 Aged six , Castro , along with his elder siblings Ramón and Angela , was sent to live with their teacher in Santiago de Cuba , dwelling in cramped conditions and relative poverty , often failing to have enough to eat because of their tutor 's poor economic situation . Aged eight , Castro was baptized into the Roman Catholic Church , although later became an atheist . Being baptized enabled Castro to attend the La Salle boarding school in Santiago , where he regularly misbehaved , and so was sent to the privately funded , Jesuit @-@ run Dolores School in Santiago . In 1945 he transferred to the more prestigious Jesuit @-@ run El Colegio de Belén in Havana . Although Castro took an interest in history , geography and debating at Belén , he did not excel academically , instead devoting much of his time to playing sport . 
