Ok before i get absolutely flamed for being a communist and insensitive, i will be clear: i am NOT a wholehearted Fidel Castro supporter. I know he was a dictator, and that humans rights were not always number one on the agenda. But, he cared for his people, and that showed. Education, medical care, and the best possible for his people were what he aimed for, and he did a better job than many democracies have. Not to mention the fact that even though he was a dictator, he managed to survive for 50 years without being assassinated, and the plots against him were from outside Cuba (looking at you, USA). Finally, we can't forget his impact on the world in the last 50 years. Let's hope his country can keep moving forward.

No. When you say "human rights were not always number one" you are trying to put a happy face on the fact that he ****ing murdered people who disagreed with him. He "cared" for his people so much, he "educated" them by teaching them what he decided they should be taught, "reeducating" people who didn't do what he told them to, then forced them to stay and work in those capacities he told them to under penalty of imprisonment or death both for them and for their families. That is at best a terrible form of slavery.

No. You cannot express sympathy for a stone hearted mass murdering monster with the expectation of any sort of positive reaction. That is neither open-mindedness nor compassion, it is idiocy at best or willing ignorance at worst. The ONLY thing he had going for him was his opposition to the USA in a world that often hated it for it's own transgressions and bullying behavior, but Castro was in no way a hero.

But hey, the people who survived his regime and did exactly what they were told did achieve some measure of literacy that surpassed the levels you see in most 3rd world dictatorships. Just like the folks who survived Stalin's purges had a fairly high literacy rate as well. I suppose that's something.

No. When you say "human rights were not always number one" you are trying to put a happy face on the fact that he ****ing murdered people who disagreed with him. He "cared" for his people so much, he "educated" them by teaching them what he decided they should be taught, "reeducating" people who didn't do what he told them to, then forced them to stay and work in those capacities he told them to under penalty of imprisonment or death both for them and for their families. That is at best a terrible form of slavery.

No. You cannot express sympathy for a stone hearted mass murdering monster with the expectation of any sort of positive reaction. That is neither open-mindedness nor compassion, it is idiocy at best or willing ignorance at worst. The ONLY thing he had going for him was his opposition to the USA in a world that often hated it for it's own transgressions and bullying behavior, but Castro was in no way a hero.

But hey, the people who survived his regime and did exactly what they were told did achieve some measure of literacy that surpassed the levels you see in most 3rd world dictatorships. Just like the folks who survived Stalin's purges had a fairly high literacy rate as well. I suppose that's something.

Speak the truth! I am horrified by how anyone with a functional brain can say anything positive about that piece of ****! He was a dictator and a murderer, who had no respect for the rights of anyone. Seriously, he rounded up gay people and put them in freaking camps! There's a reason people are happy he's dead and celebrating it.

Burn in hell Fidel!

Certainly an important historical person.

No good can come of this thread, no matter how well the intentions.

No good can come of this thread, no matter how well the intentions.

Mee eens...

Ok before i get absolutely flamed for being a communist and insensitive, i will be clear: i am NOT a wholehearted Fidel Castro supporter. I know he was a dictator, and that humans rights were not always number one on the agenda . But, he cared for his people,

Wait, what? Are we talking about the same Castro?

Education, medical care , and the best possible for his people were what he aimed for, and he did a better job than many democracies have .

Are you serious?

I like the ideal of Cuba.

But the guy almost got us all killed. During the missile crisis, he was willing to go for it. kruschev had to talk him out of it!

There are a lot worse than Castro out there.

On a lighter note:

Education, medical care , and the best possible for his people were what he aimed for, and he did a better job than many democracies have .

Are you serious?

There are a lot worse than Castro out there.

That's true, but only because of how bad the 20th century was when it came to mass murdering psychopaths; we had Hitler, Stalin, Mao Zedong, Pol Pot, the Vietcong, Muammar Gaddafi, Saddam Hussein, Osama bin Laden etc.

There are a lot worse than Castro out there.

That's true, but only because of how bad the 20th century was when it came to mass murdering psychopaths; we had Hitler, Stalin, Mao Zedong, Pol Pot, the Vietcong, Muammar Gaddafi, Saddam Hussein, Osama bin Laden etc.

Thank you.

What is getting taught in schools these days regarding the history of the 20th century?

Education, medical care , and the best possible for his people were what he aimed for, and he did a better job than many democracies have .

Are you serious?

Surprisingly he's actually right. Fidel was a murderous, totalitarian, fascist ******, but his health system was shockingly good compared to the rest of the economy. They even have a somewhat healthy drug pipeline. For an economy that size that's a significant achievement. Pretty sure the mass-mirdering of dissenters wiped out any karma though.

Yes, I'd say so...

I get that one of them is Fox News, and most here will immediately discount it,and with the usual disclaimer about any anecdotal evidence, but:

I get it...it's a small sample. Still, powerful.

On a lighter note:

Apart from the Fact, that, Y;knwo... Justin was born almost exactly 9 Months after their Honeymoon in British Colombia ..... Where there was no Castro....

yeah, and apart from the fact that human height does not work that way, or at least not in individual cases. Maybe Justin had a lot more cheese and milk when he was a kid.

Not in any way getting involved in this because it's not my thing, but I'll just leave a quote here from Star Trek, made by Captain Kirk in regards to Kahn (a dictator): "We can be against him and admire him all at the same time."

He did liberate Cuba from another truly awefull dictator, that shouldn't be forgotten. That in no way justifies what happenes after, but there is a lesson to be learned here.

There are a lot worse than Castro out there.

That's true, but only because of how bad the 20th century was when it came to mass murdering psychopaths; we had Hitler, Stalin, Mao Zedong, Pol Pot, the Vietcong, Muammar Gaddafi, Saddam Hussein, Osama bin Laden etc.

...Bush

There are a lot worse than Castro out there.

That's true, but only because of how bad the 20th century was when it came to mass murdering psychopaths; we had Hitler, Stalin, Mao Zedong, Pol Pot, the Vietcong, Muammar Gaddafi, Saddam Hussein, Osama bin Laden etc.

...Bush

Beat me to it current number of innocent civilians killed in Iraq alone is 251,000.

There are a lot worse than Castro out there.

That's true, but only because of how bad the 20th century was when it came to mass murdering psychopaths; we had Hitler, Stalin, Mao Zedong, Pol Pot, the Vietcong, Muammar Gaddafi, Saddam Hussein, Osama bin Laden etc.

...Bush

Beat me to it current number of innocent civilians killed in Iraq alone is 251,000.

91,438 of which were under Obama...

There are a lot worse than Castro out there.

That's true, but only because of how bad the 20th century was when it came to mass murdering psychopaths; we had Hitler, Stalin, Mao Zedong, Pol Pot, the Vietcong, Muammar Gaddafi, Saddam Hussein, Osama bin Laden etc.

...Bush

Beat me to it current number of innocent civilians killed in Iraq alone is 251,000.

91,438 of which were under Obama...

And his warmonger SoS Clinton.

Consequently, I really like the idea of Justin being the son of Castro. At least if that were the case he'd have the blood of a leader in him.