The ninth gold ducat of the Czech Mint from the series entitled Cult of Personality commemorates the controversial figure of Fidel Castro.

A left-leaning law student, Fidel Castro dreamed of a world without imperialism - a Latin America that could breathe freely without U.S. interference. His native Cuba was a haven for American investors who controlled the local sugar industry and tourists who came to Havana's casinos to party, while most Cubans lived in shacks. He gained experience in the rebellions in the Dominican Republic and Colombia and eventually decided to spark a revolution in his homeland. However, he was unsuccessful in his struggle against the regime headed by the pro-American dictator Fulgencio Batista and was arrested. In prison he became acquainted with communist ideas and, when he was released under an amnesty, he went to Mexico where he planned his revenge. He fought a victorious guerrilla war in the Cuban mountains alongside another revolutionary, who went down in history as Che Guevara, and in 1959 became the ruler of the “island of freedom“. Thus began half a century in which Fidel Castro decided every aspect of life in Cuba. For some, he was a totalitarian ruler who ruthlessly destroyed his opponents, civil liberties and the Cuban economy. For others, he was a charismatic orator who guaranteed the dignity and independence of Cuba. The United States repeatedly tried to remove him - he resisted assassination attempts, economic embargoes and counter-revolution. Although he initially pursued a policy independent of the Soviet Union, these advances drove him into the arms of Moscow and brought the planet to the brink of nuclear war. As the years passed, ten presidents were replaced in the US, five popes in the Vatican, and the USSR collapsed. But Fidel Castro still held on to power until 2008, when his health betrayed him. Unlike celebrated revolutionaries like Che Guevara, he did not die in heroic times. Over half a century, he has come to personify Cuba, but also the turmoil from which one of the last bastions of communism is trying to emerge...

The obverse side of the ducat, which is the work of academic sculptor Jiří Dostál, presents a characteristic portrait of Fidel Castro, accompanied by his name and life dates. "The reverse side is dominated by a vertically unfurled Cuban flag, which symbolises the ongoing revolution, with a horizontal inscription of Castro's quote SOCIALISM, OR DEATH. The curling of the stripes at the word DEATH, which is turned upside down, then recalls the intransigence and brutality of the stated revolutionary goals," explains the ducat's creator.

Each ducat includes a special supplement that offers an objective view of Fidel Castro through the eyes of historian Pavel Kosatik.