Topic: Castro Dead at 90!
Lpdon's photo
Sat 11/26/16 02:44 AM
News just breaking out of Cuba!

Lpdon's photo
Sat 11/26/16 02:56 AM
Edited by Lpdon on Sat 11/26/16 03:11 AM
Longtime Cuban leader Fidel Castro, the bearded, cigar-smoking Communist revolutionary who infuriated the United States, inspired both loyalty and loathing from his countrymen and maintained an iron grip on Cuban politics for almost 50 years, died Friday at the age of 90.

Castro, who was the only leader most of his countrymen ever knew, outlasted 11 US presidents since he first took power in 1959.

Castro had been in declining health for years – he continued to spew his anti-American tirades almost until the end.

In October, 2014, Castro reprinted a New York Times editorial in state-run media that argued that the U.S. embargo on Cuba should end. The editorial ran almost verbatim, omitting one line about Cuba’s release of political prisoners.

In 2012 he wrote an opinion piece for a state-run media outlet in which he branded the Republican presidential primary race "the greatest competition of idiocy and ignorance" the world has ever seen.
And just to show how much his volatile presence lingered in American politics, despite officially handing over power to his brother Raul in 2008, Castro also was the subject of a question during a Republican candidates' debate in Tampa, Fla. that same month.

When Mitt Romney was asked the first thing he would do as president if he found out Castro was dead, he replied, "Well first of all, you thank heavens that Fidel Castro has returned to his maker and will be sent to another land."

When it was his turn to answer, Newt Gingrich said, "I don't think that Fidel is going to meet his maker. I think he's going to go to the other place."

The lawyer, revolutionary and political leader who triggered such visceral reactions was born August 13, 1926 out of wedlock to a Cuban sugar plantation owner and a servant in his home (they eventually married). He was not formally recognized by his father until he was 17, when his surname was changed to Castro from Ruz, his mother's name.

Though he spent the better part of his life railing against capitalism and the rich, Castro enjoyed a wealthy and privileged childhood.

He attended Jesuit boarding schools, and developed a love for sports, pitching for El Colegio de Belen’s baseball team. He attended the University of Havana law school, where he joined groups that focused on Cuban nationalism and socialism.

After graduation and now a revolutionary, he took up arms against the government of President Fulgencio Batista, leading a failed 1953 attack on a military barracks in hopes of triggering a popular revolt.

Instead he was captured and at his trial, where he led his own defense, famously predicted "history will absolve me."

After spending time in prison, Castro went into exile in Mexico, where he met Ernesto "Che" Guevara, who became his confidante.

Castro established another guerrilla force and after several years of fighting, eventually defeated Batista in 1959, taking control of Cuba at the age of 32.

After being sworn in as prime minister, Castro began a series of reforms, many designed to end US economic power on the island. Relations between the two countries frayed and when Castro visited the US later that year, President Dwight Eisenhower refused to meet with him.

At the same time, Castro's government began to establish relations with the Soviet Union. In April 1961 Castro formally declared Cuba a socialist state just days before the disastrous Bay of Pigs invasion that saw 1,400 Cuban exiles trained by the CIA unsuccessfully attempt to invade and topple his government.

Castro intensified relations with the Soviet Union and in 1962 US reconnaissance planes discovered Soviet missiles on their way to Cuban sites, precipitating a tense standoff between President John F. Kennedy and Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev.

But in the 1980s, Russia stopped taking Cuban sugar, causing widespread economic deprivation that resulted in thousands of Cubans trying to flee to the US by sea.
Castro often spoke with resentment and disgust of the Cubans who left the island because of his government, particularly those who went into exile in the United States.

He called Cuban exiles “guzanos,” the Spanish word for “worms,” and complained about the Miami Mafia that always sought his ouster.
Cuban exiles responded with equal disdain, with many forming organizations solely focused on getting Castro out of power.
Rumors of his death ran rampant in Cuban communities many times over the decades.

In a 1988 speech, Castro said: "I think I hold the dubious record of having been the target of more assassination attempts than any politician, in any country, in any era.”

"The day I die, nobody will believe it."
Castro served as prime minister until 1976, when he became president, serving in that position until 2008, when an ailing Fidel handed over power to his younger brother Raul.

He remained as First Secretary of the Communist Party until April 2011.

And even when officially out of office, he remained the best known figure in Cuba.

"Men do not shape destiny," he once said. "Destiny produces the man for the hour."

Along the way he was a prime enemy of the US and there were reports of the CIA trying to topple him in a variety of ways, although some suggestions – like an exploding cigar – seemed to border on the absurd.

Castro's personal life was complicated and private. He was believed to have one son by a first marriage, an illegitimate daughter from another relationship, five sons from a second marriage and another son by an unnamed mother.

http://www.foxnews.com/world/2016/11/26/former-cuban-leader-fidel-castro-dies-at-age-90.html

no photo
Sat 11/26/16 03:51 AM
Edited by MetroMania on Sat 11/26/16 03:52 AM
Former Cuban President Fidel Castro Dies at 90
http://www.voanews.com/a/fidel-castro-death/3612401.html/

Fidel Castro: Through the Years

Obama Moved Aggressively to Restore Relations with Cuba

http://www.voanews.com/a/obama-restored-relations-with-cuba/3612438.html/

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One thing is for sure. We are not going to run short of Jesuit- Communists or their ideology. whoa


March 21, 2016 - Havana Cuba


September 22, 2015 -Santiago, Cuba


Conrad_73's photo
Sat 11/26/16 04:02 AM
well,I guess Obama will lead a 20+ Delegation to Havana for the Funeral!bigsmile

Robxbox73's photo
Sat 11/26/16 04:17 AM
Oh yea!!!!

Conrad_73's photo
Sat 11/26/16 10:52 AM
Dead on "Black Friday"!

no photo
Sat 11/26/16 11:06 AM

Dead on "Black Friday"!


You think he got a deal on his casket and funeral arrangements? smokin

Conrad_73's photo
Sat 11/26/16 11:23 AM


Dead on "Black Friday"!


You think he got a deal on his casket and funeral arrangements? smokin

need to inquire at Walmart!

no photo
Sat 11/26/16 12:45 PM

The real Castro Revolution was a blood bath. The dead don't remember.

no photo
Sat 11/26/16 04:54 PM
Edited by MetroMania on Sat 11/26/16 04:55 PM
Cubans are celebrating, with Cuban flags, across the United States... and the MSM is eating it up. slaphead

Where and when do Americans celebrate, an American thing, with American flags?

Should I scream, I am offended?



no photo
Fri 12/02/16 08:07 PM
Snoop Dogg attacks Kaepernick saying choose football or revolution

http://youtu.be/J8Wl32NnpuI/6:01

Dec 2, 2016
Snoop Dogg goes to town on Colin Kaepernick for supporting Castro like an idiot without understanding what really happened in Cuba or who Castro really was. Does Snoop Dogg support Trump probably not but he should they seem to have the same mentality.

laugh

Lpdon's photo
Fri 12/02/16 09:04 PM
Castro dead is a headline we should have been reading in the early 1960's but we had a monumental F' Up for a President who was soft on communism and couldn't organize a box of rocks let a lone an operation to kill this monster.

no photo
Sun 12/04/16 06:30 AM

News just breaking out of Cuba!


Now all we need is for his brother to croak and then Cuba will be a instant Las Vegas

no photo
Sun 12/04/16 06:34 AM


News just breaking out of Cuba!


Now all we need is for his brother to croak and then Cuba will be a instant Las Vegas


Nah... Castros 3 sons have no intention of giving up complete control of that island

no photo
Sun 12/04/16 06:56 AM
All we have to do is send a few Dodge Chargers and Ford Mustangs over there. They will drop those 1950 Studerbakers in a heart beat and come on board.

msharmony's photo
Sun 12/04/16 09:05 AM
Edited by msharmony on Sun 12/04/16 09:07 AM
its funny that people so often bash media for being so selective and biased,, but then feel like americans know what 'really happens' in other countries,,,

looking at several source, it seems like many mourned his death and many celebrated

'revolution' is rarely a pretty thing, and some see the ends as a positive if the change it brings is something they cherish,,

if I am not mistaken, Putin supported Castro as well,, wasnt it the USSR that Cuba aligned itself with when 'communists' were the enemy and noone had heard of 'islamic terrorism'?


Conrad_73's photo
Sun 12/04/16 09:13 AM
Edited by Conrad_73 on Sun 12/04/16 09:41 AM

Castro and Vlad were Brain-Brothers!

http://www.weeklystandard.com/history-will-not-absolve-fidel-castro/article/2005669?custom_click=rss

GOOD RIDDANCE,FIDEL,you sick Bustard!sick :angry:

Lpdon's photo
Mon 12/05/16 12:53 PM

its funny that people so often bash media for being so selective and biased,, but then feel like americans know what 'really happens' in other countries,,,

looking at several source, it seems like many mourned his death and many celebrated

'revolution' is rarely a pretty thing, and some see the ends as a positive if the change it brings is something they cherish,,

if I am not mistaken, Putin supported Castro as well,, wasnt it the USSR that Cuba aligned itself with when 'communists' were the enemy and noone had heard of 'islamic terrorism'?




Putin is an evil man as well.