RIP Fidel Castro

Dr Crayfish

I've never been in Cuba, but I'd imagine it's probably what life will be like in the future when the current model of raping the Earth of everything becomes unsustainable. Maybe without the excellent healthcare.

Hande hoche!

Died on Pinochet's birthday. Right wing conspiracy?

BoJack Horseman

Minderbinder wrote: »

who unlike them had the courage to fight for what he believed in.

"Believing" in murderous dictatorship & repression of an entire nation isn't anything to admire.

I genuinely struggle to see the "courage" in communism.

brickmauser

smurgen wrote: »

The best thing about cuba is the cuban people.genuinely the nicest people i've met.we had people bragging to us about how safe it was there.had a bar man tell me he wouldn't go to jamica or miami because it seemed to dangerous.you could literally leave your wallet on a table there and it wouldn't be touched. Another positive is the cleanliness of the landscape.sure the cities were dirty but the castros banned the use of pesticides and artificial fertilizers.the landscape is pristine and the beachest are some of the nicest i've seem.absolutely spotless.

The people live in tyranny.

You remind me of the useful idiots given tours of the Soviet Union during the reign of Stalin who came back gushing about how happy and well fed the peasants were.

The Jews who arrived at Sobibor were greeted by pleasant speeches by the SS guards and smiles by the polite Jewish Sonderkommandos. The station had flower pots and beautiful music was played over the loudspeakers. Then they were marched off to their deaths.

Daily life is hell for ordinary Cubans.

Utterly sickening.

brickmauser

Ol' Donie wrote: »

This is the best thing ever. Just back from a trip to Cuba, prompted by this album.

Loved it. Mad place.

I'd very much be in the pro Fidel camp. Place was an absolute fiasco before he took it by the scruff of the neck.

Standing up to the US is a thing far more countries should do, and I suspect it's only going to become more important over the next four years.

At least you could leave.

You have free speech the right to vote you can use the internet freedom of movement freedom of religion freedom of thought and association.

The people of Cuba who Castro held by the scruff of the neck have none of your luxuries.

Dissidents intellectuals and opposition figures are locked up or exiled.

When Castro have his excruciating speeches the citizens were expected to listen to him adoringly.

Castro's one party system is hopelessly corrupt the country is an economic basket case the people live in wretched poverty.

You live in freedom democracy and plenty in the West yet you despise your civilization and praise one of the loathsome regimes on earth.

Shameful

The Talking Bread

Clandestine wrote: »

The president of my country just praised a dictator who was responsible for the exile and murder of countless numbers of his own citizens. To say I'm disgusted is an understatement. F*** Gerry Adams too, the clown.

At least Castro is burning in hell, and his stupid followers can join him there when father time takes them too.

Who did you vote for in the presidential election.

D. HIGGINS' views are widely known and were brought up time and again during the election. It's refreshing to see him maintain his political views. He had to make a statement, like all leaders will today and I respect that he was true to his thoughts.
What would you expect hime to say??

smurfjed

It appears that Castro had a falling out of some kind with the Catholic church after they stood up to him, so he imported an "African" religion into Cuba, unfortunately this religion believes in live sacrifices. We were brought to what should have been a lovely park within Havana, the place stank of rotten meat, you could see wrapped up shapes surrounded by flies. I wasn't inspired to stay in that area too long!

I'd very much be in the pro Fidel camp. Place was an absolute fiasco before he took it by the scruff of the neck.

What do you mean by an absolute fiasco, to me, it looked as it 90% of the infrastructure was built in the 1950's, including the fabulous hospitals that some talk about.

The Talking Bread

Ol' Donie wrote: »

chicorytip wrote: »

"A giant among global leaders". Does this declaration by President Michael D.Higgins seem inappropriate given what ought to be the "apolitical" nature of the office he holds?

Naw, man. He thinks everyone else is a giant.

So essentially he just said he was a world leader who was taller than him!

osarusan

Names don't come any cooler than Fidel Castro.

Best named leader ever.

Clandestine

Minderbinder wrote: »

Yeah and it's quite something to see those in Miami celebrating the death of a feeble old man who they were still petrified of until yesterday.

Because he imprisoned and even murdered their fellow countrymen?

Minderbinder wrote: »

They must have no shame whatsoever that they or their fathers or grandfathers ran away like cowards

Ran like cowards? If I lived in a one party dictatorship state where I could be imprisoned or executed for being against said state I'd be running too.

Minderbinder wrote: »

and then after more than half a century can't see that once again they are making an embarrassment out of themselves by cheering the death of a man, who unlike them had the courage to fight for what he believed in.

So, your logic here is that becuase he 'fought for what he believed in' that makes what he did right? Ceausescu 'fought for what he believed in', Hitler 'fought for what he believed in'. What sort of twisted logic is this? You are a joke.

Unless this is a troll post, in which case disregard what I wrote above

Galway_Old_Man

chicorytip wrote: »

"A giant among global leaders". Does this declaration by President Michael D.Higgins seem inappropriate given what ought to be the "apolitical" nature of the office he holds?

Did you actually read the statement? A gushing over the dictatorship with this the only mention of the "ugliness"

The economic and social reforms introduced were at the price of a restriction of civil society, which brought its critics.

At a price eh? I'm sure Michael D will be having extra smoked salmon and champagne over his Gilmore Girls binge to help him through this hard time.

Minderbinder

BoJack Horseman wrote: »

Minderbinder wrote: »

who unlike them had the courage to fight for what he believed in.

"Believing" in murderous dictatorship & repression of an entire nation isn't anything to admire.

I genuinely struggle to see the "courage" in communism.

I said I admired his courage, not his beliefs. The fact is not one of those people in Miami celebrating today had the courage to fight for what they believed in. And that is why Castro controlled the country.

BoJack Horseman

Minderbinder wrote: »

I said I admired his courage

So..... explain that.

Explain what is "courageous" about heading a murderous communist dictatorship?
Where is the "courage" in exiling, torturing or murdering people who differed in opinion?

If you admire this "courage", explain why.
And what other dictatorships around today do you admire?

BoJack Horseman

BoJack Horseman wrote: »

"Believing" in murderous dictatorship & repression of an entire nation isn't anything to admire.

Exactly. So why are there so many apologists here for what the United States supported in Cuba, Guatemala, Chile and so many other places?

BoJack Horseman

Deleted User wrote: »

why are there so many apologists here for what the United States supported in Cuba, Guatemala, Chile and so many other places?

Is there?
You will have to quote those posts to illustrate more?
The Guatemala/Chile thread is a few pages back I think.

(As an aside though, it is interesting to read here and elsewhere the support for repressive communist dictatorships are almost always framed against the USA).

myshirt

Castro is dead.

Donald Trump doesn't f#ck around does he.

Alf Stewart.

I gotta laugh at the irony in people that are posting about the "murderous regime, that tortures and murders people with differing opinions to Castro" and the fact that the Clinton, Bush, and Obama administrations operated the very same regimes in Guantanamo bay, in Castro's home turf.

Its amusing watching the mental gymnastics that both justify and castigate such opinions.

Clandestine

Clandestine wrote: »

Because he imprisoned and even murdered their fellow countrymen?

Or because Castro overthrew these collaborators with the US-sponsored dictator of Cuba, Fulgencio Batista, and they were itching to return to Cuba to regain their positions in said puppet regime and carry on persecuting the Cubans/enriching themselves on behalf of US political and economic interests?

Make no mistake about it: Cuba under Castro in 1968 was a far fairer society than Cuba under Batista/US colonial occupation in 1958.

A Little Pony

I see Jeremy Corbyn has commented and that is why he should never be Prime Minister. Not that he has a hope of winning a general election anyway.

Castro was a man without honor.

Suryavarman

Minderbinder wrote: »

I said I admired his courage, not his beliefs. The fact is not one of those people in Miami celebrating today had the courage to fight for what they believed in. And that is why Castro controlled the country.

Because overthrowing the Governments of police states is such an easy thing to do.

brickmauser

Alf Stewart. wrote: »

I gotta laugh at the irony in people that are posting about the "murderous regime, that tortures and murders people with differing opinions to Castro" and the fact that the Clinton, Bush, and Obama administrations operated the very same regimes in Guantanamo bay, in Castro's home turf.

Its amusing watching the mental gymnastics that both justify and castigate such opinions.

Fact - Castro's regime tortured and murdered thousands and oppressed millions.

Fact - the Gitmo camp is a torture centre and enemies of the US are routinely murdered

So how does the fact that the US is hypocritical in anyway mitigate the evil and barbarity of Castro?

He was a monster and an odious dictator

Does the evil of Hitler get a pass because Stalin was worse?

Do you say cobras are not venomous because rats spread the plague?

nice_guy80

He put it up to the most powerful country in the world for over 50 years, despite being located less than 50 miles away

In a way, that is very admirable

brickmauser

nice_guy80 wrote: »

He put it up to the most powerful country in the world for over 50 years, despite being located less than 50 miles away

In a way, that is very admirable

Do you admire one party rule an oppressive police state mass imprisonment and execution of opposition decades of tyranny and his cult of personality?

Why would you wish this on the Cuban people if you wouldn't wish it on yourself and your own country?

Anyone who admires Castro is deluded or psychologically deranged.

What other dictators do you admire?

recipio

Like all dictators he led a comfortable life while his fellow citizens starved. Cuba is in a dilemma, no real change will occur until Raul Castro dies. His one achievement was to plant a seed in the minds of the Cuban people that they could construct a fair society and didn't have to be just another South American oligarchy.

brickmauser

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Or because Castro overthrew these collaborators with the US-sponsored dictator of Cuba, Fulgencio Batista, and they were itching to return to Cuba to regain their positions in said puppet regime and carry on persecuting the Cubans/enriching themselves on behalf of US political and economic interests?

Make no mistake about it: Cuba under Castro in 1968 was a far fairer society than Cuba under Batista/US colonial occupation in 1958.

Castro flung his own fellow revolutionaries in jail when they challenged the regime he set up realizing they had been tricked into helping him into power.

Castro merely replaced a corrupt regime with his own corrupt regime.

Today I support overthrowing Assad but does that mean I want jihadists to take over?

Anyone who wants to read about Cuba can see for themselves that it is a one party dictatorship and read for themselves about Castro's odious personality and life story.

Any one who denies this reality might as well be saying up is down and 2+2 = 5.

Ol' Donie

brickmauser wrote: »

Castro flung his own fellow revolutionaries in jail when they challenged the regime he set up realizing they had been tricked into helping him into power.

Castro merely replaced a corrupt regime with his own corrupt regime.

Today I support overthrowing Assad but does that mean I want jihadists to take over?

Anyone who wants to read about Cuba can see for themselves that it is a one party dictatorship and read for themselves about Castro's odious personality and life story.

Any one who denies this reality might as well be saying up is down and 2+2 = 5.

Wanna point me in the direction of some of this reading?

It'd wanna be pretty f*cking good to convince me what I saw with my own eyes over three weeks in the country was all just a big sham to fool me.

Sand

Minderbinder wrote: »

The fact is not one of those people in Miami celebrating today had the courage to fight for what they believed in. And that is why Castro controlled the country.

The long, happy and free lives of their children will be their revenge on Castro.

nacho libre

brickmauser wrote: »

Fact - Castro's regime tortured and murdered thousands and oppressed millions.

Fact - the Gitmo camp is a torture centre and enemies of the US are routinely murdered

So how does the fact that the US is hypocritical in anyway mitigate the evil and barbarity of Castro?

He was a monster and an odious dictator

Does the evil of Hitler get a pass because Stalin was worse?

Do you say cobras are not venomous because rats spread the plague?

So no doubt we will see you and your comrades denounce George Bush Senior when he passes,because you are morally consistent. Of course you hypocrites wont. Right wing imperalism which is cosy with dictators is routinely excused or ignored by you and your comrades. They have presided over the torture and murder of thousands of people too,but hey if they have the right economic model this can be overlooked or excused. Afterall God is on America's side. Maybe you and the likes of sand will prove me wrong by taking the time to denounce George bush Senior for his crimes.

Jawgap

Alf Stewart. wrote: »

I gotta laugh at the irony in people that are posting about the "murderous regime, that tortures and murders people with differing opinions to Castro" and the fact that the Clinton, Bush, and Obama administrations operated the very same regimes in Guantanamo bay, in Castro's home turf.

Its amusing watching the mental gymnastics that both justify and castigate such opinions.

Irony? I could be wrong but I don't think there's too many Americans posting on this thread so what a stream of US Presidents has to do with anything I don't know.

Here's a tip, just because some people don't want the man enlarged in death any more than he was in life, they don't want his victims forgotten doesn't mean they are somehow 'for' any of the countries aligned against Cuba. That's real Stalinist thinking and fully consistent with the Castro's world view - anyone not for us must be against us.

Maybe some people are just interested in and objective assessment of him, his regime and the role he played in the second half of the 20th century?

Permabear

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