Fidel Castro in Havana
at his meeting with the French president François Hollande.
May 11, 2015 — photo from New China
In the course of his 47 years in power at the head of Cuba, terminating with his official retirement in 2008, Fidel Castro survived hundreds of conspiracies and assassination plots. If survival were an Olympic sport, 90-year-old Castro would indeed be covered in gold medals.