Dear Editor,
Dying at the age of 90, former Cuban leader Fidel Castro will surely spark a lot of emotions for many people around the world, but especially in Cuba, the Americas, southern Africa and the former Soviet Union. For sure, the man was a giant of the last century and will long be remembered.
Perhaps nowhere else will Castro be remembered more than in his homeland of Cuba. In 1959, Castro led a successful revolution that removed what many saw as an American puppet Government. Though he may not have initially wanted to, the revolution — occurring during the height of the cold war between Russia and the United States — would eventually, for all intent and purposes, convert Cuba into Russia’s strongest outpost in the Western Hemisphere.
Soon after Castro took power in 1961, the United States, through its rebel proxies, launched an unsuccessful attempt to reverse the revolution at the Bay of Pigs. It was US President John F Kennedy’s most humiliating defeat, especially considering America’s boast at the time that it was successfully containing communism and the expansion of Soviet Russia around the world.
Then shortly after that the world was brought to the very brink of nuclear war when the Russian Government began installing nuclear weapons on Cuba. Fidel Castro’s boast then that the Cuban Revolution had the means to defend itself against any American invasion was well founded.
However, the Cuban missile crisis and resolution that followed between Russia and America, apparently with Fidel Castro playing only a minor role, showed how vital Cuba’s location was — and apparently still is. Cubans found themselves in the very middle of superpower rivalry. However, the revolution that Castro had started was saved. Not many people know, for instance, that although war over Cuba was averted, the Russians did keep a small nuclear deterrent on the island; just in case the Americans changed their minds and invaded.
Cuba’s global influence was very much disproportionate to its small size. It supported military campaigns in many areas around the would, especially in Latin America and the southern regions of Africa. Not willing to only protest, Cuban forces were very active in wars against apartheid so much so that, at one point, South Africa was considering using its nuclear weapons against the Cuban forces, according to Castro.
Castro has changed Cuba forever. After winning what some saw as the island’s second war of independence, not from Spain, but from the United States, Castro stood for what he believed. He was one of the few leaders that successfully stood up to the United States and successfully outwitted many attempts to have him and his revolution killed.
So whether we love him or hate him, Fidel Castro is a major world leader who’s iconic cigar-smoking, military fatigues, long speeches and charisma, will certainly long be remembered.
Michael A Dingwall
michael_a_dingwall@hotmail.com
Dying at the age of 90, former Cuban leader Fidel Castro will surely spark a lot of emotions for many people around the world, but especially in Cuba, the Americas, southern Africa and the former Soviet Union. For sure, the man was a giant of the last century and will long be remembered.
Perhaps nowhere else will Castro be remembered more than in his homeland of Cuba. In 1959, Castro led a successful revolution that removed what many saw as an American puppet Government. Though he may not have initially wanted to, the revolution — occurring during the height of the cold war between Russia and the United States — would eventually, for all intent and purposes, convert Cuba into Russia’s strongest outpost in the Western Hemisphere.
Soon after Castro took power in 1961, the United States, through its rebel proxies, launched an unsuccessful attempt to reverse the revolution at the Bay of Pigs. It was US President John F Kennedy’s most humiliating defeat, especially considering America’s boast at the time that it was successfully containing communism and the expansion of Soviet Russia around the world.
Then shortly after that the world was brought to the very brink of nuclear war when the Russian Government began installing nuclear weapons on Cuba. Fidel Castro’s boast then that the Cuban Revolution had the means to defend itself against any American invasion was well founded.
However, the Cuban missile crisis and resolution that followed between Russia and America, apparently with Fidel Castro playing only a minor role, showed how vital Cuba’s location was — and apparently still is. Cubans found themselves in the very middle of superpower rivalry. However, the revolution that Castro had started was saved. Not many people know, for instance, that although war over Cuba was averted, the Russians did keep a small nuclear deterrent on the island; just in case the Americans changed their minds and invaded.
Cuba’s global influence was very much disproportionate to its small size. It supported military campaigns in many areas around the would, especially in Latin America and the southern regions of Africa. Not willing to only protest, Cuban forces were very active in wars against apartheid so much so that, at one point, South Africa was considering using its nuclear weapons against the Cuban forces, according to Castro.
Castro has changed Cuba forever. After winning what some saw as the island’s second war of independence, not from Spain, but from the United States, Castro stood for what he believed. He was one of the few leaders that successfully stood up to the United States and successfully outwitted many attempts to have him and his revolution killed.
So whether we love him or hate him, Fidel Castro is a major world leader who’s iconic cigar-smoking, military fatigues, long speeches and charisma, will certainly long be remembered.
Michael A Dingwall
michael_a_dingwall@hotmail.com
