Filo.explica│Why did they kidnap Fangio?

Juan Manuel Fangio was born on June 24, 1911 in Balcarce, province of Buenos Aires. At the age of 11 he started working in a mechanical workshop. At 12 he learned to drive. In 1927 they bought him his first car, which he turned into a race car.
He debuted as a professional pilot on March 27, 1938, in Necochea. He came out seventh. Two years later he would be celebrating his first title of Turismo Carretera that he was going to repeat in 1941. 
The following years were difficult, because the Second World War caused the races to be suspended due to the shortage of tires and fuel. In 1948, Juan Manuel Fangio made a trip through factories and circuits in the United States and Europe. He tested for the first time a Grand Prix car, the name that the future Formula 1 had at that time.
In 1950 Fangio made his Formula 1 debut as a driver for the Alfa Romeo team. He was runner-up in the world. A year later he would obtain his first title, which began to place him among the great motorists of all history.
He was  world champion four other times: in 1954, 1955, 1956 and 1957. He won the latter title at the Nürburgring, Germany, after winning one of the most memorable races of all time.
Months after his last world title, in February 1958, Fangio was in Havana to compete in the Cuban Grand Prix. But he could not compete, because he suffered one of the most remembered events of his life: he was kidnapped. 
The “26 de Julio” movement was made up of Cuban revolutionaries trying to overthrow dictator Fulgencio Batista. Its leader was Fidel Castro, no less. 
For an hour, Fangio was driven around Havana. The kidnapping lasted 26 hours, and then Fangio was released. A fear of both the revolutionaries and Fangio was that the dictator Batista would kill him to blame the movement led by Fidel Castro. To avoid that, Fangio proposed talking to Raul Guevara Lynch, Argentina’s ambassador to Cuba and Che’s cousin. Fangio was able to leave Cuba safe and sound. A year and a half after the kidnapping, already with Fidel Castro in Cuban power, Fangio returned to the island as “guest of honor” of the Revolution. 
On July 6, 1958, a few months after his abduction, Fangio announced his retirement from professional practice. He had won five Formula 1 world championships.  
Juan Manuel Fangio died on July 17, 1995, at the age of 84. Until 2003 he was the winningest driver in formula 1 history, when he was overtaken by Michael Schumacher. However, he still holds the record of being the rider with the best average of victories and the only one who won championships with four different teams.

Original source in Spanish