Fidel Castro

ICBM

Love him or loathe him, he was a giant of the 20th Century.

RIP

octatonic

He seemed to hang on for quite a while.

boogieman

I thought he was already dead tbh. 

Nitefly

I was a youngster in America at the time of the Missile Crisis (1962?), and I remember he wasn't a popular chap then - we all thought the world was going to end...

The popular cry in Cuba was "Castro si, Yanqui no!"

Amazing that he carried on in power for such a long time in the face of the American embargoes, although I understand his human rights record is a bit iffy.

RIP.

DesVegas

One of the best beards in the business.

scrumhalf

When i was out there a few years ago it was interesting talking to people about the post-Castro era.

More than a few expected trouble if the Cubans who got out as Castro deposed Batista saw themselves as a government in exile and tried to assert their right to govern on returning to Cuba.

BigBearKris

I've been to Cuba few times and every time I talked to the locals they spoke about him with reserve, but great respect.
I think he was one of the reasons why Cuba held it's identity. Always proud of their own heritage - poor and lacking in many aspects but so great in many others.

RIP

HAL9000

CIA 0: Grim Reaper 1

RIP

Chalky

Have you lost your minds?  The man executed any Cuban who seriously disagreed with him. Rest in peace? On behalf of the families of those he had executed, may he burn in hell. For eternity.

Fretwired

Good riddance. The man ran a brutal dictatorship. The model for North Korea.

MattBanshee

Cuba probably has a better human rights record than the USA, and definitely better heathcare.

Chalky

And he probably 'made the trains run on time'.... 

Teetonetal

Brutal and murderous. Very pleased to hear he gas gone. Mugabe next please.

axisus

He must have been great as Corbyn seems to think so.

littlegreenman

And who do Fox News ask for comments?

IvanMC

Long-standing controversy coming up again! The world has changed... Cuba has always been packed with economic misery... but then Haiti, the Dominican Republc and many other places in Central America are hugely worse. Ticklish matter. Things went awry in Cuba indeed. What now? Will his brother pass away too and then all of us will head to Cuba to scope out the job situation and suddenly find out that now it's a flawless place to settle down and rear children? I don't take my hat off to him. I don't consider him the worst human creature of all time either. Has anyone of you ever been to Cuba? I haven't. It must be interesting to get to know it. Cheers.

Fretwired

MattBanshee said:

Cuba probably has a better human rights record than the USA, and definitely better heathcare.

Try telling that to the gay community who were rounded up, tortured and experimented on. Try telling that to those who died in poverty through starvation. And tell that to the families of those who stood up to Castro who just disappeared in jails where they were murdered. The man was a brutal dictator.

If Cuba was so good why did people risk their lives in flimsy boats to get to the USA?

Don't give me all this cool left Corbyn crap about being a giant of the 20th century. The same could apply to Hitler. Cubans in the USA are partying hard .. Havana is empty. and quiet.

Chalky

Corbyn praises despotic muderous tyrant. You couldn't make it up...

Paul_C

HAL9000 said:

CIA 0: Grim Reaper 1

RIP

 
to paraphrase a picture I saw on Imgur

The USA couldn't kill him but even Castro couldn't survive 2016

Heartfeltdawn

Chalky said:

Corbyn praises despotic muderous tyrant. You couldn't make it up...

Politicians love dictators. Thatcher sold Saddam Hussain weapons, the US had a pact with Franco thanks to his anti-Communist ways whilst showering a thug like Jorge Videla in Argentina with support and there are countless other dodgy regimes backed by Western countries. Politicians love dictators when those dictators support a particular agenda. 

Brad

Chalky said:

Corbyn praises despotic muderous tyrant. You couldn't make it up...

Thatcher also praised a despotic murderous tyrant. You couldn't make it up...