Former Cuban President Fidel Castro , who led a rebel army to improbable victory in Cuba, died at age 90 in Havana. His demise was announced by his brother and current President Rahul Castro on National Television. "The commander in chief of the Cuban revolution died at 22:29 hours this evening," the president announced.

Video: Raul Castro announces death of brother Fidel Castro https://t.co/xtFIi1Y7rb

— WSVN 7 News (@wsvn) November 26, 2016

Castro’s reign over the island-nation 90 miles from Florida was marked by the US-backed Bay of Pigs invasion in 1961 and the Cuban Missile Crisis a year later that brought the world to the brink of nuclear war. The bearded revolutionary, who survived a crippling US trade embargo as well as dozens, possibly hundreds, of assassination plots, died eight years after ill health forced him to formally hand power over to Raul.

His commitment to socialism was unwavering, though his power finally began to fade in mid-2006 when a gastrointestinal ailment forced him to hand over the presidency to Raul in 2008, provisionally at first and then permanently. His defiant image lingered long after he gave up his trademark Cohiba cigars for health reasons and his tall frame grew stooped.