Castro. The last of the greats is Dead. Entering an Era of Mediocrity

a reply to: marg6043

You won't find me saying that. Batista was every bit the monster Fidel Castro, and his brothers were and are. I knew people who fled him, too. They hoped to be able to return home after Castro took power...it was home, after all, but that dream died soon.

They ended up making a life for themselves in, of all places, the Shumagin Islands of Alaska. They owned, and operated, a fishing boat, and a small restaurant.

No, Batista was no better than Castro...none of my Cuban friends want anything like that back.

originally posted by: Indigent
what? marg6043 is not a good source now? but when you quoted her...

She said some end up like that.

Some US citizens end up like that in the US.

It does not make your case.

originally posted by: Willtell

originally posted by: bobs_uruncle
a reply to: Willtell

Didn't take long to see this was a fail lol, as soon as I saw Mandela, that was it for me. Mandela was a criminal terrorist, he and his terrorist buddies killed innocent people. He got out of his cushy prison in February 1990 and almost immediately left for Russia for more indoctrination. I was there when he got out. Yeah. Mandela lol. Drink more kool-aid.

Cheers - Dave

How about Hitler I guess you liked him...

If you keep on stretching, you might hurt yourself lol. Mandela was either directly or indirectly involved in killing thousands of innocent people. His promotion by the UN and IMF was part of sociological world view inversion program and quite successful in turning a terrorist into a "hero." There was more to it however, South Africa was rapidly becoming the only first world nation on the continent. That had to be stopped and it was, look at South Africa today. It's the result of capitulation by a traitor to the benefit of the IMF by a terrorist and his regime.

So glorifying the Castros and the Mandelas for me is the same as glorifying Pol pot, Mao, Stalin or Hitler, maybe even Hillary.

Cheers - Dave

a reply to: grey580

Yep. For so many Americans its just politics: ideology vs ideology. But the Cubans who starved under Castro's lies, its worth crying over. Even as we are losing our rights today, our mediocrats are far more respectable that the dictators of the past generations.

While I am happy that Castro has assumed room temperature, I fear that his brother will not be much better of a leader. Maybe there are people within Cuba now, who want freedom and were not willing to take on Fidel, but may feel emboldened now that he is gone.

a reply to: annoyedpharmacist

He stepped down about 5 years ago.

Seems to me diplomacy is being used instead of revolution.

I think that was, in part, the point of the OP. No more guys with a brass pair to pull together a force and topple a regime.

a reply to: Willtell

Edited for Content .*



Let's see , One says he was an OK Guy , the other says he was a Brutal Dictator . Which one got it Right ? Hmm....

a reply to: Zanti Misfit

Neither of them said he was an OK guy.

They said similar things in different ways.

a reply to: StallionDuck

Well , the Cuban population of Miami seem to be in a very peaceful protest. Laughing , music , dancing in the street . Old , young , police officers , criminals , atheists , religious all turned out to protest. Protesting InFidel lived as long as he did.....
Peace to all

Putin is a strong leader.

Liberals: But he's a dictator!!!!!

Castro was a dictator.

Liberals: But he was a strong leader!!!!

originally posted by: DBCowboy
Castro was a communist dictator.

In other words. . . . . an asshole.

He assumed room temperature and the world is better for it.

100 to 1 you support Russia in Syria with Assad.
Personally, I do as well, but then again I'm not a hypocrite who goes for one dictator while denouncing another.

He's the last of the old school, dictator types, that was left.

Growing up in So. FL, many of us learned he wasn't all that some say he was cracked up to be. That was unless you were a "white Cuban", having the higher chance of being from a wealthy family(come again?!) in Cuba.

a reply to: Willtell

im sure you've been roasted enough here....but Castro a "great leader"? I bet you typing that caused the earth to shift in Miami.

Sure, he was a great leader. Like Pol Pot.

a reply to: daskakik

Considering who they were toppling, it isn't too very surprising they succeeded, is it?

Batista was, in a phrase, an extremely unpleasant individual, and his lackeys even more so.

Fulgencio Batista was a monster, he was replaced by one.

People who blame Castro for the economic woes of Cuba are not giving credit where credit is due.

American sanctions, instigated by a few corporate predators who had their property confiscated and their businesses nationalized when Castro took over, are responsible for the low level of economic life in Cuba.

Blaming Castro for Cuban economic problems during the US economic embargo is like blaming Saddam Hussein for Iraqi infant deaths during the UN sanctions regime.

As far as tyranny goes, I think people should remember that sustaining a socialist revolution in the back yard of the most malevolent capitalist democracy on the planet requires an intense level of social control. The results are not wholly desirable, but some of them are very desirable.

Castro could not have kept Cuba free of American meddling and the schemes of exiled Cuban trouble makers without running aggressive security services. In a wonderful world, where the United States wasn't a paranoid, ideologically driven crackpot state, like Iran or Israel, Castro would not have needed to be a dictator.

a reply to: Willtell

It just saddens me to read the OP.


It takes so much more than being "lasting" to make a great leader. Shall we ask his people?

What current state are his people in? Do you think he cared about them?

Stalin, Hitler? WTF is wrong with you?

Our problem is the most people of today have no idea what real struggle or strive.

When was the last time you felt REAL hunger pains?
When was the last time you FEARED speaking your mind.

SMH...and this is why progress is stalled. People that have no idea what our ancestors really lived through!

a reply to: ipsedixit

THEY were going to let the old Soviet Union put missiles on their Island pointed towards the U.S.

Does that ring any bells for you?

We had to step up. And we did. It's a shame the people had to suffer because of this dictator willing to let the U.S. be destroyed. But the USSR had to be stopped and so they were. Thanks to JFK.

originally posted by: angeldoll
a reply to: ipsedixit

THEY were going to let the old Soviet Union put missiles on their Island pointed towards the U.S.

Does that ring any bells for you?

Of course, the Cuban Missile Crisis.

We had to step up. And we did.

After the Bay of Pigs Invasion Cuba had to step up too.

That's why the missiles were installed, or in process of being installed. Apparently, in soon to be published memoirs, Nikita Khrushchev says that they were meant to deter an American invasion. Castro, according to Khrushchev, was a hot head who wanted the Soviet Union to initiate a first atomic strike against the United States if Cuba were to be invaded, but this was an obviously ridiculous idea that was rejected by the Soviets.

It's a shame the people had to suffer because of this dictator willing to let the U.S. be destroyed. But the USSR had to be stopped and so they were. Thanks to JFK.

Thanks to JFK and Nikita Khrushchev. Khrushchev got American nukes out of Turkey and Italy and secured an agreement from JFK not to invade Cuba. The following is quoted from a letter written by Kennedy:

en.wikipedia.org...-crisis_revelations

The US will make a statement in the framework of the Security Council in reference to Cuba as follows: it will declare that the United States of America will respect the inviolability of Cuban borders, its sovereignty, that it take the pledge not to interfere in internal affairs, not to intrude themselves and not to permit our territory to be used as a bridgehead for the invasion of Cuba, and will restrain those who would plan to carry an aggression against Cuba, either from US territory or from the territory of other countries neighboring to Cuba.

a reply to: jellyrev
"How much fake news would you have to read to believe Castro was a great man The living conditions are not great, The economy only functions due to a large black market that most people accept as a way of life."
Really? Been there lately?

originally posted by: ipsedixit
People who blame Castro for the economic woes of Cuba are not giving credit where credit is due.

American sanctions, instigated by a few corporate predators who had their property confiscated and their businesses nationalized when Castro took over, are responsible for the low level of economic life in Cuba.

Blaming Castro for Cuban economic problems during the US economic embargo is like blaming Saddam Hussein for Iraqi infant deaths during the UN sanctions regime.

As far as tyranny goes, I think people should remember that sustaining a socialist revolution in the back yard of the most malevolent capitalist democracy on the planet requires an intense level of social control. The results are not wholly desirable, but some of them are very desirable.

Castro could not have kept Cuba free of American meddling and the schemes of exiled Cuban trouble makers without running aggressive security services. In a wonderful world, where the United States wasn't a paranoid, ideologically driven crackpot state, like Iran or Israel, Castro would not have needed to be a dictator.

Holy Smokes! We agree on a topic!

...and let's not forget the hypocrisy coming from a people who owe their collective arses to those benevolent folks running China and Saudi Arabia.