Commentary on the Death of Communist Cuban Tyrant Fidel Castro

           Former Cuban Communist Dictator Fidel Castro died Friday.  The tyrant had ruled Cuba from 1959 to 2006, when he was succeeded by his brother, Raul, who continues to rule.  Like North Korea, Cuba has become a Communist hereditary dynasty. 

           In a century full of brutal dictators, Castro stands out as among the worst.  His death reminds Cubans and the world of the global harm caused by Communism.

Fidel Castro had led a rebellion against a pro-American dictator, promising liberty and free elections and denying any intent to impose Marxism, only to establish a totalitarian Communist state more brutal than the one it replaced, which he allied with the Soviet Union instead.  All freedoms were curtailed or eliminated, as no dissent was tolerated.  Thousands of Cubans were executed, often summarily, while many more were imprisoned and tortured.  Several hundred thousand fled what became an island prison.  Castro impoverished the once-prosperous Cuba, despite Soviet and later Venezuelan subsidization, even after stealing from those with property or businesses, including from Americans.  Tens of thousands more Cubans died trying to cross the Straits of Florida to freedom in the United States.  The Marxist revolutionary also sent troops to fight in or helped fund wars to advance or defend Communism throughout the Western Hemisphere and Africa.  Castro sponsored terrorists and harbored American fugitives, including terrorists.  The Cuban dictator also engaged in drug trafficking.  Castro’s acceptance of Soviet troops and nuclear missiles nearly lead to war between the U.S. and Soviet Union in 1962. 

It is appalling that anti-American liberals and some world leaders have expressed admiration for Castro for his socialism, minimizing or ignoring his tyranny.  It is also disgraceful how U.S. President Barack Obama, a liberal Democrat, has legitimized the Communist Castro regime by awarding it diplomatic recognition and easing economic sanctions by removing it from the list of terrorist sponsors, in exchange for nothing, as Cuba continues to hold political prisoners, to deny basic freedoms and to refuse to allow free and fair elections.  In fact, there has been another recent crackdown on dissent by the Communist Cuban tyranny.  These are the issues, not past Cold War rivalry, that continue to divide the U.S. and Cuba, along with its harboring of fugitives and theft of American property.  I have expressed my opposition to legitimizing Castro’s dictatorship in many posts, as recently as last month, when I urged Congress to block the appointment of an ambassador to Cuba.  Unlike foreign states that have been motivated by support for socialism or anti-Americanism or by greed, the U.S., as leader of the Free World, must make a moral stand against oppression and for liberty.

Although Fidel Castro can no longer oppress the Cuban people, his tyranny continues through his family.  Instead of propping up this weakened dictatorship by trading with the Castro regime for the sake of business profits, the U.S. and others should stand for its principles by focusing more on ways to bring freedom and representative government to the Cuban people, such as most other Latin Americans and inhabitants of the Caribbean Sea enjoy.  While Communism has led to death and poverty, freedom has lead to peace and prosperity for hundreds of millions of people.  

May the death of Fidel Castro remind people around the world of the tyranny of the Castro regime and lead soon to effective measures to free Cuba.