# Did Fidel Castro speak English?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-fidel-castro-speak-english/929568>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [January 3, 2021, 11:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-fidel-castro-speak-english/929568 "2021-01-03T11:26:39Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 6\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Roger\_That](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roger_that/32/8505_2.png) [@Roger\_That](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roger_That)\
**Post date:** [January 3, 2021, 11:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-fidel-castro-speak-english/929568/1 "2021-01-03T11:26:39Z")

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If so, how fluently? Heavy accent or slight? Where did he learn his English, if at all, and how long did he study it?

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**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\
**Post date:** [January 3, 2021, 12:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-fidel-castro-speak-english/929568/2 "2021-01-03T12:02:56Z")

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Here he is speaking English: [Fidel Castro speaks English after visit to United Nations in the US](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_OQBEDgwOc)

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**Author:** ![Roger\_That](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roger_that/32/8505_2.png) [@Roger\_That](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roger_That)\
**Post date:** [January 3, 2021, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-fidel-castro-speak-english/929568/3 "2021-01-03T13:38:27Z")

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Thank you. I didn’t think to look on Youtube. Here is another clip, from 1959, in which his English seems much more halting: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GUeR4c4-6QE](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GUeR4c4-6QE)

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**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\
**Post date:** [January 3, 2021, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-fidel-castro-speak-english/929568/4 "2021-01-03T14:51:56Z")

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I just watched a few seconds of a random time. He sounded like José Jimenez. 😛

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**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\
**Post date:** [January 3, 2021, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-fidel-castro-speak-english/929568/5 "2021-01-03T15:20:04Z")

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Seeing as the OP’s question has been definitively answered, I’ll throw in a trivia note. Benito Mussolini spoke at least four languages; Italian, English, French, and German. He was good enough that he got a job as a language teacher early in his life. This worked as an advantage to Mussolini at the Munich conference in 1938 because he was the only national leader there who could speak to all of his peers directly.

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**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\
**Post date:** [January 3, 2021, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-fidel-castro-speak-english/929568/6 "2021-01-03T23:33:00Z")

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Here is an English letter he sent FDR.

[See it here.](https://nara-media-001.s3.amazonaws.com/arcmedia/media/images/19/29/19-2825a.jpg)