After Fidel’s 11 minute speech to the Assembly (he must be dead!) Raul stood up and said Cuba could no longer be seen “as the only country in the world where it is not necessary to work.”

Raul is the real radical. He has even allowed Cubans to have (gasp!) cellphones and shop at “El Mercado de Casa” for lumber and drywall. And in the most daring experiment so far, he has allowed hairdressers to earn their own livings! Che would be FUMING I tell you!

One hotel worker was quoted as saying,“Our tragicomedy continues.”

As for an accurate referendum on Castro, I’ll go with the boat people and Knopfler’s interactions with real Cubans, not tourists and documentarians with an agenda to verify.

And, WriterOnTheStorm, please! How many Cubans have an opportunity to attend college? And how many cab driving nuclear physicists are driving around Havana? And what’s this about the great unwashed “masses” voting? We can’t let that happen, can we. Fidel knows what’s best for the masses. All they need to do is shut up and enjoy their cigars.

Balkas I propose that you educate yourself better and read more , you talking nonsense

fascists not only wish castro would be dead but fascists also kill people by millions in korea, cuba, panama, nicaragua, vietnam, iraq, palestine, afpak, and elsewhere.

Their wishes we could pardon but their killings not ever! tnx

“I like Fidel Castro, and his beard!”

- Bob Dylan, “Motorpsycho Nightmare”

I wasn’t going to comment until I came across a couple of commentators whose
lack of grace is outdone only by their ignorance.

Even more pathetic than forming your opinions from pollsters is forming your
opinion from anecdotes, especially those of the embittered and expatriated.

Castro is the last of breed of idealistic leaders. Wether you agree with his ideals,
he possesses a kind of greatness in a politician that came to an end with the
likes of Thatcher and Reagan. Love or hate Castro, one should recognize that his
ilk is a cut above the soulless, pragmatic, focus-grouped, artificially sweetened
ghouls who haunt our halls of power.

It’s too facile to compare what’s bad about Cuba with what’s good about
America. For every cab driving nuclear physicist raising a fist to Castro, there a
hundred people in America who will never get the chance to attend college. At
least in Cuba one can smoke a cigar in public. One’s basic rights are not voted
away by the masses as marriage rights were by prop 8 in California.

Look both ways before you step into traffic.

The real winner of ‘Survival Island’.

I’m with Peter Knopfler.  Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Dee.

What is admirable about a leader who causes hundreds of thousands of his countrymen to risk their lives in leaky boats to attempt to find freedom and the ability to earn a decent living?

I remember him as just another communist tyrant and murderer, credited with the genocide of at least 25,000 of his countrymen.  And I will always remember him that way, even if he lives to be 100 and writes 100 useless books.

Good for tourism, that`s about it. I talk to Cubans that have come to the Yucatan, I see them daily, teaching boxing and dancing etc. Ask them about freedom of Castro, All Wish He were dead! 20 years here and not one have I heard say they like Castro. You hear this from Canadians like Castro, some Americans go to Cuba via Cancun, all say nice things of Castro, BUT the ONES who really were born and oppressed there, Say that CANADA-USA KNOWS NOTHING! CASTRO IS THE CREEP, that Keeps Cuba from freedom. Creeps come in twos Raul-Fidel, twiddle dee and twiddle dumb, dumb and dunmber. To keep a country for 60 years to yourself and not give people freedom of movement, you have to be a scary creepy guy. To run an entire group of people on a fear based philosophy, united by fear of the enemy-USA, you have to torture and kill a lot of folks to keep the rest in line.Starting with DWIGHT D and all presidents after him, USA manipulated CUBA, like Haiti and now HONDURAS.

For those who think age has made Fidel irrelevant, I would suggest you read his ‘Reflections’ written since his illness. You might also check out some of his observations about Internat’l events. the Environment, and the Energy Crunch. All of Latin America and Africa, as well as most of the other Non-Aligned Nations consider his opinions to be highly relevant. They may disagree, but they do not discount what he has to say.

He has just published yet another book, and is planning to continue writing the history of the Revolution. Not exactly your typical Grandfather sitting in his rocking chair. I read as much of his writing as is available in English. I find his breadth of knowledge and interests to be remarkable. Then, you add in the charisma and passion, and it is no wonder they give him a standing ovation. It is similar to reading Chomsky, and discovering you really want to know what he has to say.

While you consign him to the dustbin of the past, he continues to meet the challenges of both today and the future. Too bad the leaders in the West are so limited intellectually. I remember every one talking about how smart Obama is - yet, he speaks no foreign languages and had never been to Europe or Canada until after he secured the Democratic nomination. I always wondered at his lack of curiosity about the World. Perhaps spending time in S.E. Asia as a child and visiting his relatives in Africa as a teenager showed him everything he wanted to know about 3rd World Countries. It’s a shame though: he is now embroiled in wars with 2.5 of them, and rattling his bombs at 2 or 3 more. Perhaps expanding his interests would create a more inventive seeker of solutions rather than just another War Monger.

IMO, Fidel is not interested in returning as Maximum Leader of Cuba. I think he is welcoming the chance to study and write about the problems that face all of us. Say what you want, his opinions are based on over 50 years of power on the World Stage. He’s outsmarted and outlived most of his enemies, and at 84 doesn’t seem willing to go quietly…

An old commie. Who cares

hello. here’s a guy that makes one think politics is
worth living for. congrats to him on his remarkable
recovery. Cuba has gone from our closest dangerous
enemy, able to place a nuclear device in a fishing
boat and level Miami within two hours: to a peace
advocate lecturing on the evils of global nuclear annihilation. unfortunately his recovery must have
been tainted by oil dispersant blowing into his air
conditioning, and it will be awhile before he regains
his cognitive strengths. it is great seeing a
familiar adversary back in the arena, and it must
also be an encouraging inspiration to
revolutionaries. he used to rule this communist
hemisphere. now he is just respectfully placated
outside his country. within his country he still
rocks the house. he may lack the faculties to shake
the world evermore, but he has always been unshakable
in his beliefs.