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Fidel Castro has retired¹ as Cuba's president, ending his 49-year rule of the Caribbean nation. After taking power in a coup² in 1959, Mr. Castro built a Communist government that survived a U.S.-backed invasion, a Cold War-era missile crisis and more than 40 years of economic sanctions by Washington. Some people see him as a revolutionary hero, and by others as a cruel dictator.

菲德尔.卡斯特罗辞去古巴国务委员会主席的职务，从而终止了他对这个加勒比国家长达48年的统治。卡斯特罗1959年发动政变夺取政权后建立了共产党政府。美国支持的入侵行动、冷战时代的导弹危机和美国政府40多年来所实施的经济制裁，都没有能推翻卡斯特罗的政权。一些人将卡斯特罗看作是一位革命英雄，另一些人则认为他是一个暴君。

Born on a sugar plantation³ in eastern Cuba on August 13, 1926, Fidel Castro Ruz was the son of a Spanish immigrant landholder and a household servant. After attending Jesuit schools, he graduated from the University of Havana with a law degree and became active in politics. Mr. Castro quickly gained attention through his rousing speeches. He emerged as a key leader in the growing movement against dictator Fulgencio Batista.

菲德尔.卡斯特罗1926年8月13号出生在古巴东部一个甘蔗种植园，父亲是一个从西班牙移民到古巴的种植园主，母亲是一个家庭佣人。卡斯特罗在耶稣会学校上学后，又上了哈瓦纳大学，并获得法律学位，并积极投身政治。卡斯特罗因为能发表振奋性演说很快引起了人们的注意。他后来成为反对独裁者巴蒂斯塔运动的一名重要领导人。

In the early 1950's, Mr. Castro and his brother, Raul, began organizing a militant⁴ group to oppose the Batista government. The group launched the failed take-over of a military base in 1953, and Mr. Castro was captured, tried and sentenced to prison. Two years later, the Cuban government issued an amnesty, freeing him and many others. The young revolutionary fled to Mexico where he met Argentine Marxist, Ernesto Che Guevara, and plotted a new attack on the Cuban government.

卡斯特罗和弟弟劳尔.卡斯特罗1950年代初开始创立军事组织，反对巴蒂斯塔政府。这个组织1953年试图占领一个军事基地，但没有成功，卡斯特罗被俘并被判处监禁。两年后古巴政府宣布大赦，释放了卡斯特罗和其它其他人。年轻的卡斯特罗于是逃到墨西哥，在那里遇到了阿根廷的马克思主义者切.格瓦拉，并开始策划对古巴政府发动新的攻击。

Victory over Batista's forces finally came in January, 1959, and his triumphant⁵ guerrillas marched into Havana. Many of the fighters were bearded and wearing green fatigues⁶ - a style that would come to define Mr. Castro's appearance.

1959年元月，卡斯特罗领导的游击队终于击败了巴蒂斯塔的军队，并列队进入首都哈瓦那。很多游击队员都留胡子，身穿绿色军服。卡斯特罗后来与公众见面时都是这身装束，也留著胡子。

Many Cubans welcomed the fall of the Batista government. And, Mr. Castro promised the new government would strive to serve the island's people.

很多古巴人对巴蒂斯塔政权倒台表示欢迎。卡斯特罗曾保证新政府会努力服务于古巴民众。

"What I have said is that I have no ambition at all. I feel myself sincerely, I don't have ambition for power, money, nothing, only to serve my country," Castro said.

卡斯特罗说：“我曾说过，我完全没有野心。我诚挚地感到，我不迷恋权力、金钱，不迷恋任何东西，只想报效国家。”

But concern spread when his government began organizing collective farms and nationalizing banks and industries, including more than $1 billion worth of American-owned property. Political liberties were suspended and government critics jailed. Frank Calzon, a Cuban pro-democracy activist⁷, says many of Mr. Castro's one-time supporters became disillusioned⁸ and fled the island.

但是，当他领导的政府开始组建集体农场，并将银行、企业还有包括价值10多亿美元的美国财产国有化之后，许多人对卡斯特罗感到担忧。接著，政治自由被取消，政府的批评人士被关押。卡尔松是古巴一名亲民主活动人士。他说，很多曾经支持过卡斯特罗的人后来都失望了，并逃离了古巴。

"He is a man who made a lot of promises to the Cuban people," Calzon said. "Cubans were going to have freedom. They were going to have honest government. They were going to have a return to the constitution. Instead, what he gave them was a Stalinist type of government."

卡尔松说：“卡斯特罗对古巴人民做出过很多保证。他说古巴人会有自由，会有一个诚实政府，会恢复宪制。但他给予古巴人民的却是一个斯大林式的政府。”

Mr. Castro also fostered a close alliance with the Soviet⁹ Union -- a move that alienated¹⁰ the United States. Washington imposed a trade embargo¹¹ against Cuba in 1960 and broke off diplomatic relations some months later.

卡斯特罗还与苏联结成密切联盟，此举疏远了美国。1960年，美国政府对古巴实施贸易禁运，几个月后断绝了与古巴的邦交。

In April of that year, the United States armed and directed a poorly planned invasion by Cuban exiles, which was easily defeated at the Bay of Pigs. One year later, Cuba was at the center of a confrontation¹³ between Washington and Moscow over the placement of Soviet nuclear missiles on the island. A nuclear war was narrowly averted¹⁴.

同年4月，美国武装并指导古巴流亡人士发动了一次筹划不当的入侵行动，并在古巴猪湾登陆时被轻易打败。一年后，美国和苏联就古巴部署苏联核导弹问题发生对峙，将古巴置于美苏对峙的中心，一场核战争险些爆发。

With Soviet help, Mr. Castro lent military troops and political backing to help spread Communism in Africa and Latin America. Former U.S. diplomat¹² and Cuba expert Wayne Smith says Mr. Castro's actions turned Cuba into an international player.

有了苏联的帮助，卡斯特罗利用军队借调和政治支持，在非洲和拉美地区推行共产主义。史密斯是美国前外交官，也是古巴问题专家。他说，卡斯特罗的行动将古巴变成了一个参与国际事务的国家。

"I think he will be remembered as the leader who put Cuba on the world map. Before Castro, Cuba was considered something of a banana republic. It did not count for anything in world politics. Castro certainly changed all that and, suddenly, Cuba was playing a major role on the world stage, in Africa as an ally of the Soviet Union, in Asia, and certainly in Latin America," Smith said.

史密斯说：“我认为卡斯特罗在人们心目中是一位提升古巴国际地位的领导人。卡斯特罗上台前，人们认为古巴也就是一个香蕉共和国，在国际政治中没有任何作用。卡斯特罗当然改变了一切。古巴作为苏联的盟友在国际舞台上发挥主要作用，在非洲、亚洲和拉丁美洲。”

At the same time, Mr. Castro imposed social reforms that produced high literacy rates and low mortality rates, rivaling those in many developed nations. These programs succeeded, in large part, because of financial support from Moscow, totaling $6 billion a year in the early 1990's.

与此同时，卡斯特罗实施了社会改革，减少了文盲，降低了死亡率，这方面的成绩可以与很多发达国家看齐。这些计划之所以会成功，很大原因是莫斯科提供了财政援助。1990年代初期，苏联对古巴的援助额达到每年60亿美元。

After the collapse¹⁵ of the Soviet Union, in the early 1990's, and the end of subsidies¹⁶, Cuba faced a serious financial crisis. The government was forced to enact¹⁷ some reforms, such as legalizing the use of the U.S. dollar. But Mr. Castro resisted further changes to his Communist system and often blamed the U.S. trade embargo for the nation's economic problems. At the 2006 anniversary of his military take-over, Mr. Castro vowed¹⁸ to keep fighting what he called American imperialism¹⁹.

"I will fight my whole life, until the last moment, he said, to do something good, something useful. He said we have all learned to improve ourselves each year, all of us revolutionaries," he said.

In his later years, Mr. Castro became the role model to a new generation of leftist leaders in Latin America. Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez built an alliance with the Cuban leader and offered economic assistance to help bolster²⁰ the government in Havana. Mr. Chavez also made several trips to visit the ailing²¹ leader, after Mr. Castro underwent stomach surgery in 2006.

卡斯特罗晚年成为拉美年轻一代左翼领袖的偶像。委内瑞拉总统查韦斯同卡斯特罗结盟，并向古巴政府提供经济援助，帮助巩固古巴政权。卡斯特罗2006年肠胃手术以后，查韦斯还几次前往探视。

Because of the operation, Mr. Castro handed power to his brother, Raul and has disappeared from the public scene, ever since. Still, Cuba expert Wayne Smith says his influence in the region will endure.

手术后，卡斯特罗将权力移交给弟弟劳尔，以后就从公共视线中消失了。

"He survived for almost 50 years, through great cataclysmic changes in the world: the collapse of his principal supporter and patron, the Soviet Union....Survived all that, came through it, and, at the end of his days, was playing a role in Latin America, probably a more significant role than he had played in years and years. Incredible," said Smith.

Few world leaders have served as long as Mr. Castro. But like other revolutionary leaders, his memory is sure to generate conflict for years to come, says Thomas Paterson of the University of Connecticut.

世界上很少有领导人的任期可以与卡斯特罗相比。不过，康涅狄克大学的帕特森教授说，就象其他革命领袖一样，卡斯特罗留给人们的记忆，肯定会在未来的岁月中引发争议。

"I think he will be remembered much as Mao Tse Tung is remembered in China as one who overthrew²² a corrupt²³, dictatorial²⁴ system, who embodied²⁵ the identity of his nation, who pushed out foreigners," Paterson said. "At the same time, as is the case of the Chinese critique of Mao today, there will be a criticism of him as authoritarian²⁶, repressive and having imposed incredible sacrifices on the Cuban people."

帕特森说：“我认为，就象毛泽东留给中国人的记忆一样，卡斯特罗留给人们的记忆将是一位推翻腐败独裁统治，代表民族利益并将外国人赶走的人物。与此同时，就象中国人今天批评毛泽东一样，人们也会批评卡斯特罗专制、压迫，并使古巴人民付出了巨大的牺牲。”

Tyrant²⁷ or revolutionary hero, Fidel Castro remains²⁸ at the center of the world's media spotlight²⁹ - an object of fascination³⁰ for some and repudiation³¹ for others.

无论是作为暴君还是革命英雄，菲德尔.卡斯特罗将继续是国际媒体关注的焦点。有人被他迷住，也有人对他批评有加。