Opinion of Fidel Castro

[Incipimus iterum]

Well?

[Goldwater]

Obvious HP is obvious.

[Lambsbread]

HP on balance. Had the right intentions, but violence breeds violence and therefore I can't justify the blood on his hands.

[parochial boy]

Well, he was quite literally a freedom fighter to begin with...

[OSR stands with Israel]

Obvious HP is obvious.

[SUSAN CRUSHBONE]

mixed / voting ff by comparison with fulgulencio batista

[Bigby]

Only the looniest of lefties would ever call him anything close to an FF.

[Lexii, harbinger of chaos and sexual anarchy]

one of the less awful "communist" dictator, but still HP

[Intell]

Neutral in Cuban politics. Lean FF in world politics. Lean FF, I guess.

[I’m not Stu]

HP. Oppressive dictator. But may he rest in peace. I would also like to pursue friendly policies toward Cuba. It was also an honor that my uncle once actually met him.

[Cashew]

one of the less awful "communist" dictator, but still HP

[emcee0]

Neutral. I think there should be a third option. He was an oppressive dictator that did atrocious things, but was a far better alternative to the Batista regime. I do also give him credit for fighting off the power of American hegemony and held his own economically by successfully giving Cuba one of the most adavnced education and healthcare systems, and while it was still communism there was little shortage of housing and employment. Believe me Castro did some evil things but I think it is important to give him some credit at success where due. Now with him no longer around, Cuba can have the chance to modernize and improve its human rights standards and freedom of expression.

[SATW]

Massive HP; Good riddance.

[Mervin]

He won the game.  He died in a Palace high on morphine having watched everyone he knew dying a long time ago, except, of course, for Raul.  One can joke now with the election of Trump that he outlived the USA.  And he is not presiding over Hell.  Having incurred the wrath of the Hegemon, that great Babylon 90 miles north, all of 65 years ago that is one of the most impressive feats of all time.  Meanwhile investing in things like health and literacy.

Since the early-80s they get almost an A grade, and they have been preferable to the alternative at all times.  As for us in Global North/West: just note how none of the politicians give a s*** when right-wing death squads roam.  

The US 'plan' under JFK was, remember, to send a band of 5000 assorted goons with guns riding in from the ocean, to go kill him.  This is the liberal's grand master plan.  These false masters of the universe should deceive you no longer now.  The election of Trump disproves the myth meritocracy once and for all.  Let's get on with the business of humanizing the World.

[Mervin]

Disappointed at the only 30:70.  Once upon a time FF could've put up a fight in this poll.

[Leinad]

Yes, everything is nuanced. No one is all bad. But Castro was a violent oppressive dictator, and that makes him an obvious HP. It's basically irredeemable. And for all the silver lining people talk about, the proof is in the pudding: people are going to great lengths to escape Cuba and come to America. No one is going the other way. QED

[Mervin]

Yes, everything is nuanced. No one is all bad. But Castro was a violent oppressive dictator, and that makes him an obvious HP. It's basically irredeemable. And for all the silver lining people talk about, the proof is in the pudding: people are going to great lengths to escape Cuba and come to America. No one is going the other way. QED

It is not about why you should or should not like Castro.  It is about why you were taught to hate Castro from a young age, but never heard a word about Papa Doc or Alvaro Uribe.

[SWE]

Preferable to the regime he overthrew, and nowhere near as awful as your typical Stalinist dictator, he still created an oppressive Stalinist dictatorship, and thus can only be described as an HP.

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

Yes, everything is nuanced. No one is all bad. But Castro was a violent oppressive dictator, and that makes him an obvious HP. It's basically irredeemable. And for all the silver lining people talk about, the proof is in the pudding: people are going to great lengths to escape Cuba and come to America. No one is going the other way. QED

It is not about why you should or should not like Castro.  It is about why you were taught to hate Castro from a young age, but never heard a word about Papa Doc or Alvaro Uribe.

Actually Papa Doc is a hero to many Haitians. I grew up with Haitian neighbors, classmates, have had Haitian friends and Haitian bullies, used to even buy my cigarettes from a Haitian meat market when I was underage. Boynton has the 9th highest Haitian population in America, I think.

I'm anti-Castro and I'm anti-Papa Doc (he was psychotic), but I think some nuance is necessary.

[dead0man]

Yes, everything is nuanced. No one is all bad. But Castro was a violent oppressive dictator, and that makes him an obvious HP. It's basically irredeemable. And for all the silver lining people talk about, the proof is in the pudding: people are going to great lengths to escape Cuba and come to America. No one is going the other way. QED

aye

[SWE]

mixed / voting ff by comparison with fulgulencio batista

But that's like Stalin is a FF, because of the Tsars.

Or Hitler is FF because of Weimar Germany.

Complete and utter nonsense, Castro is a HP.

Wait, you think Hitler was preferable to the Weimar Republic?

[Higgs]

Massive HP; Good riddance.

[Arturo Belano]

"Every night, 200 million children around the world sleep on the street. None of them is Cuban." He was a flawed figure. His dictatorship was obviously extremely reprehensible, yet at the same time it's not too alien considering that Uncle Sam tried to depose him the second he began defying US private interests. It's interesting reading about the consolidation of the 26th of July Movement regime. Castro's government began first with expropriations, which brought upon the ire and diplomatic hostility of the United States, then leading to further leftist reforms by Castro. The ensuing back-and-forth cycle pushed Cuba into the Soviet camp, and the adoption of a model Marxist-Leninist political structure occurred as a show of allegiance to Moscow. But Castro brought revolutionary images of hope in the minds of my uncles in Guatemala, when they once fought against the military despotism in that country. Overall, lean FF.

[Figueira]

A few redeeming features, but still very much HP.

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

It's rich seeing people who regularly trot out cringing, bleating apologias for just-as-bad-or-worse but more geopolitically convenient dictators treating him as if he were in the same weight class as Pol Pot or something, but he was still an HP.