Written by David Starr   

The U.S. public has been bombarded with vilifying propaganda about Fidel Castro for over 40 years. There's little surprise then that members of the public would impulsively conjure up a negative image of him; a demon, evil incarnate.

Castro has been condemned by the likes of the U.S. government and right-wing Cuban exiles in Miami, but praised worldwide, especially in the "Third World." His defiance of U.S. imperialism is legendary.

Is Castro a dictator? Having been leader of Cuba from 1959 to 2008, it would sound that way. But one should keep in mind that pre-1959 Cuba was a virtual neocolony of the U.S., where U.S. businesses had virtual control of Cuba's economy, the mafia had control of the casinos and Cuban leaders were appeasers to U.S. "diplomacy." Cuba's sovereignty was thus repeatedly violated.

In a nation like this, most would support someone like Castro, a strong, charismatic leader pulling his nation out of the U.S. orbit, thus ending Cuba's dependence as a market satellite. While Castro does have his faults, there’s more to him than the vilifying propaganda. Castro became a leader at a time when "Third World" nations continued to push for independence, including the utilization of armed struggle; when the Soviet Union was a formidable foe against the U.S.; when the Cold War reverberated across the world. At the forefront, things were looked at more in B/W than shades of gray.

The Making of a Revolutionary

Castro's life spells out the definition of the word revolution. At age seven, Castro had a thirst for knowledge, convincing his parents to send him to school. (Education was hard to come by then.) He went to Jesuit schools, studying agriculture, history and Spanish. He was also a stand-out athlete.

Castro studied law at the University of Havana, the latter known for its political activism. Castro got involved with a gang called the Revolutionary Insurrectional Union, where he would participate in fights with rival political activists. He was exposed to Marxism and other modes of political thought, becoming a Marxist and a nationalist. Eventually, Castro left the university to join a rebellion in Colombia, fighting against a right-wing government.

Joining the Ortodoxo Party, Castro campaigned for a seat in the Cuban Congress in 1952. The party supported economic independence, social justice and an end to corruption. Elections, however, were not held. U.S.-backed tyrant Fulgencio Batista staged a military coup, overthrowing President Carlos Socarras. Previously, Batista was president from 1940 to 1944. He supposedly was center-left, having the support of the Cuban Communist Party. But after that, Batista became fiercely anti-communist and operated behind the scenes as a strong man.

As a lawyer, Castro petitioned for the overthrow of Batista, but Cuban courts rejected his plea. Seeing that there was no way Batista could be removed by legal means, Castro opted for armed struggle. He and his brother Raul formed an organization called the Movement. On July 26, 1953, Castro, his brother and 123 other Cubans attacked the Moncada Garrison in Oriente Province. Nine rebels were killed and 56 executed by Batista's government. During his trial, Castro spoke for four hours, saying, "Condemn me, it does not matter. History will absolve me." Castro was convicted to 15 years imprisonment performing hard labor. But there was a public outcry, and Batista released Castro after a year on "humanitarian" grounds.

Becoming an exile in Mexico, Castro befriended Ernesto "Che" Guevara, a Marxist revolutionary from Argentina. Guevara joined Castro to continue armed struggle in Cuba. Castro, his brother, Guevara and 80 others arrived in Cuba in a yacht called the Granma on December 2, 1956. Batista's military killed about 60 of the rebels; only 20 survived. They made their way into the Sierra Maestra mountains in southeastern Cuba. From there, they fought Batista's military, getting support from the peasants, and urban activists who protested against Batista.

In a matter of just two years, Castro and his band of revolutionaries heavily contributed to the overthrow of Batista. It did help that the U.S. imposed an arms embargo on Batista's regime. But this is what happens when a U.S.-backed leader becomes too unpopular: U.S. leaders dump him and hope they can have another compliant leader put into power. Castro, however, wasn't going to "play ball."

The Cuban Revolution succeeded on January 1, 1959.

Castro the "Devil"

Since Castro wasn't going to be like previous Cuban leaders, the Eisenhower administration, namely Vice-President Richard Nixon, rebuffed Castro's attempts at diplomacy. When Cuba established relations with the USSR, U.S. leaders cried foul, saying that Castro wasn't interested in democracy, but just wanted to grab power. But if this were true, Castro, with his intelligence, could have found an easier way to gain power. He could have bowed to the U.S. like previous Cuban leaders, and kept Cuba in the role of a neocolony. But Castro didn't do that: Instead, he risked a lot, being imprisoned and leading an armed struggle. So there's more to Castro than just power.

Castro is blamed for all sorts of transgressions. He, Guevara and Soviet leader Nikita Kruschev were blamed for almost starting a world war when Soviet nuclear missiles were exported to Cuba. But the U.S., had/has a strategic advantage, dominating world politics and having had its own missiles directed at the USSR. Now, it's the world's only super power, producing a gross imbalance of power in the world.

Castro was blamed for exporting revolution. But the left had momentum during the 1960s and 1970s, where revolutionary organizations in the "Third World," especially, tried to liberate their nations from subservience to capital and underdevelopment. Cuba aided Angola against an apartheid-backed opposition led by Jonas Savimbi.

Castro is also accused of betraying Guevara when the latter organized Bolivians to invoke a revolution in their country, and Guevara was eventually executed. This is absurd, since Castro and Guevara were comrades-in-arms.

But what about human rights in Cuba? Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have accused the Cuban government of violations. In the course of Cold War hostilities, which Republicans and some Democrats in the U.S. still harbor against Cuba, no doubt there's been violations. But every country has violations, including the United States, which has the biggest prison population in the world; many being nonviolent "offenders" for possessing marijuana. Then there are the violations that have been committed by the CIA and anti-Castro Cuban exiles against Cuba, which have amounted to acts of terror. But no country's human rights record is exempt from criticism.

After the Cuban Revolution, there were political executions. Amnesty International asserts that between 1959 and 1987 there were 237 death sentences. (The numbers vary depending on the source.) Two-hundred and sixteen were carried out. The vast majority who were executed were police, politicians and informers. Scholars generally agree that those executed were probably guilty as accused. Due process, however, was not followed. ( Michelle Chase "The Trials," 2010. In "A Century of Revolution" by Grandin and Gilbert.)

Some scholars assert that those executed were torturers, terrorists and other criminals in the employ of the Batista regime. The executions had wide support among the Cuban population; and if they were not carried out, members of the population would have taken the law into their own hands. The Cuban government justifies the executions as being similar to the Nuremberg trials conducted by the allies at the end of WWII. (Raul Gomez Treto, "Thirty Years of Cuban Revolutionary Penal Law," published by Latin American Perspectives. Spring 1991, vol. 18, no. 2)

Why do Cubans leave their home country? Political repression? U.S. immigration has mainly allowed defectors, especially white Cubans, easy entry in the U.S. But a top-secret document was made public by the Cuban-American Education Fund in 1994 signed by a U.S. agent named "Sullivan." The document reveals that, "The processing of refugee applications continues to show weak cases. Most people apply more because of the deteriorating economic situation than a real fear of persecution."

Besides, the U.S. has propped up regimes in nations like El Salvador, Guatemala and Peru which have had infinitely worse violations but don't get the same scrutiny. They are usually called "struggling democracies."

Assassination Attempts

The assassination attempts against Castro are almost legendary. According to Fabian Escalante, former head of the Cuban Secret Service, over 600 attempts have been made, from the Eisenhower administration to the Clinton administration. This, however, is disputable. Here are 10 bizarre attempts (Stacy Conradt, "10 Ways the CIA Tried to Kill Castro. "Mental Floss" magazine.):

"Marita Lorenz [a lover of Castro's], accepted a deal from the CIA in which she would feed [Castro] capsules filled with poison. According to Lorenz, Castro figured out her plan and offered her his gun. "I can't do it, Fidel' she told him." To add to this, the CIA told Lorenz that Castro wanted to kill their child. But she figured out that this was a lie.

"[A wet-suit was to be offered to Castro] lined with spores and bacteria that would give him a skin disease (or worse)." Castro never got the diving suit.

"An ordinary-looking pen would be rigged with a hypodermic needle with an extremely, potent poison." The needle was to be undetectable as someone would push against Castro.

"[An exploding cigar which] would have been packed with enough real explosives to take Fidel's head off." The plan never transpired.

"[A] double agent who would slip Castro a cigar filled with botulin, a toxin that would kill the leader in short order." The agent "got cold feet."

"[A]n explosive device in a conch shell at his favorite [diving] spot." The shell would look brightly colored and unusual to attract Castro's attention. When he got close to the shell, a bomb in it would explode.

"[Using] thallium salt, the chemical in products like Nair" to make Castro's beard fall out. This would make him look "weak and fallible" to the Cuban population.

"In an effort to discredit Fidel, not kill him, a radio station where Castro was going to do a live broadcast would be bombarded with an aerosol spray containing a substance similar to LSD." Castro would supposedly "freak out on the air" and Cubans "would think he had lost his mind and stop trusting him."

"[A] germ-covered handkerchief that would make him very ill."

"[A] poisoned milkshake." The attempt went awry when the poison pill stuck to the freezer. This was the closest attempt on Castro's life.

Unfortunately, the CIA has probably been trying to take advantage of Cuba's current situation and commit some sort of sabotage or fuel dissent. Cuba's sovereignty and security thus becomes paramount.

Fidel Castro is 90 years years old and out of power. After his death, a lot will be written about him, both with vilifying propaganda and with praises. But like him or not, Fidel Castro is 100% revolutionary.