Cuba's Fidel Castro, former president, dies aged 90

[MenInG]

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-38114953

Fidel Castro, Cuba's former president and leader of the Communist revolution, has died aged 90, state TV has announced.
It provided no further details.

Fidel Castro ruled Cuba as a one-party state for almost half a century before handing over the powers to his brother Raul in 2008.
His supporters praised him as a man who had given Cuba back to the people. But his opponents accused him of brutally suppressing opposition.

In April, Fidel Castro gave a rare speech on the final day of the country's Communist Party congress.
He acknowledged his advanced age but said Cuban communist concepts were still valid and the Cuban people "will be victorious".

"I'll soon be 90," the former president said, adding that this was "something I'd never imagined".

"Soon I'll be like all the others, "to all our turn must come," Fidel Castro said.

Fidel Castro's key dates

1926: Born in the south-eastern Oriente Province of Cuba
1953: Imprisoned after leading an unsuccessful rising against Batista's regime
1955: Released from prison under an amnesty deal
1956: With Che Guevara, begins a guerrilla war against the government
1959: Defeats Batista, sworn in as prime minister of Cuba
1960: Fights off CIA-sponsored Bay of Pigs invasion by Cuban exiles
1962: Sparks Cuban missile crisis by agreeing that USSR can deploy nuclear missiles in Cuba
1976: Elected president by Cuba's National Assembly
1992: Reaches an agreement with US over Cuban refugees
2008: Stands down as president of Cuba due to health issues

 

[MenInG]

Imran Khan's messages on Tw in condolence

1. Today the world lost an iconic revolutionary leader Fidel Castro who liberated his nation from all vestiges of imperialism.
2. Castro reasserted the Cuban nation's dignity & self worth that withstood US aggression & became a global ldr for anti colonial
3. We in Pakistan will always remember with gratitude Cuba's support on the ground in the aftermath of the 2008 earthquake

 

[Robert]

Farewell Maximum Leader.

Facinated by his intervention in the SA-Angola-Namibia-Zambia Bush War, which I was not aware of until [MENTION=132916]Junaids[/MENTION] told me.

 

[Junaids]

Farewell Maximum Leader.

Facinated by his intervention in the SA-Angola-Namibia-Zambia Bush War, which I was not aware of until [MENTION=132916]Junaids[/MENTION] told me.

I would guess that there will be a heavyweight South African contingent at the funeral.

I remember visiting the District Six museum in Cape Town, commemorating a former multi-racial suburb which was ethnically cleansed by Apartheid. Castro was treated as the man who "liberated" South Africa, and Cuito Cuanavale was treated as the decisive battle.

As [MENTION=7774]Robert[/MENTION] pointed out before, it was at most a draw on the ground, but I would add that when Cuba achieved air superiority in 1988-89 Apartheid was finished.

 

[gani999]

RIP.

I never agreed with the man's politics but at least, he wasn't a hypocrite who used communism to get rich while keeping his people poor.

 

[JaDed]

RIP ,only good face of communism.

 

[shaz619]

It's remarkable how Castro as instrumental in Cuba implementing communist ideologies in practice and made them work for so long, RIP

 

[Markhor]

RIP, Castro is right up there as one of the big 20th Century, Cold War-era figures.

Many criticise the nature of Cuba's regime, the oppressive nature of which I deplore, but one must understand the climate in which it developed. The US agenda in Latin America during the Cold War sponsored the toppling of left leaning democratic governments by brutal fascist dictatorships. In the face of external threats societies tend to become more repressive. Castro himself was the target of multiple assassinations.

Yet not only did he survive, but was able to provide for his people things even some developed countries did not (notably his archenemy the US) such as free universal healthcare and education despite the embargo and sanctions imposed.

There are other negative parts of Castro's regime that must be acknowledged, LGBT rights being one example, with gays being sent to labour camps in the 60s and 70s. However Cuba is improving on this issue.

He is as polarising in death as he was in life - but it cannot denied he left his mark on history.

 

[chacha kashmiri]

Sad he ended up dying at 90
The movement he started will definitely derail rate him higher than che although che was evidently the more popular

 

[Junaids]

Farewell Maximum Leader.

Facinated by his intervention in the SA-Angola-Namibia-Zambia Bush War, which I was not aware of until [MENTION=132916]Junaids[/MENTION] told me.

First time I've seen the media report this since Tiny Rowland's "The Observer" reported in 1989 Castro's quadruple ultimatum to PW Botha to vacate the presidency, give Namibia independence within 12 months, release Mandela and end Apartheid or he would overrun Namibia and then bomb Cape Town from Walvis Bay.

His newfound air superiority meant that he could. And he showed it at the Calueque Dam.

People thought Rowland was mad, but he had excellent connections in Southern Africa.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-38130554

 

[shaz619]

Farewell Maximum Leader.

Facinated by his intervention in the SA-Angola-Namibia-Zambia Bush War, which I was not aware of until [MENTION=132916]Junaids[/MENTION] told me.

I would guess that there will be a heavyweight South African contingent at the funeral.

I remember visiting the District Six museum in Cape Town, commemorating a former multi-racial suburb which was ethnically cleansed by Apartheid. Castro was treated as the man who "liberated" South Africa, and Cuito Cuanavale was treated as the decisive battle.

As [MENTION=7774]Robert[/MENTION] pointed out before, it was at most a draw on the ground, but I would add that when Cuba achieved air superiority in 1988-89 Apartheid was finished.

RIP, Castro is right up there as one of the big 20th Century, Cold War-era figures.

Many criticise the nature of Cuba's regime, the oppressive nature of which I deplore, but one must understand the climate in which it developed. The US agenda in Latin America during the Cold War sponsored the toppling of left leaning democratic governments by brutal fascist dictatorships. In the face of external threats societies tend to become more repressive. Castro himself was the target of multiple assassinations.

Yet not only did he survive, but was able to provide for his people things even some developed countries did not (notably his archenemy the US) such as free universal healthcare and education despite the embargo and sanctions imposed.

There are other negative parts of Castro's regime that must be acknowledged, LGBT rights being one example, with gays being sent to labour camps in the 60s and 70s. However Cuba is improving on this issue.

He is as polarising in death as he was in life - but it cannot denied he left his mark on history.

Did Castro betray Che Guevara by sending him on a suicide mission to Bolivia to lead a revolution there? he had little support with him in terms of military strength and the the people of Bolivia didn't get behind him in the same manner they did in Cuba.

It is said that Castro cut off communication with Che during the mission and refused to sign off on a force going out to rescue him. His betrayal makes sense because Che was a popular guy and he may have saw him as a threat, there are also accounts which suggest that Castro wanted him dead so that his relationship didn't sour with the Soviet Union whom Che had openly criticised repeatedly and put them on the level of USA when it came to exploiting working people.

 

[Thivagar]

Rip

 

[KingKhanWC]

RIP. Standing up to American imperialism the way he did was nothing short of miraculous.

 

[Robert]

First time I've seen the media report this since Tiny Rowland's "The Observer" reported in 1989 Castro's quadruple ultimatum to PW Botha to vacate the presidency, give Namibia independence within 12 months, release Mandela and end Apartheid or he would overrun Namibia and then bomb Cape Town from Walvis Bay.

His newfound air superiority meant that he could. And he showed it at the Calueque Dam.

People thought Rowland was mad, but he had excellent connections in Southern Africa.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-38130554

Mandela spoke highly of him, visiting Cuba and inviting Castro to speak in Pretoria.

 

[moghul]

OK he ruled Cuba for more than 50 years, but at end of the day all he gave Cuba , poverty, isolation, dictaorship and no freedom of speach. Whats the use of this kind of leaders.

 

[Last Monetarist]

https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/castro-says-he-is-retiring-will-keep-defending-cubas-1959-revolution-2021-04-16/

Raul Castro confirmed he was handing over the leadership of the Cuban Communist Party to a younger generation at its congress that kicked off on Friday, ending six decades of rule by himself and older brother Fidel.

In a speech opening the four-day event, Castro, 89, said the new leadership would be party loyalists with decades of experience working their way up the ranks and were "full of passion and anti-imperialist spirit."

Castro had said at the previous party congress in 2016 it would be the last one led by the "historic generation" who fought in the Sierra Maestra to topple a U.S.-backed dictator in the 1959 leftist revolution.

He already handed over the presidency in 2018 to protege Miguel Diaz-Canel, 60, who ran the party in two provinces before joining the national government.

The new generation of leaders, which did not forge itself through rebellion, has no easy task. The transition comes as Cuba faces the worst economic crisis since the collapse of former benefactor the Soviet Union, while there are signs of growing frustration, especially among younger Cubans.

"I believe fervently in the strength and exemplary nature and comprehension of my compatriots, and as long as I live I will be ready with my foot in the stirrups to defend the fatherland, the revolution and socialism," Castro told hundreds of party delegates gathered at a convention center in Havana.

The congress, the party's most important meeting, held every five years to review policy and fix leadership, is a closed-door event but excerpts are being broadcast on state television.

Castro himself became acting president when Fidel fell ill in 2006 and later in 2011 party leader, launching a raft of social and economic reforms to open up one of the world's last Communist-run countries that later stalled.

On Friday, he hailed Diaz-Canel as one of the new generation of leaders that was picking up where he left off.

Castro's olive green military fatigues contrasted with the civil get-up of his protege, who is widely expected to succeed him as party first secretary, the most powerful position in Cuba's one-party system.

Older Cubans said they would miss having a Castro at the helm, although most acknowledged it was time to pass on the baton.

"It's another stage," said Maria del Carmen Jimenez, a 72-year old retired nurse, "but without a double we will miss him."

Castro denounced renewed U.S. hostility under former President Donald Trump. Incumbent President Joe Biden has vowed to roll back some of Trump’s sanctions, although the White House said on Friday a shift in Cuba policy was not among his top foreign policy priorities.

Castro said Cuba was ready for a "new type of relationship with the United States without ... Cuba having to renounce the principles of the revolution and socialism."

Cuba's new leaders face pressure to speed up reform, particularly economic change, which is foremost on citizens' minds, especially younger Cubans who have known only crisis, analysts say.

A tightening of the decades-old U.S. trade embargo and the coronavirus pandemic have exacerbated a liquidity crisis in Cuba's ailing centrally planned economy. Shortages of even basic goods mean Cubans spend hours lining up to buy groceries.

And Havana has dollarized parts of the economy, leaving those who do not receive remittances from family abroad or did not earn hard currency from tourism struggling to get by. That has eaten away at equality, a pillar of the party's legitimacy.

Since the expansion of internet access in recent years, Cubans are increasingly using social media as a platform to express criticism, while online non-state media are challenging the state monopoly of mass media.

Tight control of public spaces by the authorities means protests are still relatively rare and small-scale, but they are on the increase nationwide on issues as varied as excessive red tape to curbs on civil liberties.

Castro said on Friday it was important to pursue reform with greater "dynamism", denouncing - as he has in the past - "inertia, conformism, the lack of initiative" in state companies. The government has resumed a set of economic reforms the party agreed on at its 2011 congress in recent months, in particular eradicating Cuba's dual currency, multiple exchange rate system in January.

Yet Castro said reforms fomenting the non-state sector should not go beyond certain limits that would lead to the "very destruction of socialism and the end of national sovereignty."

Party militants like Rogelio Machado, a mathematics teacher, say they were confident the new generation was up to walking that tightrope.

"Our country need changes and the new generation is more scientifically prepared to continue the path of socialism," he said.

But government critics like "artivist" Luis Manuel Otero Alcantara, whom Havana accuses of being part of a U.S.-backed soft coup attempt, say the death knell is sounding for the revolution.

“Raul is passing over the power to someone with little charisma and who does not have much popular support,” he said while staging his latest performance against the government, in which he sits in a garrote for the four days of the congress. “This takes us one step closer to democracy.”

 

[Last Monetarist]

https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/cubas-raul-castro-leaves-political-stage-his-legacy-yet-be-written-2021-04-18/

Raul Castro, who is retiring from high public office, for most of his life toiled in the shadow of his older brother, Fidel Castro. Yet he also played a key role in Cuba's 1959 leftist revolution and the preservation of Cuban socialism.

While Fidel was the charismatic leader who rallied Cubans to defend the revolution and defy the United States, Raul, 89, built the military into a formidable fighting force that saw off enemies including a U.S.-backed invasion at the Bay of Pigs.

Later, after the fall of former benefactor the Soviet Union sent Cuba into an economic tailspin and left it politically isolated, he launched market-style reforms to its centralized economy and sought to normalize relations with Western powers.

But he leaves office amid an economic crisis that has caused shortages of even basic goods and is threatening the universal access to quality healthcare and education hailed by supporters of Cuban socialism as among the most important achievements of the revolution.

Former U.S. President Donald Trump unraveled a detente Castro reached with his predecessor Barack Obama and tightened the decades-old U.S. trade embargo. The rollout of internet has fueled internal dissent.

Still, some thirty years after the end of the Cold War, Cuba remains one of the last Communist-run countries in the world.

"Always preferring the supportive role to his brother and carrying out that role brilliantly, Raul eventually had to take on Fidel's leadership himself at a time when the revolution showed every sign of faltering," said Hal Klepak, a Canadian historian living in Havana who wrote a book on Raul's military life.

"That it is still there, wounded and shaken but still there, in the face of massively powerful forces out to destroy it, is no small part a result of his leadership."

Raul backed Fidel in his revolution against the U.S.-backed dictator Fulgencio Batista since the beginning in 1953, when they led a failed assault on the Moncada military barracks. Later he demonstrated his leadership in the guerilla uprising in the Sierra Maestra mountains that finally overthrew Batista.

In the early years of Cuba's one party system, he was known as an iron-fisted ideologue who was involved in the summary trials and executions of Batista supporters, and later the imprisonment of thousands of political prisoners.

He also built a rag-tag bunch of guerillas into a feared army that fought "anti-imperialist" wars abroad, most notably in Angola where Cuban soldiers helped defeat South African troops.

An early admirer of communism, it was Raul and Ernesto "Che" Guevara, the Argentine-born doctor turned Marxist revolutionary, who persuaded Fidel to seek support from the Soviet Union.

But he was also quick to launch reforms to move Cuba away from a Soviet-style command economy after the fall of the Berlin Wall plunged the Caribbean island nation into economic crisis.

First he established thriving enterprises within the armed forces - which now control much of the economy.

Then he pushed for broader reforms upon becoming president in 2008, expanding the private sector, seeking to decentralize state institutions and opening the economy to greater foreign investment.

"He deserves merit for having opened this door although later it ran into many problems with implementation and achieved fairly modest results," said Ricardo Torres, a professor of economics with the Center for the Study of the Cuban Economy at the University of Havana.

In addition to his historic detente with Obama, Castro improved relations with the European Union.

"Raul's 12 years in power will be remembered for the transformative policies he attempted to carry out despite concerted opposition from regime hardliners," said Brian Latell, a former CIA analyst who has written books on both brothers.

Latell noted that the U.S. rapprochement in 2014 happened despite opposition from his brother, who died two years later.

Castro also sought to strengthen the institutions of a system originally focused on a single leader and the so-called historic generation of guerrilla fighters, to ensure a smooth handover of power to a younger generation of party cadres.

He introduced age and term limits on leaders and oversaw the approval of a new constitution in 2019 that contributed to decentralizing power. In 2018 he had handed the presidency to a protege, Miguel Diaz-Canel, and reduced his public appearances.

His retirement from the even more powerful position of Cuban Communist Party first secretary, expected to be made official on Monday, will end six decades of rule by the Castro brothers.

Addressing party members last week, he said he will remain a footsoldier for the revolution "until the end of my days".

The jury is out on whether he will be remembered as a successful reformer, or as the caretaker of a failing socialist experiment, say analysts.

"For all his reputation as the pragmatic Castro, he did little beyond successfully managing the transition to a second-tier leadership," said Sebastian Arcos, associate director of Florida International University's Cuban Research Institute, whose father and uncle were prominent dissidents. "And no one knows how long that will last."