Has there been a single anti-American dictator who has actually improved the lives of their people? It seems the amount of anti-American rhetoric is directly correlated with how much they screw their country over.
Fidel Castro has died
121–130 of 842 posts
Re: Fidel Castro has died
#122Earlier quoted context omitted.
> However, the man has committed grievous crimes Way less crimes than those who accuse him. Never sprayed Vietnamese with Agent Orange or napalms for one, never dropped nuclear bombs on civilians, never supported Pinochet et co, doesn't have 25% of the world's incarcerated in just 4% of the global population, and lots of other things besides. > keeps 'his people' in abject poverty A 40+ years embargo has something to…
+ "It's in control of the state, " - actually, it's in control of the Army directly. + The US sprayed 'agent orange' on trees near their firebases, and the vast majority of the 'victims' were American soldiers, not Vietnamese. Obviously, they didn't know what it would do. + The 'embargo' is 100% the fault of Fidel. He put nuclear weapons 40 miles away from florida, from those who backed by the credible threat of usin…
What do you think about the wisdom of putting nuclear weapons 160 miles away from the USSR in Turkey? The Cuban deployment was a direct response to American provocation.
Re: Fidel Castro has died
#123Earlier quoted context omitted.
US embargo means a lot, not just unable to buy stuff easily. Let's not pretend that US was not the world cop. The embargo definitely has negative impact on Cuba economy.
I fully sympathize with that fact and it's correct. Just as I understand there is some Cuban goodwill with respect to the doctors they send abroad - and early on Fidel's creation of better literacy/healthcare programs. But remember this: Fidel worked with the Russians to put nuclear weapons 40 miles away from the USA - and created a crazy situation - the closest the world has ever been to full blown nuclear war. That…
> Fidel worked with the Russians to put nuclear weapons 40 miles away from the USA
That's after US did the same to Russia and failed invasion of Cuba. “In response to the failed Bay of Pigs Invasion of 1961, and the presence of American Jupiter ballistic missiles in Italy and Turkey, Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev decided to agree to Cuba's request to place nuclear missiles in Cuba to deter future harassment of Cuba.” [1]
You may want to read [2], which was posted on HN before. In short, US was a real bully back then. Anything did by Cuba and USSR were mostly reactive knee-jerking response to the aggressive stance of US.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuban_Missile_Crisis
[2] http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2013/01/the-real...
Re: Fidel Castro has died
#124Earlier quoted context omitted.
Here's a possible starting point: It's crucial to remember that Castro silenced all who disagreed with him. He condemned an entire nation to poverty! His most notable achievement with regards to Africa was sending soldiers to extend the life of wars. It's stripped of the insults to those that disagree with you and complaints of down voting. In my experience users on HN will down vote tone more often than they will do…
> He condemned an entire nation to poverty! That's more because of the embargo than anything Cubans did. And even given that, they do way better than most latin american "free" nations. > His most notable achievement with regards to Africa was sending soldiers to extend the life of wars. Let's not go into which country, besides Germany and USSR, started more wars, meddled in more places, held more peopls down by inst…
That's more because of the embargo than anything Cubans did.
The embargo was with the US. Other countries (as long as the company doesn't do business in the US) were free to trade with Cuba.
Sure the embargo didn't help, but the poor state of the Cuba economy mostly lies at the feet of the Castro.
Re: Fidel Castro has died
#125Growing up in a northern US state Cuba and the US policies affecting it always seemed remote. Besides studying the facts in school I never gave the Cuban Revolution, Cuba, or Castor much thought until I played "Cuba Libre: Castro's Insurgency (1957-1958)" this summer. Reading the historical/design notes in the player's guide and watching events unfold while playing as M26 brought history to life in a very visceral wa…
Yes! There is nothing like a video game ability to spark interest in history, at least for me. I experienced the same thing after playing "Empire: Total War. Napoleon." Afterwards, I inhaled biographies on him. My favorite was the Felix Markham book: https://www.amazon.com/Napoleon-Signet-Classics-Felix-Markha...
Agreed! But board games in my case.
I have Command & Colors: Napoleonics and a biography of Napoleon sitting next to my desk as I type this.
http://www.gmtgames.com/p-576-commands-colors-napoleonics-3r...
Re: Fidel Castro has died
#126Earlier quoted context omitted.
Not sure why this is being downvoted, it adds to the conversation, there is merit to the viewpoint that you can be both terrible to your own people while being generous to the people of other countries. I might not have liked the man but the reasoning behind his interventions in Africa were just as sound as the US interventions.
The view point is very interesting. But I'd say its factually incorrect. Should incorrect statements be downvoted even if it shows an interesting state of mind?
I think it would be most constructive to provide counterfactual evidence in a comment, and then down vote if so inclined. As a reader, I'd find that most helpful.
Re: Fidel Castro has died
#127As an African, I'd say the world has lost one of the most influential leaders of the past century. To pretend here, for me, as if he was cruel to our continent would be both ungrateful and untrue. The man offered free training and medical school for most of our African doctors, he harbored, trained and armed many a guerilla group in our pursuit of independence from colonization. Up until today, Cuba still sends signi…
That's right! Fidel was the first world leader to support Nelson Mandela's fight for liberty and Cuba was the first country in the Americas that Mandela visited after his liberation.
And Stalin helped defeat Germany in WW2. That doesn't really make up for the millions of Russians he killed for political reasons.
Re: Fidel Castro has died
#128Earlier quoted context omitted.
do you see anyone defending those responsible for the crimes you listed?
No, but I do see people calling a leader/country/regime "evil" etc for doing 1/10th of what theirs, which they'd never think of calling evil, did.
If you have a better word, surely suggest. what is the word for "clinging to power for seven decades and taking the country through economic hell, year after year, all the while jailing political opponents and at times getting rid of them"
Re: Fidel Castro has died
#129Earlier quoted context omitted.
This is a disturbing position. I don't doubt that his doctors may have helped you. However, the man has committed grievous crimes, keeps 'his people' in abject poverty, on an 'island prison'. More than 85% of the economy is in the control of the military - his private Army. "Up until today, Cuba still sends significant numbers of doctors to remote African areas and provide expensive medical procedures for free." This…
> However, the man has committed grievous crimes Way less crimes than those who accuse him. Never sprayed Vietnamese with Agent Orange or napalms for one, never dropped nuclear bombs on civilians, never supported Pinochet et co, doesn't have 25% of the world's incarcerated in just 4% of the global population, and lots of other things besides. > keeps 'his people' in abject poverty A 40+ years embargo has something to…
Although I agree with your content, it's not relevant to Castro.
Re: Fidel Castro has died
#130Earlier quoted context omitted.
Your attitude is not appropriate or welcome in this community.
Tell me, would you give up your citizenship to live as a Cuban currently does? I thought so.
Ah, so it's okay for the US to have gone into Iraq and destroyed the country, killing hundreds of thousands in the process, then abandoning it, all to shore up support for a shaky election for an incumbent president at home... because you live a cushy SV lifestyle?
If you really are as sick as you emote about these kind of atrocities, then move away from the US, because the US hurts a lot of people to maintain its high standard of living. New Zealand is a pretty ethical place that doesn't kill either it's own citizens or those abroad. Its economy doesn't rely on abusing migrant workers. It has a decent tech scene. Go there.
Or you could just do the usual counter-counter-culture blather while not actually changing your life to suit your stated morals.