>>>>>While I agree that Castro played the 'standing up the the Yanqui imperialist' card skillfully and a lot of his popularity came from overthrowing Batista - who was a Mafia backed thug, make no mistake that his hanging on to power was the result of Soviet subsidy and his secret police.
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>>>>With the U.S. cutting him off completely just because he kicked the corrupt U.S. butts out of the country, what were his other options?
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>>>That kind of simplifies something that was a bit more complex. One of his options was to create a democratic Cuba. He never even hinted at that direction. The US government did not immediately cut him off and in fact supported him in the beginning ( or at least didn't support Batista as he fell ) Of course the Mafia elements who ran Batista were never Castro fans and their influence on American policy at that time cannot be underestimated. But I think Castro's ego ( and his brother's and Che's ideology ) got in the way of his opportunity to cut a very sweet deal for Cuba. ( or at least could have if Hoover hadn't been running the FBI and there were a way to restrain Lansky, Trafficante and Marcello)
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>>I think the only way he could have cut a 'sweet deal' would have been to allow the corruption he had just gotten rid of to come back in and run things again. The powers that mattered in the U.S. wanted to be allowed to continue to suck Cuba dry. They weren't going to get that, so they cut them off hoping that Castro would 'see the error of his ways' and come around.
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>Pretty tough to defend any of the US interests that really cared about Cuba in those days. The sugar cartels, United Fruit ( a real sweetheart of capitalism ) and the 'gaming interests' were certainly villians of the piece.
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>But Castro still had choices. Soviet missles placed his island in mortal jeopardy. 'Soviet advisors' certainly were not neutral on how he ran the country. Seems he swapped one set of thugs for another - and all for the purpose of personally holding on to power. There were a lot of other Cubans who helped get rid of Batista, but a lot of them actually thought it would lead to democracy.
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>Just don't see where one dictator taking over from another and one oligarchy being replaced by another is great social progress. I am not interested in defending the US in this one, just in putting Castro into perspective as a dictator who sacrificed the welfare of his people for his own power. At least Batista didn't pretend to be other than what he was and Mafia gangsters were blatantly so. Castro was better, undoubtedly, but he could have been so much more.

Unfortunately, with the U.S. cutting Cuba off they way they did, he really didn't have all that much to work with. I think he could have done better, but overall, I doubt very much that simply having real elections and running a democracy would have made Cuba much better. The Cuban 'democracy' could have had to knuckle under to U.S. interests, or they still would have had nothing much to work with and Cuba still would have been a third world country ripe to be plucked by another dictator. Castro basically cut out the middle man.

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>>>>>I find it ironic that so many of those who were rightly offended by Abu Ghrab and suspicious of Gitmo seem oblivious to The Isle of Pines and other examples of the murderers and torturers Castro has used for 50 years to impose his brand of benevolent socialism.
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>>>>>Any regime that works so hard to keep its people from escaping can't be the paradise it claims.
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>>>>>Free health care? Yeah, cool. Seems it isn't all that free.
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>>>>>>>>http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/7252109.stm
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>>>>>>>I have a feeling Fidel will be retiring in a more profound way pretty soon. We'll see.
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>>>>>>>I must admit a certain fondness for the old goat. Not for his politics or for what he has done for Cuba, or should I say not done. But you have to give him credit for what he did as a young man, having a belief in principles strong enough to lead a revolution and actually overthrow a government. And for the audacity to withstand a hostile superpower 90 miles from his shores for decades. Like him or loathe him, admire him or not, he has left footprints in the sand.
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>>>>>>I think the sanctions and covert operations against Cuba by the US contributed a lot to keeping him in power. And what would Cuba be like now if he hadn't come along. Probably another tinpot latin dictatorship with low standards of living for everyone except a few corrupt businessmen and politicians. At ease under Castro they had universal health care and education.
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>>>>>>Nick