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Being English, I have never understood the rabid response from Americans at just the mention of his name. So Cuba was a great place before he took over? Yes, I do remember the Cuban Missile Crisis........
All these years of sanctions damaged Cuba, but he stood up to America, and that sticks in the craw I guess.
He will be fondly remembered by most ordinary Cubans as the years go by. They may find themselves yearning for the days of Castro, if American Capitalism is let back in.
America has a pretty large Cuban-American population. We still have people who try to come here in little rafts and boats and a ton were allowed in in the 60s. We have always been very pro-Cuban immigrantion here.
I know two Cuban families who were allowed in during the 60s. I've had long conversations about Cuba with them and their lives there. When Castro came to power their lives changed. They lived in fear and were happy to have the opportunity to come to the US. I can't remember exact specifics of what they said; it has been a while since I last spoke to them about it. But one of the families actually had their documentation papers stolen in the middle of the night from their home. They believe it was Cuban soldiers ordered to try to sabotage families who were granted the ability to move here. Luckily because of a stupid mistake the thieves made they retrieved their papers and were able to migrate here.
They still have family in Cuba. Due to lifted restrictions in the US one of the people I know was able to go to Cuba recently and see family and the country. She said there's a lot of poverty and hungry people. She also said though that people overall seem happy and were very happy to see Americans. Their family living in Cuba is part of the Communist party so they get perks. One of their perks? One car. They are able to afford one car and this is a big deal. Another perk is just more wealth in general but it's nothing like our idea of wealth. The wife of one of the Cuban cousins comes to the US to visit almost every year and always says that she would move here if her husband wasn't a Communist. He doesn't want to leave because he actually likes the regime. She does want to move because she doesn't, but she won't leave her husband and sons. Plus she's not sure what would happen to any of them if she DID defect. Relatives of defectors who come from pro-Communist families have been forced back in the past. The rest of the family that I know who lives here says they will never go back to Cuba as long as the Castros are running the country. They don't support what Castro was doing to and in the country and they didn't like what they saw before they were able to leave. Cuba is the place they were born, where the now adult children I know lived until they were 6 at the youngest to 14 at the oldest and they won't even go for a visit.
In the US we also have a lot of Cuban pro baseball players who defected and have shared their stories. Maybe being so close to Cuba with a large Cuban population we just see it differently than you do. Maybe some more exposure to the negatives and not the beautiful resort areas.
He will be fondly remembered by most ordinary Cubans as the years go by. They may find themselves yearning for the days of Castro, if American Capitalism is let back in.
A dictator is a dictator regardless if he has a left or right-wing agenda.
Castro was a despicable man who jailed and killed his opponents, controls the media and only allowed his party to exist.
I actually can listen to some Cuban AM stations from my car. It's all propaganda and control. I have spoken to plenty of Cubans many who still live there and have to come to a conclusion that their government sucks. The government should not control people's lives, security should not be traded for freedom. Sure they don't have as much crime as other countries in Latin America and everybody has access to healthcare but life there is not easy when you cannot even express an opinion and food is scarce.
Having said that the Cubans should fight for their own country instead of expecting the US to free them from the Castros. Their stupid celebrations are useless as usual and does not change the situation there.
A dictator is a dictator regardless if he has a left or right-wing agenda.
Castro was a despicable man who jailed and killed his opponents, controls the media and only allowed his party to exist.
I actually can listen to some Cuban AM stations from my car. It's all propaganda and control. I have spoken to plenty of Cubans many who still live there and have to come to a conclusion that their government sucks. The government should not control people's lives, security should not be traded for freedom. Sure they don't have as much crime as other countries in Latin America and everybody has access to healthcare but life there is not easy when you cannot even express an opinion and food is scarce.
Having said that the Cubans should fight for their own country instead of expecting the US to free them from the Castros. Their stupid celebrations are useless as usual and does not change the situation there.
The Cuban people put Castro in power. He didn't just seize power.
And he will be a storied Cuban hero to the end of time. Up there with Bolivar.
Up there? Hell no.
Castro wished he had 1% of the integrity Simon Bolivar had. He was an assassin who oppressed his people. Simon Bolivar had even more integrity than our beloved founding fathers and made sure slavery was abolished after the independence.
Castro will be remember as the piece of excrement he was by many people.
The Cuban people put Castro in power. He didn't just seize power.
So despicable or not, he's none of our concern.
Sure it's not our concern but to say that the Cuban people put him in power is a lie. I think some people just assume that other governments work like their own.
Fidel was able to do a lot even in the face of the US embargo. Cuba's healthcare and doctor training program has trained third-world doctors all over the world. They were on the front line in the recent Ebola crisis. He deserved some criticism but also some praise.
Knowing what we do now about the US relationship with Batista and his thugs, I don't see how things could have turned out much better between the two countries. Batista made off with $300,000,000 when he snuck out of the country on New Year's Day, 1959, and left quite a few corpses behind over his last few years (He lived out his life in Portugal). The US was supportive of Batista up until the end...then it was pay-back time.
He died on Black Friday. Perhaps he got trampled at Walmart trying to buy a TV for 20 dollars off?
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