Fidel Castro (1926-2016): The Dictator Next Door

English: The Cuban leader Fidel Castro. Español: El líder cubano Fidel Castro. Italiano: Il leader cubano Fidel Castro Français : Le dirigeant cubain Fidel Castro. 日本語: キューバの最高指導者であるフィデル・カストロ Português: O líder cubano Fidel Castro. ‪Norsk (bokmål)‬: Cubas statsoverhode Fidel Castro. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Since New Year's Day 1959, the Cuban people had known only one leader.  A former baseball pitcher who once tried out for the Washington Senators, he threw curve balls at the United States by bringing his own brand of Communism to the Western Hemisphere.  He had been a thorn in the side of eleven U.S. presidents from Dwight Eisenhower to Barack Obama, blamed his neighbor to the north for an ongoing embargo, and nearly brought the world to nuclear war with the presence of Soviet missiles on Cuban soil.

Fidel Castro's run as Maximum Leader ended this past weekend at the age of 90.  While he was mourned in Havana, Cubans who long ago risked their lives to escape his regime to settle in the United States were celebrating in the streets of Miami.  The rest of the world's reaction was mixed at best.

Castro's lasting legacy depends on who you ask.  For some, he was a worldwide force for change against capitalist imperialism, seeking to export his ideas to places like Africa and Latin America.  For others, Castro was just another despot whose "revolution" devolved into extreme poverty for his people, jails and prisons filled with dissidents (if they weren't already killed), and using the Soviet Union to keep the Americans at bay.

The United States government did everything they could do to get rid of Castro, whether it was done clandestinely or not.  They tried to kill him, poison him, invade his country, etc., all to no discernible effect.  Castro would respond by using his lengthy nationally-televised addresses to denounce American aggression.  Meanwhile, his country was stuck in a time warp, as characterized by those well-maintained (because they had to be) 1950s-era cars made in Detroit.

Lately, though, there's been a warming of relations between the two countries.  Embassies have been reopened, and travel restrictions for Americans have been eased.  But economic sanctions have yet to be lifted.  And they won't be if President-elect Donald Trump and an anti-Castro Republican Congress roll back reforms as they have promised.

Castro gave up his presidency in 2008 due to declining health, turning it over to brother Raoul.  He now runs Cuba at age 85 with plans to step down in 2018.  Then what?  Will Communism survive the Castros, or is there another strongman (which the U.S. hopes is more to their liking) ready to take over?

What happened to Cuba under Fidel Castro's regime is for history to decide.  What happens after brother Raoul leaves is a matter of speculation.  Whatever happens, the Cuban people deserve a better fate.