Hello Eudaimonia,
It is so good to hear from you. :)
Let us hope the history books treat him as the ignoble tyrant he was. By all accounts his brother Raul is more pragmatic, but even if he is not, he is not a young man either. I believe Obama's attempts at normalizing relations were premature. Just a little more patience... who knows?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BGLGz...
Respectfully,
O.A.

The only reason to celebrate his death would be if it also meant the death of tyranny in the small island nation. Nothing much has changed for the people who live there so there is nothing much to celebrate.

Like slaves to a slavemaster.

But 50 years is a long time for a dictator to rule without support from people

It's just hard to believe that a dictator can survive for 50 years without support from the people

I think it's called gun control. Hard to be free under the barrel of a dictator' s goon squad.

After the failure of the Bay of Pigs invasion, I don't the people of Cuba had much choice in the kind of government they got.

I think one sure bet is Carter going as he always seemed enamored with dictators. Any other A-list dem who goes can expect a lot of flak in the future.

Now for Raul, then maybe some change. Nothing more until then.

There is an addition to Eudemonia's comment, that I haven't heard in many years. Good riddance to bad rubbish. However, let us keep in mind that Cuba is still ruled by fascist dictators. Nothing much will change unless the people led by the military, make it so.

I would agree that not EVERYONE who stays in cubs is statist. Somehow they support Castro, or he would have been overthrown somehow in the 50 years + he and his brother are in control.

I think all those guys that put so much work into their old cars want freedom. I do agree that everyone else is static on the idea.

I dont think the Cubans that are left there WANT freedom. They are statists and got what they wanted. The Cubans who wanted freedom got it by getting in boats and leaving.

Castro was a dictator like all the other dictators. The world is better now that he is gone. This still leaves the Cuban people who were stupid enough to believe him and leave him in power for 50 years. They asked for what they got.

Assro could be used as proof that "the good die young" as in some song.

good riddance.

He should have been assassinated by the CIA after the Cuban missile crisis.

Anybody care to lay odds on whether Oblabla will attend the funeral? I think it's even money that he does. Now that he's not running for election anymore, he is more comfortable showing his Marxist ideals.

Damn dictators whether from the left or right disgust me, and I'm always glad to see them dead.

Hi Abaco,
Nothing like your mom's first hand experience, my observation of the limited videos I have seen of Cuba , one ex. Anthony Bourdain recently did a show. It appears as though the clock stopped in 1959. Many times over the decades people risked life and limbs to escape the anchor of socialism.

My mom and I were just talking about this. She spent some time in Cuba about a decade ago. She is clear that Castro crapped on his people for his reign.

One more castro to go...then maybe these people can have some freedom and join the rest of the world.

Pres Obama,
"History will judge the enormous impact Castro had on the rest of the world".
What is the message if any does this statement make?

Couldn't happen to a nicer guy. No one deserved it more.

President John Kennedy challenged those who endorsed communism: "Lass' sie nach Berlin kommen!" Let them come to Berlin - to see the contrast between East Berlin and West Berlin. Cuba was all of that and more.

I think that the final argument is that Cuba never developed an information infrastructure. If communism (socialism) held any promise, Cuba should have become the information nexus of the world, certainly of the western hemisphere. Instead of being in Austin, "Girls Who Code" would have been an annual festival in Havana. (That also exposes the lie that socialism is gender neutral.)

Cuba did attempt to make doctors an export item. Cuba tried to be a medical center for the Caribbean, which is why Hugo Chavez went there. And it is why the Cubans established a medical school on Grenada (prompting the US invasion). Their success, such as it was, was marginal at best. Socialism has no method for capitalizing intelligence: invention is impossible.