Featured Image: Fidel Castro speaking in Havana, 1978. Photo by Marcelo Montecino via Wikimedia Commons
The death of Fidel Castro, who remained a figure of contrasting and divergent descriptions to Cubans and the world – as revolutionary to his followers and a tyrant to dissidents of his rule – drew markedly different responses from President Barack Obama and President-elect Donald Trump.
However, the two spoke of the US desire for well being of the Cubans as they move to a new era beyond the shadow of Castro, who passed away at the age of 90. Castro had relinquished power to his younger brother and remained ailing for the past several years.
After leading a guerrilla revolution, leading Castro followed Soviet socialism, survived several death plots, and pushed the world to the edge of a nuclear confrontation between the two powers, the United States and Soviet Union. Since 1960s many in his country and abroad have seen him as a symbol of defiance.
At the same time, several Cubans went through oppression under his regime and a significant number of dissidents fled to the United States. The US-Cuba tensions under Castro were shaped by several issues and events including the 1960s Bay of Pigs invasion and the Cuban Missile Crisis.
Reacting to Castro’s death, Trump initially tweeted: “Fidel Castro is dead!”
In an official statement, Trump later called Castro a “brutal dictator, who oppressed his own people for nearly six decades,” and leaving behind a legacy of “firing squads, theft, unimaginable suffering, poverty and the denial of fundamental human rights.”
“Though the tragedies, deaths and pain caused by Fidel Castro cannot be erased, our administration will do all it can to ensure the Cuban people can finally begin their journey toward prosperity and liberty,” Trump said in a statemein nt.
“While Cuba remains a totalitarian island, it is my hope that today marks a move away from the horrors endured for too long, and toward a future in which the wonderful Cuban people finally live in the freedom they so richly deserve,” added the president-elect, who is spending the Thanksgiving holiday in West Palm Beach, Floriday.
In Washington, the White House issued a statement in which President Obama, who has worked to restore diplomatic ties with Cuba after decades of discords between the two countries, reacted carefully, and suggested history will judge the impact of Castro’s rule and policies.
“At this time of Fidel Castro’s passing, we extend a hand of friendship to the Cuban people. We know that this moment fills Cubans – in Cuba and in the United States – with powerful emotions, recalling the countless ways in which Fidel
Castro altered the course of individual lives, families, and of the Cuban nation. History will record and judge the enormous impact of this singular figure on the people and world around him.”
For nearly six decades, Obama noted the relationship between the United States and Cuba was marked by “discord and profound political disagreements.”
“During my presidency, we have worked hard to put the past behind us, pursuing a future in which the relationship between our two countries is defined not by our differences but by the many things that we share as neighbors and friends – bonds of family, culture, commerce, and common humanity. This engagement includes the contributions of Cuban Americans, who have done so much for our country and who care deeply about their loved ones in Cuba.
“Today, we offer condolences to Fidel Castro’s family, and our thoughts and prayers are with the Cuban people. In the days ahead, they will recall the past and also look to the future. As they do, the Cuban people must know that they have a friend and partner in the United States of America.”
