obstinate - vocabulary

adjective

Stubbornly or firmly adhering to one’s own view, purpose, or opinion; unyielding in attitude; inflexible persistence, as in obstinate advocacy for higher taxes; not easily controlled, as in obstinate growth of weeds.

There are also many other Cubans who have dreamed for years of Fidel's demise, convinced that fate has dealt them a heavy hand by turning over their lives to this particularly obstinate, egocentric and durable man. Under Fidel, their lives have been spent in a kind of suffocating reality warp, a uniquely Cuban realm in which time simultaneously stands still and progresses, see-sawing among dramatic episodes linked inextricably to Fidel's whim and will.

—Jon Lee Anderson “Fidel's Slow Fade” Los Angeles Times, February 20, 2008