Fidel Castro was bad, but was he worse than other dictators?
After Castro's death I am struck by the hypocrisy of both the left and the right.
1) The right poor scorn on the 'evil' communist, when they are (at best) nonchalant about their own Governments having far worse regimes as allies.
2) Sections of the left romanticise about him as a man of ideals and someone who resisted American imperialism, when they would obviously be much more critical of lack of democracy or human rights abuses by any right-wing dictatorship.
There were good things and bad things about Castro's Cuba. Their healthcare and literacy was a remarkable achievement for a small country under such huge restrictions. They did resists American control LONG after the Soviet Union crumbled. All that is true, but Castro was still a dictator and we should not be uncritical of the bad things that he did also.
1) The right poor scorn on the 'evil' communist, when they are (at best) nonchalant about their own Governments having far worse regimes as allies.
2) Sections of the left romanticise about him as a man of ideals and someone who resisted American imperialism, when they would obviously be much more critical of lack of democracy or human rights abuses by any right-wing dictatorship.
There were good things and bad things about Castro's Cuba. Their healthcare and literacy was a remarkable achievement for a small country under such huge restrictions. They did resists American control LONG after the Soviet Union crumbled. All that is true, but Castro was still a dictator and we should not be uncritical of the bad things that he did also.
41-45, M
