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Castro was incredibly popular before he died in 2016.
There are essentially 2 ways to become a household name in the world:
1. Be the leader of a strong and influential nation
2. Be in stark opposition to the leadership of the strong nations
The President of the United States is very well known no matter who it is. Name recognition in Canada is likely as high as that of Canada's own Prime Minister.
The President of Mexico is very rarely a household name.
The Prime Minister of the UK is a semi-household name depending on that person's star power: higher for Thatcher and Blair, lower for Cameron-Brown-May who IMO weren't really household names.
Vladimir Putin a household name at this point because he's been there so long and for other reasons . So was Gorbachev. Medvedev was not.
Same goes for German Chancellors. Merkel is very well-known these days. So were Kohl and Schmidt but Schroeder not really.
So it's not really a "default" that Canadians will all know the PM of the UK, the German Chancellor or the President of Russia no matter who it is.
Obviously Kim Jong Un, Moammar Qadaffi, Fidel Castro have or had name recognition.
I guess the Dalai Lama is a pretty recognizable figure to most people if he counts as a national figure.
The leader of Sudan is a household name in Colorado USA, for example?
I'm not sure what you're inferring, but the people in the Boulder CO area are extremely wealthy, fairly educated, and very politically active. If they care enough to hold Free Tibet rallies, then yes I'd expect them to know about Sudan and its leader's war crimes. We also have many African refugees, some from Sudan.
Me, I'm an Israeli American raised in New York. I know all kinds of stuff.
Currently, I would say that all but the most willfully ignorant Americans would have at least a passing familiarity with the following, who make the news several times a week, if not daily:
Putin
Merkel
May
Un
Trudeau
Duterte (a tabloid/click-bait favorite more than influential)
I'm not sure what you're inferring, but the people in the Boulder CO area are extremely wealthy, fairly educated, and very politically active. If they care enough to hold Free Tibet rallies, then yes I'd expect them to know about Sudan and its leader's war crimes. We also have many African refugees, some from Sudan.
Me, I'm an Israeli American raised in New York. I know all kinds of stuff.
jb
It's nothing against Boulder or any other place in Colorado in particular. I don't happen to think the leader of the Sudan is a household name on the Upper West Side of NYC or in West End London UK either.
World-wise people are no doubt aware of atrocities going on in the southern part of that country, but saying the country's leader is a household name as a result is a huge stretch. (Though it sometimes happens - Bashar Al-Assad is close to being a household name in much of the world.)
Also, it's always a good idea not to mistake one's personal entourage for wider society.
I was wondering if in your country, there are leaders of foreign countries that basically everyone knows about. Either because of geographic proximity, history, relationships, whatever.
Also which ones that we might think your compatriots would mostly know, but that are largely unknown.
For example, we can assume Donald Trump is a household name around the world - but is that really as true as we think?
Canadians like to think our current Prime Minister Justin Trudeau enjoys name recognition worldwide. I am sure that may be partly true, but I have no idea to what degree.
Please feel free to distinguish between the country and the person.
For example - Silvio Berlusconi is globally fairly well-known as a person, but generally speaking the leader of Italy is not well-known around the planet.
It's a pretty hard to answer since politics is usually spoken with friends, rather than strangers, except of course here.
I for one think it odd that everyone in Canada doesn't know certain leaders like Theresa May, Xi Jinping or Macron, etc, since everyone I associate with does.
It has everything to do with how interested one is in politics.
In the case of the US president, you can probably safely say every Canadian knows who the president of the US is. It's not just the stuff of news, but of comedy. Not just since Trump, but for a very long time.
So unless the person is some sort of fanatic about knowing all world leaders, you are going to get IMO two groups.
Those who pay attention to politics ( and here I should add or like to travel ) and know the leaders of countries that affect their own.
Plus, those who don't pay attention at all in Canada, and can name the PM of Canada, and the US president.
As for Trudeau....well he is much better known outside of Canada than Harper ever was.
How many here can name the leader of Slovakia? I couldn't, no real need to know, unless I was visiting, I'd make an effort.
Again. Do not mistake your entourage for wider society.
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. So was Gorbachev. Medvedev was not. 
