Fidel Castro celebrates 90th birthday, criticises Obama in public letter

[Uponthegears]

33. First,

Let me say I appreciate your reasoned arguments.

That being said, I agree there is no doubt that wide swaths of Cuban society joined in the fight to overthrow Batista. Indeed, staunchly anti-socialist forces participated in the process. To say, however, that they "joined" Castro, goes a bit too far IMHO.

I suggest it would be more accurate to say that there were factions who strongly opposed such Marti-esque ideas such as land reform and redistribution of wealth, BUT who nonetheless supported the overthrow of Batista because they hoped to dominate the succeeding government (as the wealthy ordinarily do). I don't know that such an alliance qualifies as much "beautiful" event as it does as an opportunistic alliance. Their interests, other than the narrow interest of removing Batista, remained basically antagonistic.

The fact that their hopes of dominating the next government were overborn by the hopes of the poor to escape the oppression of capitalism, while certainly disappointing for them, does not turn Castro into some sort of Machiavelli who led them on with promises of "democracy first." It was well-known among both his supporters and his competitors that Castro's first interest was in socialist wealth redistribution.