I'm very happy that Fidel Castro is dead.

[Stinky The Clown]

He was a totalitarian dictator. The Cuban people were, indeed, without freedom. People don't escape free countries; they escape totalitarian countries. They escaped Cuba.

The left wing dictator is not one iota better than the right wing dictator he replaced.

Castro thought Russian nukes in his country, aimed at our country, was hunky dory.

Those of you praising him are really misguided. At the least.

[doc03]

1. Is he still dead? nt

[pipoman]

2. When Henry Kissinger finally bites it, it will be the end of an era for sure....

[Feeling the Bern]

3. Tito, Sukarno, Suharto, Lee Syngman, Chiang Kai-Shek, Franco, Pinochet, Marcos, Diem Brothers

Americans seem to have an odd memory about dictators. We seem to love anti-Communist ones (or Communist ones we could control like Tito in Yugoslavia), and demonized Communist ones.

Oh well. . .they may be SOBs, but at least they are our SOBs.

[yardwork]

18. I don't like any of the tyrants you name.

I do my best to help elect good leaders in the U.S. who don't cozy up to dictators, but I get outvoted a lot. That doesn't change my personal feelings about the tyrants.

[flamingdem]

4. People Fidel was an idealist until threatened by the USA who had just destroyed a democratically

elected government in Guatemala.

The USA dominated Cuba since the 1800s -read your history to UNDERSTAND why Fidel rose up, he's nothing but the representative of the downtrodden Cuban people.

Downtrodden by? That is right, by US the USA.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

5. Most I've read are saying he stood up to Pax Americana.

[Lithos]

6. He's a mixed bag

He was a dictator in the worst sense of the word. However, he came to power and maintained power due to the worst things the US did.

In a lot of ways, he is a reflection of the failures of our own policies.

L-

[sarisataka]

7. I won't celebrate

his death. He was a human being and time removed him from power as effectively as any coup.

Death does not, however, erase his history. He may have had reason to oppose the U.S. and other countries but the end does not justify the means. Castro chose to be a dictator and will forever be counted among those who oppressed their own people.

[mike_c]

8. I have a great deal of respect for Fidel Castro....

His revolution overcame one of the despots of this hemisphere, and withstood the worst international bully on Earth for decades. I think his administration of post revolutionary Cuba must be understood in the context of relentless embargo and imposed isolation due to U.S. idealology. I hope that the Cuban people will forgive us for the harsh conditions we imposed because of knee jerk anti-communist paranoia.

Viva Fidel!

[DemocratSinceBirth]

9. Thank God we have a Constitution. Let's see if it holds.

Fidel Castro shut down newspapers, ran mock elections, imprisoned and in extreme cases executed dissidents. Deplorable stuff. Donald Trump and his followers would do the same thing , if they could.

That's why I can't get into a lather about the passing of Fidel Castro.


I will add Castro cared about his people, albeit he believed he and he alone knew what was best for them. Donald Trump only cares about Donald Trump.

[secondwind]

10. If he cared about his people, he would have allowed them to run their own businesses, he would have

shared some of the ONE BILLION he stored away for himself.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

12. The comparison was to the monster we just elected.

If Trump cared about his people he would have spent some of his billions on bringing Americans together instead of ripping them apart.

[elmac]

13. After looking at the mess most central American countries are in

after a hundred years of US intervention, mostly at the behest of corporations, Cuba has fared pretty well on their own, even with the embargo. I agree that Fadel was a mixed bag. He didn't bring the promised elections, democracy (though our so called Democracy is a BIG FAIL). He was not forgiving of his enemies but then he wasn't the Pope. I think his biggest fault was ruling by fear which is what we have to look forward to for many years.

[michello]

14. Right!

[burrowowl]

15. Yes!

[True Dough]

16. One thing can be said for sure...

Castro is one of the most polarizing figures in history.

[alarimer]

17. Left-wing dictators bad; right-wing dictators good.

I fail to see why Castro was so much worse than the others we supported over the years. Those sanctions hurt the people far more than they hurt the government. Batista was arguably much worse for people than Castro.

[Stinky The Clown]

19. You're arguing a different point when you bring up other right wing dictators.

Please note that the OP stated that Castro was no worse than Batista.

If you wish to argue about other right wing dictators, please start your own thread about that.