Longtime Cuban leader Fidel Castro is dead at the age of 90.

Born the son of a wealthy land owner in 1926, Fidel Castro came to power in Cuba early in 1959 with the intent of establishing a Communist regime just 90 miles away from the United States.

The U.S. would try to oust Castro during the failed Bay of Pigs invasion in 1961, but a political showdown one year later would take the U.S. and the former Soviet Union to the brink of nuclear war in what became known as the "Cuban Missile Crisis" of 1962.

Despite a trade embargo imposed by the U.S., financial support from Moscow kept Castro firmly in control.

Castro's death was announced overnight by his brother, Raul Castro. Funeral arrangements are due to be revealed sometime today.

Meantime, lawmakers in southern Florida are rejoicing over Fidel Castro's death.

Florida Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen said on Twitter, "A tyrant is dead" and now "we must work for a Cuba that is free, democratic and prosperous." Florida Congressman Carlos Curbelo tweeted, "The passing of the dictator marks the end of a long, horrifying chapter in Cuba's history. The Cuban people need our solidarity." (Metro Networks Inc.)

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