Fidel Castro dies

[newcastle]

"The commander in chief of the Cuban revolution died at 22:29 hours this evening (03:29 GMT Saturday)," President Raul Castro said.

Fidel Castro ruled Cuba as a one-party state for almost 50 years before Raul took over in 2008.

His supporters said he had given Cuba back to the people. But he was also accused of suppressing opposition.



One of my earliest memories (outside of the narrow confines of home, family school etc.) was the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962. I was vaguely aware of momentous things happening, hushed discussions around the TV & radio...although I was certainly not aware of what was going on.

When, in later years, I read the detail of the events - and how close the world came to nuclear armageddon, it was chilling.

[Horus]

It was very scary at the time, Kruschev was very vocal and his general demeanour indicated he would not back down, so when Kennedy called his bluff it was a tense time. I remember very well the shots taken from aircraft as the ships carrying the missiles continued towards Cuba and the relief as they finally turned around. Although I think it was Kruschevs realisation that Castro would actually use the missiles against America, rather than anything else that made him back down.

[Hafiz]

Horus is right. Subsequent histories have indicated that Castro was not fully under the control of the Russians and wanted to launch the missiles – even after the Russians backed down.

He was an unstable, violent and populist leader. Nothing new in the world. Although its also true that health and education work well in Cuba.

He locked up and tortured tens of thousands of his own people but is still romantically regarded by leftists in the west, most recently in the outrageous biased coverage of his death by the BBC world service. A former Australian ambassador was also shamelessly nostalgic for the old crook whilst, on the other hand, a journalist who interviewed him several times described scenes of explosive anger and his inability to even listen to an opposing view.

Fascinatingly, in the light of naive views about how a weak president is protected by strong institutions and advice, the tapes of all the white house meetings are in the public domain show the best advice to be bad. Kennedy’s cabinet were all for war and JFK’s brother Robert was all over the shop and sometimes backed war. LBJ was for war. Kennedy showed great calm and logic whilst all the chooks around him ran amok. The tapes prove that for all his failings and inability to get his program through congress he was a great and wise leader with the presence of mind to stick to his guns against all advice in the most dangerous moment in human history.

Lets hope Trump is not like him and accepts all advice.

[newcastle]

Horus is right. Subsequent histories have indicated that Castro was not fully under the control of the Russians and wanted to launch the missiles – even after the Russians backed down.

..........and his Castro) inability to even listen to an opposing view.


...........


Lets hope Trump is not like him and accepts all advice.

Indeed. Particularly regarding nuclear proliferation, where he's been sending out mixed signals

The Russians recognised the danger in leaving even tactical nuclear weapons in the hands of Castro, notwithstanding that the Americans were unaware of their presence on the island. He was livid when they were withdrawn unilaterally by his Russian allies.

Trump has said, on more than one occasion, that Japan, and perhaps South Korea, could have their own nuclear arsenal.

[Who2]

When I was young I read every book Régis Debray wrote, ‘Hemingway's Boat, all of Che's, Fidels' My Life, Juan Almeida Bosque ect.....

I reckon I was pretty all clued up at the age of 18 years...'Wanting to change the world, Well who didn't ?.....

[A-Four]

It was very scary at the time, Kruschev was very vocal and his general demeanour indicated he would not back down, so when Kennedy called his bluff it was a tense time.

Let us not for get it was not just Kruschev who had to eat 'humble pie', and although then as now, we hear very little in the West of what sacrifice Kennedy had to make. If I remember rightly the U.S. were forced to remove vital missile bases in Turkey, pointed directly at Moscow, as part of the big agreement.

[Horus]

It was the sitings of misiles in Turkey that prompted Kruschevs actions in sending misiles to Cuba in the first place. I would not say that either "ate humble pie" rather that both realised that they needed to compromise.

[Hafiz]

The US did not eat humble pie, it conned the Russians. If the Russian Cuba move was in response to US missiles in Turkey, then it must have been a very delayed move because they had been there so long they were now obsolete in 1962.

The US was going to withdraw the Turkey nuclear missiles in any event and because they were obsolete. The private and secret offer to Khrushchev was to make it easier to get the Cuba withdrawal past his cabinet and generals and on the basis that the Russians did not know that they were to be soon withdrawn for other reasons. The ploy worked.

Dean Rusk published the following: “the president, Bundy, McNamara, Bobby Kennedy, and I (Dean Rusk) met in the Oval Office, where after some discussion I suggested that since the Jupiters in Turkey were coming out in any event, we should inform the Russians of this so that this irrelevant question would not complicate the solution of the missile sites in Cuba.” http://nsarchive.gwu.edu/nsa/cuba_mis_cri/moment.htm

As far as Castro is concerned I read today that the 'father of the worker' prohibited strikes. There was one, although it ended badly for the strikers. Apologists in the west also forget that until 3 years ago the only people able to leave the country for any reason were high party officials or those who left behind family hostages to guarantee good behavior and early return. What 'freedom fighter' doesn't even let the aggrieved leave - although he did empty the jails and asylums a few times and put these 1000's on leaky vessels aimed at Florida.

Even the western trumpeting of his health and education achievements greatly overstates their practical results and ignores the large human costs that underpinned them.

At least the benighted Cuban's will now not have to listen to his 4/5/6 hour TV/radio speeches. These lengthy and boring/repetitive tirades always seemed to me to be evidence of a delusional personality.

[Horus]

There is no doubt in my mind that the missiles located in Turkey had an influence upon Khruschev’s thinking as they bordered the Soviet Union and in his eyes placing missiles in Cuba would restore the balance, even outdated systems can still be fired if necessary. He was already under strong criticism from his own hard liners for being too appeasing towards America, it also gave him a bargaining chip with regards to Berlin. Another aspect could be financial, missiles fired from Cuba (under Soviet control) could penetrate the USA without the need for the more expensive long range intercontinental ballistic missiles, thus freeing up funds for more conventional military needs.