Name: Former Cuban Leader Fidel Castro Dead at 90
Uploaded: 2016-11-26
Duration: 4 min 22 s

[ FOREIGN ] Depending on whom you talk to, Fidel Castro was a revered revolutionary legend. [ INAUDIBLE ] Cuba. Or a despised tyrannical dictator. [ FOREIGN ] There is little middle ground. [ FOREIGN ] Castro came to power in 1959 in a widely popular revolution. Overthrowing Cuba's bend dictator Fulgencio Batista. The new government quickly gain the recognition of the United States. But it wasn't long before the bearded rebels left his ideology. Put him on a collision course with America. Specially when he allied himself with the Soviet Union. Seeing a new threat just 90 miles offshore, the US decided to act. I have directed the armed forces to- First launching a trade embargo, followed by the failed, CIA backed, Bay of Pigs invasion, and several assassination attempts on Castro. All this, while the Cuban leader allowed the Soviet Union to secretly build nuclear missile bases on the island. When they were discovered by the US in 1962, so called Cuban Missile Crisis brought the world to the brink of nuclear war. As Castro turned more and more to socialism, thousand of his well to do Cubans fled the country. The millions left behind became part of the new social experimental, a one- party communist state. Led by one man, himself. He imposed the idea that those who didn't like it could leave. He divided families. Many saw positives education and health care for all. Racial integration. [ FOREIGN ] What Fidel achieved in the social order of this country has not been achieved by any poor nation and even by many rich countries despite being submitted to enormous pressures. But critics say it came at a terrible cost. The dreams of freedom that it had given the Cuban people were turned into the nightmare we live today. Cuz we have a totalitarian regime in which all basic liberties have been abolished. What Castro never managed to achieve was economic prosperity even with years of subsidies from the Soviet Union. For that, Castro always blamed the United States and its embargo. But many blame the man himself. Pointing to his unwavering believe in an outdated and inefficient socialist model. Castro had little tolerance for dissent. [ NOISE ] Opponents were often dismissed as traitors, imprisoned or exiled. As more and more dissidents ended up under arrest, Castro became the target of international condemnation. But like so many times before, Castro never backed down, proudly defending his record on human rights. There hasn't been a single case of death squads here. Never has a person disappeared in Cuba, which has been common practice all over Latin America. So we feel proud of our clean record with relation to this problem. Call it pride, or selective reasoning, but Castro never lost faith in the revolution. Upon his concede Castro's popularity diminished as his beard grew wider, but his intelligence and shrewdness continued to command fear and respect. He would eventually outlive many of his critics, and outlast ten US administrations In the end, it was illness, not Washington that forced him to retire, passing Cuba's leadership to his younger brother, Raul. In his last years, Castro appeared only occasionally, mostly in photos looking frail. At times he tried to play the role of elder statesman but more and more he simply seemed Inconsequential. [ FOREIGN ] The Cuban government has been very agile. It has slowly removed him from the scene. It would have been one thing if he had abruptly died back on July 31, 2006. Instead, his image and importance have slowly faded. Castro always insisted death was not something he fear. [ FOREIGN ] I have never been afraid of death. [ FOREIGN ] I have never been concerned about death. [ FOREIGN ] I have to learn [ UNKNOWN ] feel attached to decisions. [ FOREIGN ] And not to feel attached to that which is called power. That latter statement seems ironic coming from a man who almost singlehandedly dictated over Cuba. For nearly half a century. [ BLANK_AUDIO ]