Castro's Dead. So What?

[10ClarionSt]

The only thing he ever did for us was frighten us to death when we young teenagers because we thought there was going to be a nukiller war. Good riddance I say.

[murraymints]

Raol his brother been in power for a good few years now..an important/notable name in history though..

[NoMercy]

Maybe relations between Cuba and America will thaw now and economic sanctions will be reviewed and rescinded.

Interesting to see how Raul Castro takes the country forward now.

[Prudie]

I suppose the Russians and Americans were blameless in frightening you to death. He was a great leader of his country. I feel so what about most of the celebrity deaths posted on here.

[mikey4444]

He defeated the hated Fulgencio Batista.

[Jomlett]

He almost made it to a century. Close, but no cigar.

[carolegif]

Remember the Bay of Pigs crisis. We at afternoon registration at school and we were terrified that nuclear war would break out at 3pm (the deadline). One boy asked if he could go home as he wanted to be with his parents when he died. The form mistress (the RE teacher) told us "I can guarantee that you will all be here tomorrow, so don't worry, that's why they are called deterrents". And she was right.

[mikey4444]

I too recall that !

[horselady]

I remember that too, very scared.

[Sqad]

AB is an odd place at times.........of all the obituaries we have had, ABers, Aber's bothers, daughters, sons, uncles, friends, friends sons, friends uncles brothers, singers, celebs.....etc etc....all with R.I.P attached......but here....so far, nobody has posted:

R.I.P Fidel Castro.

[mikey4444]

Sqad...Morning !

Difficult man to defend, but where would Cuba have been if he hadn't defeated
Batista ?

In the hands of corrupt American business men and/or the Mafia perhaps ?

[Sqad]

Morning mikey.

[mikey4444]

Trump casinos perhaps ?

[Sqad]

Mikey...as you well know, i am not a fan of State Medicine, but the health care in Cuba in the 60's and 70's was well run, of high standard and Cuban trained surgeons were of a high standard.

[jno]

quite so, Sqad. Devoted much of his nation's wealth to health and education, which other countries don't seem to think matter so much.

Those who remember only the Cuban crisis forget why it happened: because the Americans had been lining up nukes in Turkey aimed at Russia, so Russia put some in Turkey aimed at America. It wasn't Castro who was the problem.

So the Americans planned to kill him with exploding cigars, or by poisoning his wetsuit, or his milk shake

http://mentalfloss.com/article/30010/10-ways-cia-tried-kill-castro

[jno]

pfft... Russia but them in CUBA...

[pastafreak]

If it was for him,Batista,and all the upheaval of that period,I probably would not have my lovely SIL...who left/escaped Cuba with her family at that time.

[pastafreak]

"If it WASN'T for him..."

[anotheoldgit]

I have visited Cuba and under Castro it was run very well, as said before they had a wonderful health service and strangely a very workable transport system, workers would stand by the road side and any vehicle that had room for passengers, be them cars or lorries had to stop and pick up passengers.

They loved the British and anything British, but hated the Americans.

[New Judge]

“…where would Cuba have been if he hadn't defeated “

Nobody can tell. But I don’t know if you’ve ever been to Cuba, Mikey; I have, a number of times. It's probably easier to look at where they might not be.

- They might not now be in a position where basic essentials are rationed, with personal quotas being only sufficient for two weeks of every four (with the remaining two weeks’ supplies having to be purchased at almost unaffordable prices).

- They might not have to endure compulsory car sharing with “yellow policemen” (don’t ask, but it’s what AOG refers to and it still goes on) rigorously enforcing the rule that does not allow car owners to travel solo due to fuel shortages.

- They may not be in a position where their best doctors and surgeons have effectively been “sold” to Latin American nations to recoup the cost of their training. (Indeed their healthcare services were on par with the best even up to the 1990s but they certainly are not now).

- They may not be in such a parlous financial state that their professionals (doctors, lawyers and the like) are forced to take second jobs or do odd jobs to get by because of the suppressed wage structure they endure.

Castro’s stance against The Mighty Satan was admirable and principled and nobody can criticise that. But his version of Communism reduced his country (and its citizens) to penury. (This should not be a surprise as all versions of that philosophy have seen the same end). The country is in a state of utter decay. It looks very nice from the outside, but the buildings (including many hospitals) in many of its cities are in a state of utter dilapidation. The famous American “gas guzzler” cars are held together with string. Many of the buses are falling apart. (Only recently have imported vehicles from the Far East started to arrive to address the problem). Speaking to Cubans now it is clear that the country’s recent overtures towards the US have left many of them in despair. They feel they (and their predecessors) have made enormous sacrifices to keep their country free from the influence of America only to fear that it will be reduced to an offshore annexe of McDonalds and Disneyworld. It needs investment but to turn it into an island version of Florida is not a good idea. Cuba is a fine country and it is a wonderful place to visit. But I don’t think that will last too long.

[jno]

NJ, it's not just Disneyworld. One of the reasons for the government's unpleasantly hard line against homosexuality was that before the revolution Americans treated it as an offshore gay brothel. They won't be happy for those days to return.