourg as the wife of Grand Duke Henri, who acceded to the throne in 2000.

10. Gerardo Machado (1871 - 1939)

With an HPI of 58.78, Gerardo Machado is the 10th most famous Cuban Politician. His biography has been translated into 29 different languages.

Gerardo Machado y Morales (28 September 1869 – 29 March 1939) was a general of the Cuban War of Independence and President of Cuba from 1925 to 1933. Machado entered the presidency with widespread popularity and support from the major political parties. However, his support declined over time. Many people objected to his running again for re-election in 1928, as his victory violated his promise to serve for only one term. As protests and rebellions became more strident, his administration curtailed free speech and used repressive police tactics against opponents. Ultimately, in 1933, Machado was forced to step down in favor of a provisional government headed by Carlos Manuel de Céspedes y Quesada and brokered by US ambassador Sumner Welles. Machado has been described as a dictator.

People

Pantheon has 48 people classified as Cuban politicians born between 1819 and 1981. Of these 48, 16 (33.33%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living Cuban politicians include Raúl Castro, Miguel Díaz-Canel, and Maria Teresa, Grand Duchess of Luxembourg. The most famous deceased Cuban politicians include Fidel Castro, Fulgencio Batista, and Emilio Mola. As of April 2024, 2 new Cuban politicians have been added to Pantheon including José Miró Cardona, and Alfredo Zayas y Alfonso.