Fidel Castro has died

[Peter Lemkin]

I for one have always liked the man. He lived a long life and certainly not a dull one. Endlessly maligned by the USA propaganda machine. He always stood by his principles and stood up to ten US Presidents and their endless threats and dirty tricks, endless assassination attempts, etc.

Similar to the Russian Revolution, the Cuban one eliminated a corrupt regime and some shameless exploitation of the poor, but it also dispossessed a lot of mid-level business owners and professionals who didn't do anything wrong.

The horrible and corrupt USG/Mafia-puppet dictatorship he overthrew was nothing to cry over the loss of. IMO, much of the things he was cornered into becoming which were negative were forced on him by the USA. His regime was not perfect, but it brought the average Cuban an education, a guarantee of enough food, clothes, healthcare, housing to survive - unlike in the past. Cuba helped many struggling national liberation struggles, such as that of the ANC in S. Africa - putting it on the opposite side of 'things' from the USA - which always supported the repressive dictatorial governments. Cuba developed a great healthcare system - one that puts the one in the USA and many other countries to shame - and they often exported it with help after disasters or outbreaks of disease, etc. Again, not a perfect legacy and yes some limitation of personal freedoms and speech; again, I think a reaction to the external threat of the USA and constant infiltration with spies/provocateurs to destroy Castro's Cuba from inside. On balance, I think he was a good man and tried to bring good things to Cuba and the World. Not one monument nor road is named after him, and he did not enrich himself. Any friend of Che and Mandela can't be that bad....quite the opposite. He was secretly communicating with JFK via an intermediary before and on the day JFK died - so even JFK was beginning to realize he could work with him. People like Phil Agee and other CIA whistleblowers lived there in exile. Much of what those in the USA have heard about Castro and Castro's Cuba are the propaganda of the CIA and others like them. I think you'll find real grief by most in Cuba at his loss. I too am a bit saddened. Cuba and Castro were on the correct side of almost every war and/or liberation struggle I can think of. I hope Cuba will keep the good parts of Castro's structures and allow the personal freedoms that were denied. I have already said why I felt he was cornered into this stance, though I didn't agree with it. On balance, a good man, IMHO, and a great figure in history. He broke the prostitution and abuse of Cuba by big and bad US Corporations and the Mafia and turned it into a egalitarian society without hunger and a social safety net, that punched way beyond its 'weight class' on the World stage. If there was a low economic standard in Cuba, the USA is more to blame for that than was Castro.