Cuba's Fidel Castro dies aged 90

[swag]

Source: BBC

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.This breaking news story is being updated and more details will be published shortly. Please refresh the page for the fullest version.

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

[name not needed]

1. Took em long enough.

[geomon666]

13. Evil always lasts longer for some reason

Just look at Dick Cheney. Son of a bitch will probably outlive us all.

[DonCoquixote]

38. if Dick Cheney joins the 2016 death express

I will grave dance and pour the Bubbly without even the pretext of apologies.

Vaya con Dios Fidel. You had your flaws and your sins, but overall, you left Cuba better than you found it, and set a challenge for all of us to do the same.

[bravenak]

54. I'll dance with you

[7962]

97. left Cuba better than he found it??? HA!

what a joke

[cstanleytech]

99. Thats assuming that Cheney is worth the time and effort it would take to find his

grave to dance on it

[TexasMommaWithAHat]

102. LOL

[elmac]

46. he finally seen that russia won the cold war by installing trump

Now he can die in peace.

[philosslayer]

2. Rest in Peace

[lastlib]

89. I prefer Rot In Purgatory, myself.

This evil basturd killed more than a few of his people, and imprisoned many more for the crime of speaking their conscience. He was a thug dictator who brought his country to its economic knees and has left it a total bsket case. He leaves this world a better place by leaving this world. I will not miss the miserable scum; his is one obituary I will read with GREAT pleasure.

[In_The_Wind]

114. ... 1

[Solly Mack]

3. K&R

[liberaltrucker]

4. Viva Fidel!

[ericson00]

5. viva to a mass murderer and tyrant??

n/t

[elmac]

19. I think you have Fidel mixed up with

George W, that capitalist pig.

[secondwind]

80. If you had seen how his people lived, you would think otherwise, my friend.

[Judi Lynn]

83. People HAVE seen, many people. Quite a few DU'ers, by the way, who would find that comment amusing.

[Mika]

103. "His people". LOL. Do tell us when you lived on Cuba to see this horror? eom

[oberliner]

9. What the hell??

Is this a joke?

[name not needed]

14. People here will fawn over anyone taking shots at the US. Just wait til Mugabe croaks.

[Drunken Irishman]

15. lol

[AngryAmish]

88. I would not be surprised that Cuba tried to hack the election.

[harun]

109. Viva Fidel! Hope him and Che are enjoying a nice cigar together.

For the naysayers, remember the people of Cuba have guaranteed universal health care the next time your premiums go up 20%.

[juxtaposed]

6. this should be good

[jmowreader]

7. It's always sad when someone dies...

...even when that someone is as evil as Fidel Castro.

[ericson00]

8. DING DONG the communist dictator is dead!

glory to the Cuban people for persevering against his evil. May Cuba see a democratic and capitalist future.

[oberliner]

10. Raul is 85

Not long for this world either I would imagine.

[Lokilooney]

59. True

I might be wrong but I think next in line is his cat Javier.

[DonCoquixote]

37. if by democratic and captialist

You mean the sort that trump and marco envision for America, then I suppose you are right. EXPLOITATION FOR ALL, and charity toward none.

[Ken Burch]

53. Cuba needs democracy, not capitalism.

Capitalism just means it goes back to being like it was under Batista. No other outcome is possible. Certainly no humane outcome.

It's probably sickening in Little Havana tonight.

[still_one]

61. I don't know what Cuba needs, but it is for Cuba to decide. The problem with some views of

American foreign policy is that every country should be a Democracy, and the fact is that not every country is ready for Democracy.

[Ken Burch]

63. Well, by "Democracy", the US foreign policy establishment means only one thing:

The right of all countries in the world to elect the right-wing austerity government of OUR choice, and to keep re-electing it no matter what if they damn well know what's good for them.

Or, as Phil Ochs sang, over half-a-century ago:

"We own half the world, o say can you see-
And the name for our profits is "democracy"-
so, like it or not, you will have to be "Free"....
'cause We're The Cops Of The World, Boys,
We're The Cops Of The World."

[harun]

110. Cuba doesn't need anything

Why do you assume they do?

[Ken Burch]

122. Let me rephrase that by adding the words "If Cuba needs anything".

I meant no disrespect to the country..

It's just that every society on earth needs something, in some way.

[uriel1972]

56. just like say... Iraq...

I'm sure we you will be welcomed with rains of flowers

[Spitfire of ATJ]

70. This takes away an issue Republicans have used for Miami votes for decades.

[ericson00]

72. sadly, this is issue is really much bigger than Democratic vs Republican;

its an issue of right vs wrong. Castro and his ilk were in the latter, not the former.

Tho yea, perhaps this happening earlier may have helped in Florida.

[Judi Lynn]

75. Should be interesting in the next national election!

They may be told to put their 29 electors where the "sun don't shine," since they have used them as a bludgeon against candidates who might want to step out of line with the hardliner "exiles!"

How many, MANY presidential candidates, senators, hangers-on, influence peddlers have you seen or read about making the familiar pilgrimage to Miami? Sad, so sad.

[FBaggins]

107. Poor guy had to go and die on Black Friday

Likely the most capitalist day of the year.

[Judi Lynn]

115. It's never "Thanksgiving" outside the U.S. Not a universal occassion. n/t

[FBaggins]

116. Duh

Are you seriously going to pretend that he didn't know what it was?

Or that it isn't celebrated without Thanksgiving in many other countries?

[Botany]

11. He outlasted 11 Presidents

One of President Obama's legacies will be the normalization of relationships
between the United States and Cuba. President Obama stopped a failed
policy and understood the big picture.

[Drunken Irishman]

16. Until Trump reverses it.

[oberliner]

17. Trump could reverse that normalization pretty quickly and easily

And the signs point to him doing so.

[doc03]

27. Not if they offer him a good spot for a Trump tower in Havana. I think Trump

is for sale to the highest bidder and he will get away with it.

[Hekate]

29. Ain't that the truth.

[MADem]

43. Why would Putin tell Trump to do that? Putin wants that ruble-sucking island off our coast

OFF his books. Best way to do that is to make US start throwing cash at them.

President Putin wants to put one of his money pits on our books! He'll tell his puppet Trump what to do....

[question everything]

39. But with the 12th he finally gave up (nt)

[MFM008]

64. Castro looked at the maggot

and said "Fuk it, im outta here, we wont survive the stupid."..........

[Wolf Frankula]

12. See Fidel

I told you those cigars would kill you.

Wolf

[PufPuf23]

18. RIP Fidel.

You were one stubborn SOB.

[lastlib]

90. RIP: "Rot In Purgatory"

stubborn? I prefer "insane".

[msongs]

20. big party in miami tonight and tomorrow

[eissa]

21. Finally

Now all those revolutionaries that gave their lives for a free and pluralistic Cuba can now rest in peace.

[swag]

22. First Ralph Branca, now Fidel Castro. Fuck you, 2016!

[McKim]

23. He Achieved More than Many Posters Here in a Lifetime

Fidel Castro achieved a lot in a lifetime. He did more than many who posted here tonight to uplift the poor and show the world a new way.

[Drunken Irishman]

25. He also murdered way more than this entire forum combined.

[grantcart]

42. Extra judicial killings in Castro's Cuba were a fraction of other countries like the Philippines

Or many LA countries.

That is simply a testament to his effective use of fear like Stalin or Saddam who created instability and fear in brilliant ways avoiding the need for a bloodbath.

[Drunken Irishman]

62. lol he was a murderer and one of the worst violators of human rights in the western world.

He was an awful, horrific, evil man. The world is better for him not being on it anymore.

[Judi Lynn]

26. You're right. Completely right. Some of us don't swallow the propaganda

spewed every time a leftist becomes the president.

The idiots never make the connections you'd think they can't avoid, since they are always so conspicuous for anyone with a healthy brain.

It just keeps happening. Same propaganda will find the next leftist, and they never realize the US fascists always hate any leader who rejects the system which harms the people.

Thank you for standing up for what's right, not right-wing (greed and stupidity).

[JonLP24]

30. 1

I don't think some people have any idea of information warfare campaigns.

It is why we don't hear shit about human rights violators that happen to be US allies.

[dflprincess]

117. Because Batista was such a prize.

The reason the U.S. never got along with Castro is because he overthrew the U.S. backed dictator.

Fulgencio Batista was nothing but a stooge to U.S. corporate and criminal interests and as bad, if not worse, than Castro when it came to human rights violations and oppressing the people of Cuba. At least with Castro the population got education and healthcare and were no longer expected to work themselves to death for United Fruit.

[JonLP24]

118. Agree

[Drunken Irishman]

34. lol omfg I've stepped into the Twilight Zone.

[William769]

60. "the US fascists always hate any leader who rejects the system which harms the people."

Are people risking their lives (literally) in banana boats to escape a regime that harm people, are they flocking to Cuba or fleeing from Cuba? Yes, that's a rhetorical question.

You're right, some of us don't swallow your propaganda.

I won't even bother to address the stupidity since it's obvious to see.

[Judi Lynn]

73. Please, don't deny yourself the opportunity to address the stupidity. This is Castro's passing day.

You won't have the same chance again.

Go ahead, tear into me. Give it all you've got.

Speaking of banana boats (are you sure there are a lot of bananas in Cuba?), what is the reason that drives all those people from South, Central America, Mexico, Haiti, Jamaica, smaller islands, across the water, or those coming through Mexico, across the desert, rivers, through mountains, through searing heat, knowing some just die in the desert and never make it, that THOUSANDS have died in the attempt, hundreds every year from California to Texas?

Are those people fleeing from their presidents? Will they have instant legal protection the moment they get here, will they get instant green card, social security, instant food stamp access, instant access to Section 8 US taxpayer-financed housing, medical treatment, government funds for education, etc., etc., etc., just like CUBANS?

Of course they don't. They are put into detention centers, and sent right back to their homes, even when it is provable that they will most likely be killed. During Haiti's US-aided coup of President Arisitide, and Haitians were trying desperately to leave in boats to get to safety, George W. Bush surrounded their country with Navy and Coast Guards, and fed them right back into that unholy massacre going on in their towns as the US-supplied, trained mercenaries slaughtered their neighbors, their families, and finally THEM when they returned from fleeing, and left their bodies lying in the streets.

THEY were not allowed here.

Cubans, on the other hand, are valuable for propaganda purposes, and they are welcome as rain if they can make it to the US by plane, or sneaking in through another country. It's the ####ing Cuban Adjustment Act, and it hands out freebies of every kind to Cubans who want to live here, allowing them to have HERE the same things they had in Cuba, which our government will not give to anyone else, including ordinary US citizens, of course, unless they can prove they are absolutely impoverished, and maybe not then, thanks to the fascist right-wingers.

Sweet deal.

Please, get right back in there and don't hesitate to share what you've learned.

[Uponthegears]

82. Thank you for this

[Judi Lynn]

86. Thank YOU, Uponthegears.

[MADem]

45. He killed more people than anyone here, if that's what you call "achievements."

He incarcerated people without justice or cause, too. I don't think that's anything to be proud of.

He kept his society censored, starved and without resources, living in a crumbling infrastructure, left behind by the world.

The ingenuity of the Cuban people rose above this brutality, but Castro deserves no credit for it.

You don't have to imprison your population to implement a "new way" -- if you do, those ideas aren't very good. The cost to the population was basic, very essential liberty.

"Watch what you say, watch what you do" on steroids.

[secondwind]

79. The poor were still poor when he died, McKim..while he amassed a fortune of one billion. WHY

didn't he share that money with his people, instead of doling out a little here and there to keep body and soul together?

[oberliner]

95. Freedom of expression and assembly?

Who needs them!

[harun]

111. Viva Fidel! and God bless him in his struggle to lift up the poor!

[elmac]

24. R.I.P. Fidel, you were a thorn in the side of many capitalist controlled presidents

The duty of every revolutionary is to make the revolution.

[oberliner]

96. And the enemy of all people who support human rights

And freedom of expression.

[Lint Head]

28. Hillary did it.

[Hekate]

31. Sic transit gloria mundi. I'm glad Obama ended the embargo. With Fidel gone...

...the GOP and Trump are unlikely to try to reverse that decision, especially since Trump will get greedy eyes at building some property in Havana.

[Kennah]

32. With Fidel gone and Trump in power, will Americans now sail to Cuba in cardboard boxes (n/t)

[elmac]

41. I'm building one right now, using gorilla glue.

[harun]

113. Canada probably won't take us, Cuba is an option.

[Kennah]

121. There's always the Northwest Territories or Nunavut (n/t)

[Warpy]

33. He had a hell of a long run

and while his record is indeed mixed, few would return to the days of the Batista regime.

It will likely be easier to normalize relations with Cuba now that Fidel is gone and most of the Batista Cubans are older than he is.

[DonCoquixote]

35. RED ALERT from a Florida boy

The message we will hear is that since Florida went Red, thanks to a lot of people that hated Castro, that Trump will have to give them some red bloody meat. Marco Rubio will pour Napalm on the flames, making sure he threatens anyone, Trump included, that does not "liberate" Cuba ASAP. Of course, taking Cuba would be a big feather, and if Trump is too worried about what his friend V. Putin wants to do, this will GET him Impeached!!!

Go ahead and laugh, I hope I am wrong because Florida will one of the hottest places in a war. Now they have the excuse they need to ship out immigrants, even though they will NOT be the Cuban ones.

[Kennah]

36. Not enough room in this hemisphere for two dictators (n/t)

[milestogo]

40. On his deathbed he said he would rather die than live through a Trump presidency.

[applegrove]

44. Needless poverty and struggle. Communism is hopefully going

to really die in Cuba now.

[MADem]

47. Raul has been running the show for years now.

This is like a totalitarian version of Goodbye Mr. Chips....the "emer itus" might be remembered fondly (or otherwise), but life will go on as normal so long as Raul remains at the helm.

[applegrove]

58. We can hope more change will come. Especially with America trading with Cuba.

I heard a documentary about a female doctor who was working as a prostitute because it was the only way to survive in Cuba in the 90s. Such bad allocation of resources. Such trauma. I knew many Canadians who have traveled there over the years. You go to a restaurant that was totally empty except for the bus tour you were on. Locals could not afford to eat there. At every restaurant. Also stories of back in the day when you were not allowed to tip the woman who cleaned your hotel room so travel agents would get people to bring a lipstick or something the Cuban chamber maid could use. Devastated economy. Now Venezuela has the disease. Too much socialism is not a good thing. Just like too much capitalism is terrible. A healthy mix is the only thing that lifts all boats. Anyhow. Hopefully democracy will come some day soon.

[MADem]

66. Raul has a bit more room to maneuver, now. Which way he'll wiggle, though, is

anyone's guess.

And of course, President Drumpf, if he wipes his ass on Obama's executive orders, hits the reset button on Cuba back to the post Missile Crisis days. He could undo all the good that has been done to this point.

[Hulk]

48. RIP

He showed courage in the face of the greatest military complex in the world.

Didn't know the man, but I respected his courage and perseverance. RIP

[DAngelo136]

49. I See A Contradiction Of Thought Here

There are those of you celebrating Castro's death, yet live in a country where a billionaire former game show host has been elected to the Presidency with the help of white nationalists and neo-Nazis who will also bring into the administration other capitalist billionaires and proto oligopolists. Why? Because you rejected another candidate who to you symbolized the same imperialist neoliberal capitalistic policies that he opposed in his own country.
And what was your prefreence? Bernie Sanders, a Democratic Socialist (who's more like a Social Democrat than Socialist)

Fidel Castro, for better or worse, accomplished in his country what Americans could not. And managed to sustain it for over 50 years. Whatever happens going forward, Cuba will not be the same nation as it was pre revolution nor will it return to it.

[nolabels]

71. Trump is being installed on a gotcha

Perhaps a lesson of what happened with the election in yr 2000 would help in understanding on what is being attempted. After all, DU might not even be here if it wasn't for that

What Fidel did in his country is like comparing apples and oranges. The more interesting part to me is all of the things that were effected by him being there.

[Leontius]

108. America did accomplish what Castro did for Cuba years ago.

It was called the utter poverty and despair of the " Great Depression".

[burrowowl]

50. Do you realize what Batista and the Mob did to Cuba!

You are seriously ignorant!

[swag]

51. Who are you replying to? Me, who just posted the news story?

I think you put your reply in the wrong place.

Good luck!

[Little Tich]

52. R.I.P. n/t

[Lokilooney]

55. Man...

After reading some of the responses I imagine some posters must have been broken up over the death of poor sweet Ceausescu.

[TeamPooka]

57. Fidel Castro survived everything USA threw at him for 56 years, but in a world with Trump

as President, I think he must have died laughing.

[Puzzler]

65. Requiescat in Pace, Fidel! (n/t)

-P

[enid602]

67. Fidel

I imagine Fidel died content. He did, after all live long enough to see the Kremlin put a President in the White House.

[Norbert]

68. The best thing I have to say about this is...

...the Cuban Missile Crisis has almost no chance of ever happening today, not without Fidel. 54 years ago just as today there is and was a real president in charge. If the same thing was reenacted in real life two months from now, none of us would live through the outcome. But hey, emails, Benghazi, she forgot about me...

So long Fidel. Wish I could say it was a pleasure but it wasn't.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

69. I'm sure Trump admires his leadership.

[Judi Lynn]

76. He announced he intends to distance the US from Cuba before Fidel Castro passed. n/t

[BumRushDaShow]

74. Woke up early this morning to hear this

After dozens of false reports over the years, we have finally reached this point.

We are living through the end of a post-WWII dynamic that has dominated so much of the lives of many of us, and we are now experiencing the world being remade into something else.

R.I.P. and desperately hope for peace for the island.

[no_hypocrisy]

77. Did Trump take credit for his death?

[Norbert]

94. No, but I haven't checked Twitter yet.

[hack89]

78. Good. nt

[Uponthegears]

81. He is at peace

The world will mourn his passing.

[BeyondGeography]

84. In Cuba, a generation gap

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/26/us/politics/havana-cuba-fidel-castro-death.html?smprod=nytcore-ipad&smid=nytcore-ipad-share

[Shrek]

85. For once I woke up to a slightly better world

Been a while since that happened.

[kebob]

87. Finally!

I'm not a fan.

[WhoWoodaKnew]

91. "Prior to the Cuban Revolution, Cuba was one of the most advanced and successful countries in...

Latin America. The country compared favorably with Spain and Portugal on socioeconomic measures. By the 1950s Cuba was as rich per capita as Italy was and richer than Japan. Its income per capita in 1929 was reportedly 41% of the US, thus higher than in Mississippi and South Carolina.

Its proximity to the United States made it a familiar holiday destination for wealthy Americans. Their visits for gambling, horse racing and golfing made tourism an important economic sector. Tourism magazine Cabaret Quarterly described Havana as "a mistress of pleasure, the lush and opulent goddess of delights." According to Perez, "Havana was then what Las Vegas has become."

[Vogon_Glory]

92. Fidel Castro Was Also A Would-Be Nuclear Warrior

What is also forgotten about Fidel Castro was that he was an enthusiastic nuclear warrior. Fidel was of the opinion that if the Warsaw Pact started lobbing nukes at the Yankees, it would bring about the end of American imperialism and Marxist-Leninist socialism would triumph.

There were several alarming accounts published about Fidel wishing to let the ICBMs fly, and Soviet advisors frantically working to talk him around to the idea that starting a nuclear war would be a Really Bad Idea.

One of my pleasures in the post-Communist era has been to read the obituaries of blase Reagan-era "with-enough-shovels-and-duct-tape" would-be nuclear warriors. They have now been joined in the hereafter by their "Team Red" colleague" Fidel Ruiz Castro.

[Uponthegears]

93. Drowned out by the cacophony of anti-Castro backslapping

Is that not only did Castro save the poor of Cuba from Batista, he sustained the fight against oppression in places like Guatemala, Venezuela, Colombia, Peru, Bolivia, Uruguay Nicaragua, and Argentina. While his victories may have been few and ultimately fleeting, there are friends in Guatemala who even today I can count among the living solely because he gave them the wherewithal to fight and inspired others to fight by their side.

For you cheering a great man's death . . . Abrams, Negroponte, North . . . they are raising their glasses along with you.

[Adrahil]

100. A great mean?

Agreat man does not seize power militarily, and then. Keep, undemocratically for generations, only hading off to hi BROTHER. A great man does not imprison and torture anyone who opposes his dictatorial rule. Fuck him. I hope his last few moments were agony.

[harun]

112. Viva Fidel!

[hrmjustin]

98. May the good Lord find a nice cool spot in hell for him!

[TexasMommaWithAHat]

101. Hope he rots in hell.

nt

[OldRedneck]

104. I'll bet a month's pay . . . .

One of Trump's campaign promises was to roll back US-Cuba relations and wipe out President Obama's opening to Cuba.

I'll bet a month's pay that before the end of his term, the Trump children . . . maybe Trump himself . . . will travel to Cuba where they'll stand beside a Cuban commie and cut the ribbon opening a Trump hotel and golf course.

[PossiblePasts]

105. Granted, I'm not well versed on Cuban history...

but Batista wasn't Mr. Goody Two Shoes. The real losers are the Cuban people.

[dflprincess]

119. Batista was as bad, maybe worse, than Castro.

But he was a stooge for U.S. corporate and criminal interests so "we" loved him.

[brooklynite]

106. Always fun to watch people use their right to freely comment on politics...

...(including their right to publicly CRITICIZE those in power) to talk about what a wonder political system Cuba has.

[kskiska]

120. Elian Gonzales

If he ended up illegally in Florida today as he did 16 years ago, the Republicans would be screaming to deport him.