Castro exploded on the scene in 1959, leading a revolution that would put the Cuban people in his clutches for 49 years. I remember that time; I remember how many of our politicians, journalists, and celebrities praised both him and his cause to the hilt. They were oblivious to the fact that his was a revolution built on deceit and lies, with Castro claiming that he wasn't a communist. But within a year of his becoming Cuba's Prime Minister, he went on television to declare, "I am a Marxist-Leninist."
During the next 49 years, until his retirement in 2008, here's an eye-witness account of what he did to Cuba:
THE TRIALS
"They had started televising trials of counter-revolutionaries. And so we had in Cuba something we'd never seen before -- mass executions of counter-revolutionaries who'd been found guilty in these kangaroo courts. It was right out of the French revolution. People were pulled in, abused, found guilty, and from the court marched out to a firing squad."
THE TELEVISION
"There were some famous newscasters and commentators who were removed from the airwaves ... and some of them ended up in prison camps. The second thing to go was television programs not Cuban in origin; we had a lot of U.S. television dubbed into Spanish. Those disappeared and were replaced with revolutionary content . . . a lot of revolutionary songs being sung, a lot of preaching. Television ceased to be fun."
THE CHILDREN
"After Castro's goons did a similar sweep through the newspapers, it was time to launch their propaganda missiles at the minds of Cuba's children. Vivian said, "One of their favorite ways to find out what people thought about Fidel was to ask kindergartners. My younger sister was a kindergartner."
"One day, my sister came home and exclaimed, 'Fidel is better than Jesus!' In school they had asked the kindergartners to close their eyes and pray to Jesus for ice cream. When they opened their eyes -- nothing. Then they closed their eyes again and prayed to Fidel for ice cream, and ... surprise! Ice cream cups on their desks! I remember my mother's reaction: 'Helado! Que rico!' ['Ice cream! Delicious!'] She totally avoided any other comment for fear of whatever she said making it back to my sister's teacher."
THE CONFISCATIONS
"Our family were business owners; my grandfather had a grocery business. ... One day a commissioner came into my grandfather's building and said, 'This is now property of the revolution.' So my father, uncles, and grandfather just walked away . . . There was no point in any kind of resistance."
THE HEALTHCARE
"Foreigners who visit Cuba, are fed the official line from Castro’s propaganda machine: 'All Cubans are now able to receive excellent healthcare, which is also free.' But the truth is very different. Castro has built excellent health facilities for the use of foreigners, who pay with hard currency for those services.
"Argentinean soccer star Maradona, for example, has traveled several times to Cuba to receive treatment to combat his drug addiction. But Cubans are not even allowed to visit those facilities. Cubans who require medical attention must go to other hospitals, that lack the most minimum requirements needed to take care of their patients.
"In addition, most of these facilities are filthy and patients have to bring their own towels, bed sheets, pillows, or they would have to lay down on dirty bare mattresses stained with blood and other body fluids."
One man, visiting his father in Cuba, needed surgery, and upon entering the hospital for a preparatory exam, found that the surgeon had no paper towels and the examining room was "like Grand Central Station." He beat a hasty retreat, flew out of the country, and had the surgery in America.
Being a physician in Cuba isn't the ticket to driving a BMW: doctors are paid $30-$50 a month.
VAMPIRE
The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights reported in 1966 that 166 Cuban prisoners were executed on a single day in May of that year.
But before they were killed, they were forced to undergo the forced
extraction of an average of seven pints of blood from their bodies. This blood was sold to
Communist Vietnam at a rate of $50 per pint. Those who underwent the
bloodletting suffered cerebral anemia and a state of unconsciousness and
paralysis. But that didn’t stop the executions; the victims were
carried on a stretcher to the killing field where they were then shot.
HOW BAD?
THE BIG PICTURE
HOW BAD?
When HIV made its appearance in Cuba, those infected were
imprisoned in sanitaria; incredibly, life for ordinary Cubans grew so
miserable and dire that some young Cubans intentionally contracted HIV,
because they had heard that sanitarium prisoners were fed three times a
day.
THE BIG PICTURE
In a much too brief summation, we'd say that for 49 years under Castro, people suddenly disappeared, wound up in prison, or were executed for expressing their opinions. Their public schools (like Hitler, Castro outlawed home schooling), so highly praised in America, produced parents who were willing to split their families if it would mean they could get their children out of the country and into America. The money Castro spent on public education came from confiscating all the money people had.
Under Castro, deep poverty persisted — teen prostitution, crumbling houses, food rations. Yet, he lived in splendor while people starved. Political opponents were executed by the thousands by firing squad, or sentenced to decades of hard labor. His own daughter fled the country, wearing a wig and bearing a false passport. She said her father wasn't a dictator: "He's a tyrant."
The president of the Cuba Archive Project claims that Castro killed as many as 78,000 people who were trying to flee Cuba.
BEHOLD THE WORLD AT WORK
The reaction of some world leaders to the death of Castro makes one wonder who they're talking about:
"Today, we offer condolences to Fidel Castro's family, and our thoughts and prayers are with the Cuban people. . . During my presidency, we have worked hard to put the past behind us, pursuing a future in which the relationship between our two countries is defined not by our differences but by the many things that we share as neighbors and friends — bonds of family, culture, commerce, and common humanity." President Obama
"Fidel Castro was a symbol of a whole era of modern world history. He was a wise and strong person who was an inspiring example for all countries and peoples, a sincere and reliable friend of Russia. Vladimir Putin, President of Russia
"Upon receiving the sad news of the passing of your beloved brother, the honorable Fidel Castro, former president of the state council and the government of the Republic of Cuba, I express my sadness to your excellency and all family members of the deceased dignitary, as well as the government and the people in that beloved nation. I offer my prayers for his eternal rest, and I entrust the Cuban people to the maternal intercession of Our Lady of La Caridad del Cobre, patroness of that country." Pope Francis
"Also at this time of national mourning, I offer the support of the United Nations to work alongside the people of the island. Under Castro, Cuba made advances in the fields of education, literacy and health, also noting that he hopes "Cuba will continue to advance on a path of reform and greater prosperity." U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon
"On behalf of all Canadians, Sophie and I offer our deepest condolences to the family, friends and many, many supporters of Mr. Castro. We join the people of Cuba today in mourning the loss of this remarkable leader. I know my father was very proud to call him a friend. Castro made significant improvements to the education and healthcare of the island nation, although he was a controversial figure.” Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada
WORLD LEADERS ASIDE, READ THESE COMMENTS
"In many ways, after 1959, the oppressed the world over joined Castro's cause of fighting for freedom & liberation-he changed the world. RIP." Jesse Jackson
“Fidel Castro was a symbol of the struggle for justice in the shadow of empire." Jill Stein, Green Party candidate for President
"Rosalynn and I share our sympathies with the Castro family and the Cuban
people on the death of Fidel Castro. We remember fondly our visits with
him in Cuba and his love of his country. We wish the Cuban citizens
peace and prosperity in the years ahead." Former President Jimmy Carter
"He gave his people better health care and education and will be revered for education and social services and medical care to all of his people.” MSNBC's Andrea Mitchell
"Fidel Castro was a romantic figure when he came into power. We rooted like mad for the guy who was almost like a folk hero to most of us.” MSNBC's Chris Mattews
"Castro was considered, even to this day, the George Washington of his country among those who remain in Cuba.” ABC’s Jim Avila
GEORGE WASHINGTON
In all of my American history classes, I don't remember George Washington's imprisoning and executing a single person who disagreed with him. In my reading of American history, I never ran across to any references where Washington decreed that children pray to him for ice cream or for anything else. Whereas Castro ruthlessly held on to power for 49 years, Washington left the office of President after two terms and became a private citizen, a gentleman farmer.
"During the Revolutionary War, Congress had granted Washington powers equivalent to those of a dictator and he could have easily taken solitary control of the new nation. Indeed, some political factions wanted Washington to become the new nation’s king. His modesty in declining the offer and resigning his military post at the end of the war fortified the republican foundations of the new nation." (From "History") He asked nothing for himself. He did ask Congress for grants of land for his officers.
David Boaz of the Cato Institute wrote of Washington, "He gave up power not once but twice – at the end of the revolutionary war, when he resigned his military commission and returned to Mount Vernon, and again at the end of his second term as president, when he refused entreaties to seek a third term. In doing so, he set a standard for American presidents that lasted until the presidency of Franklin D. Roosevelt, whose taste for power was stronger than the 150 years of precedent set by Washington.
"Give the last word to Washington’s great adversary, King George III. The king asked his American painter, Benjamin West, what Washington would do after winning independence. West replied, 'They say he will return to his farm.'
“If he does that,” the incredulous monarch said, 'he will be the greatest man in the world.'”
It makes one wonder, "What history of what planet are these people who are praising Castro reading?" But yet, this is the world at work, just another day at the office of a fallen planet which calls evil good and good evil.
Debra Tate, the sister of Sharon Tate who was viciously murdered by the Manson family, said, "There are those who are dark and those who are light. If we fail to identify those who are dark, society collapses."
Fidel Castro was dark and should be identified as such.
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