How History Will Remember Fidel Castro

With the death of Cuban strongman, Fidel Castro, it becomes necessary to put his impact in a bit of historical perspective. Far too many people have begun to pay glowing tributes to him, and are trying to soften the image of a dark and brutal dictator. By choosing to nullify the evil, liberals are doing a grave disservice to history. To be fair, you could find traces of good in Stalin, Hitler, Chairman Mao, and numerous other evil dictators throughout the course of history, if you chose to look hard enough, but the fact remains they were evil men who killed millions of people and paved a trail of misery and despair for millions more. Fidel Castro is no different, so let's not allow a rewriting of the truth.

Castro came to power in February of 1959 after Fulgencio Batista fled into exile and left room for the Marxist-Leninist revolutionary to fill the void as President. Over the next fifty plus years, he ruled Cuba with an iron fist as a full-fledged dictator. He curtailed free-speech by shutting down opposition newspapers, jailing political opponents, and made no move in holding any free elections. He also limited land ownership, abolished private businesses, and greatly stifled the Cuban economy leading to food shortages and economic hardship for many Cubans. The Castro regime also provided numerous leftist guerrilla movements in Latin America and Africa with military and financial aid. He cozied up to the likes of fellow tyrants, such as Qadhafi of Libya and Venezuelan strongman Hugo Chavez, and was equally as raucous and vociferous in his hatred of America as they were. To be perfectly clear, his regime was repressive and led many to risk their lives in raggedy makeshift boats just to flee to America to obtain freedom. One cannot emphasize enough the bloodshed, heartache, and misery Castro brought to the Cuban people.

As eulogies come in over the next several days and weeks, and as world leaders try to paint Fidel Castro as a freedom fighter and a man of the people, remember the real Castro. Remember that he was a cold-blooded, ruthless dictator who killed thousands of people and kept Cuba locked up in despair just ninety miles off the shore of a free America. Remember that many managed to escape to America and gain their freedom, and many others tried and failed, and perished in his Marxist-Leninist utopia of Cuba. By choosing to rewrite history, you allow a false narrative to grow, and lift up a man who truly deserves to be remembered as one of the evil tyrants of our time. Many will say rest in peace, Fidel Castro, but to those who remember history and know the real Castro, we rejoice in his long-awaited death and pray that Cuba will finally progress towards freedom and liberty one day soon.