Fidel Castro
He's stepping aside, in case you haven't heard. Most of the Hispanic/Latino communities I've interacted with had a rather ambiguous view of him. Often a certain amount of respect was mixed in with more negative feelings--he succeeded in implementing ideals that had been longed for in various revolutions and reforms throughout Latin America...but he also did so on the back of human rights abuses. Rarely did it involve the hate for him found in the Cuban exile community...likely because most of those I knew were Mexican, Dominican, Argentinian, etc.
The history is sobering--he overthrew a corrupt dictator who had US support, and US support for dictators has been our black eye throughout Latin America (and the world even). Castro wasn't nearly as radical at the time, and he sought US approval and support. It was when he didn't get it that he turned to USSR and became much more radical.
None of which excuses the abuses...but it does place some of the blame on us as well. And it helps show how history is never as simple as people like to present it.
Anyway, I had one college prof who actually went on a double date with Castro once. This was before the revolution. He and the man who would become my professor's husband were in university together and went on a double date. Profa Cortina and her husband were among those who fled immediately after the revolution--she already had a doctorate in Cuba, but was stuck cleaning hospitals in the US. But then she learned English (as all immigrants try) and earned a BA and MA in Michigan and ended up starting the exchange program that I went on to Spain. Actually, I found an online tribute to her at my alma mater's website...and turns out some of the details are slightly different, but mostly the same. I love the detail about remembering Fidel's dreams to play baseball. And I never knew about her husband's involvement in Bay of Pigs. Huh.
He's stepping aside, in case you haven't heard. Most of the Hispanic/Latino communities I've interacted with had a rather ambiguous view of him. Often a certain amount of respect was mixed in with more negative feelings--he succeeded in implementing ideals that had been longed for in various revolutions and reforms throughout Latin America...but he also did so on the back of human rights abuses. Rarely did it involve the hate for him found in the Cuban exile community...likely because most of those I knew were Mexican, Dominican, Argentinian, etc.
The history is sobering--he overthrew a corrupt dictator who had US support, and US support for dictators has been our black eye throughout Latin America (and the world even). Castro wasn't nearly as radical at the time, and he sought US approval and support. It was when he didn't get it that he turned to USSR and became much more radical.
None of which excuses the abuses...but it does place some of the blame on us as well. And it helps show how history is never as simple as people like to present it.
Anyway, I had one college prof who actually went on a double date with Castro once. This was before the revolution. He and the man who would become my professor's husband were in university together and went on a double date. Profa Cortina and her husband were among those who fled immediately after the revolution--she already had a doctorate in Cuba, but was stuck cleaning hospitals in the US. But then she learned English (as all immigrants try) and earned a BA and MA in Michigan and ended up starting the exchange program that I went on to Spain. Actually, I found an online tribute to her at my alma mater's website...and turns out some of the details are slightly different, but mostly the same. I love the detail about remembering Fidel's dreams to play baseball. And I never knew about her husband's involvement in Bay of Pigs. Huh.
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