Fidel Castro, the former leader and face of Cuba's Communist revolution, has died. He was 90.

His brother, Raul, whom he retired his duties to and is now president, made the announcement on state television, BBC reports.

According to TMZ, the leader was said to be suffering from diverticulitis, the swelling of the colon, which is believed to have led to his death.

Throughout his reign, he was heavily criticized for his aggressive political aesthetic, with many considering him a dictator. He ruled the Caribbean island of Cuba since the 1959 revolution. He is also most notorious for being the brains behind Russia and the United States' nuclear war brink during the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962 — Russians used Cuba to train nuclear weapons to use against the U.S.

Despite the many lives that were lost throughout his reign, he lived to see peace be established between both American and Cuba. President Obama and several others have since traveled to Cuba since the re-established relations between the two nations.

The former Cuban leader is survived by at least nine children and an unknown number of grandchildren.

See the moment President Obama visited Cuba in the video, above.