Fidel Castro

[latindane]

Gracias señor.

Orwell, a democratic socialist...

Well that was appropriate

 

[HappyHighwayman]

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/28/world/americas/juanita-castro-sister-fidel-cuba.html

Not even his sister liked him or spoke to him in 50 years.

 

[postcholo]

this breaking news just in: generalissimo fidel castro is still dead

 

[mrmarklin]

this breaking news just in: generalissimo fidel castro is still dead

You relieve my mind.

 

[m_asim]

A few FOF are allowed to travel, but it's rare.

ALL of my Cuban friends and acquaintances can go home with ease. So I don't know where that rarity you refer to comes from.

I know in this day and age this is looked down upon, but do you have any proof to back your claim?

It is also a far cry from freedom if people are willing to get on an un-seaworthy vessel to try to cross the open water in hopes that they don't get caught. They are risking death, or prison time if they are caught in exchange their freedom.

Slavery comes in different forms. Some would say if they are not free, they are a slave.

By your definition, people putting themselves in danger to come to USA, Mexico is a much bigger slavery-state considering the large number of Mexicans who perish trying to enter US illegally.

He may be an a-hole dictator but world is never black and white. I wonder how many know (or even care to know since it is easier to rant and whine) that a year before he led the rebellion against Batista regime, he was in NY before he headed off to Mexico for his second attempt at dislodging Batista's military regime?

Even after the revolution, his first trip was to US not Moscow.

Only after getting spurned, he turned to USSR. And Bay of Pigs misadventure sealed any hope of reconciliation.

In hindsight, it would have been better/cheaper to keep him in our orbit despite American gangsters losing rights to their Cuban casinos, brothels and resorts. We supported far worse dictators in South America, Africa, Middle East and SE Asia.

This is also a lesson in how we can't be ignorant about the rest of the world. Ignorant people are easier to influence in making decisions that are not in their best interests.

P.S. Raul may not live for many more years either. Anybody got connections to properties in Havana?

 

[Eldritch]

Some leftists by not the "left" like Castro, but by and large he was not reverred, except perhaps in his ability to stand up to the USA


He was not, for the most part, a good leader. But the history is far more complex than that and just breaking down to good/bad

True, there are many shades of grey in the world, but the important thing to remember here is that Communists are not people, they are a social disease.

 

[redruM]

meh. this thread needs some Compay

[youtube]UXwLBS3yUkA[/youtube]

 

[kevin 714]

The very first economic sojourn Che did for Castro was attempt to sell and secure sugar contracts with the USA, which we turned down

 

[Ogier le Danois]

The very first economic sojourn Che did for Castro was attempt to sell and secure sugar contracts with the USA, which we turned down

Do you know when the first special trade deal was allowed by the US to Cuba post revolution? I'm having trouble googling it up. I thought it was the 90s but a coworker said in the late 60s.

I'm surprised the news media didn't pay much attention

 

[m_asim]

I'm surprised the news media didn't pay much attention

News has become entertainment. They will pay attention to whatever will bring people to watch their channel or website. It is a black and white world where gray tones don't exist.

 

[Reli]

Portraying Miami Cubans as descendants of gangsters and rich people is an old cliché that's only partly true

 

[elbacalao]

Portraying Miami Cubans as descendants of gangsters and rich people is an old cliché that's only partly true

No, not really. When Los Van Van, the most important musical group to come out of Cuba ever, arguably, started touring the US they sold out shows everywhere they went without drama, including here in SF. In miami? Bomb and death threats. It took them years before they could book a show in Miami.

An acquaintance of mine, whose father is a wealthy banker who fled Fidel like the rest of the privileged fucks in 59, was the ONLY Cuban I know, of many, who posted an happy comment about Castro dying on social media. Thankfully the younger generations of cubans in miami, by and large, dont share their grandparents or parents hatred of castro, nor do they wish to continue the embargo, but those in miami celebrating Castro's death are most assuredly former prisoners or simply wealthy cubans or their kin who lost it all when he took power.

 

[Johndicezx9]

Plenty of young people celebrating in Miami...

 

[Reli]

No, not really. When Los Van Van, the most important musical group to come out of Cuba ever, arguably, started touring the US they sold out shows everywhere they went without drama, including here in SF. In miami? Bomb and death threats. It took them years before they could book a show in Miami.

An acquaintance of mine, whose father is a wealthy banker who fled Fidel like the rest of the privileged fucks in 59, was the ONLY Cuban I know, of many, who posted an happy comment about Castro dying on social media. Thankfully the younger generations of cubans in miami, by and large, dont share their grandparents or parents hatred of castro, nor do they wish to continue the embargo, but those in miami celebrating Castro's death are most assuredly former prisoners or simply wealthy cubans or their kin who lost it all when he took power.

Like I said, it's partly true, but not all true. Some of them just wanted to leave period, not because they were wealthy people trying to protect their wealth. BTW why does being wealthy necessarily make one a "privileged fuck"? Not all of them acquired their wealth illegitimately.

 

[elbacalao]

Plenty of young people celebrating in Miami...

Youth dont need a reason to party....but the fact is that the younger generation of miami based cuban american's just dont hate castro the way their parents/grandparents/elders do....

http://www3.alternet.org/story/11360/the_latin_grammys_and_the_post-castro_generation

"There is also a greater underlying problem playing out these days in South Florida. While Miami's anti Castro groups will claim victory in their latest battle against all things communist, their fight is part of a waning and increasingly irrelevant war. In recent weeks, a clear split has emerged between old guard elements of the US antoi Castro movement and a younger generation of cuban-american leader who that new times require new thinking. More than a dozen hardline activists recently quit the board of the powerful Cuban American National Foundation - upset over the group's broadening and softening agenda."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/30/miamis-cuban-exiles_n_1120781.html

Ann Louise Bardach, an author and Cuba expert, said the Cuban American political leadership is woefully out of touch. Newer arrivals, she said, overwhelmingly favor strengthening bonds with Communist Cuba. Bardach was part of a Brookings Institution panel that two years ago recommended “critical and constructive engagement” with the island.

“There’s a big disconnect between what’s on the ground and what’s in the political arena, more so than ever,” said Bardach, author of “Without Fidel: A Death Foretold in Miami, Havana, and Washington.”

“It used to be they walked in lockstep and harmony,” she added. “Now the overwhelming majority of the exile community really has shifted to engagement in a profound way. The demographics are against the hardliners but they retain the seats of power.”