Castro dead at 90, Cuba still uncertain

Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz is dead at 90 years of age.
He was born on Aug. 13, 1926, in what used to be the eastern Cuban province of Oriente. While in school, Castro became familiar with communist literature, and began to base the beginning of an era on those principles. However, he claimed from the beginning that his intentions were to restore democracy and freedom.
In 1959, Castro and his band of revolutionaries ousted Gen. Fulgencio Batista who had seized control of the island in a 1952 coup. Castro was an easy man to follow, with convincing oratories and the stature of a man with inherent power.
The people of Cuba revered Castro as he and his revolutionaries fought to gain control of Cuba, and when Batista finally fled a darkened Havana airport shortly after midnight on New Year’s Day in 1959, Castro had already gained the trust of the Cuban people.
Huber Matos was a faithful supporter of Castro when they were fighting for control of Cuba. When Matos began to oppose Castro, he was thrown in prison and charged with treason. When he was released 20 years later, he went into exile in the United States and told Worldview Magazine that he and Castro differed because the original objective of the revolution was ‘Freedom or Death,’ but once Castro had power, he began to kill freedom.
That was the truth too. As soon as Castro was in power, he brought more than 500 Batista-era officials before courts-martial and special tribunals, summarily convicted them and had them shot to death. The grainy black-and-white images of these executions were broadcast on American television, and the horror of Castro’s reign began to sink in.
Castro became close allies with the Soviet Union, which prompted President Dwight D. Eisenhower to cut the American sugar quota from Cuba. This was the beginning of the animosity between Cuba and the United States. In 1961, Castro gave the United States 48 hours to reduce the staff of the embassy in Havana from 60 to 18. Eisenhower instead decided to break off diplomatic relations with Cuba and the embassies in Havana and Washington D.C. were both closed.
Although Castro had almost completely eliminated the freedoms that the Cuban people had, Castro still had supporters that referred to themselves as Fidelistas, and he remained popular among segments of Cuban society despite the fact that his economic policies had created severe hardships.
Even though he was an unforgiving dictator and a ruthless ruler, he was still largely revered and respected by people in Cuba. There were exceptions including the refugees that tried with all their might to float to Florida, and even Castro’s own daughter became a radio announcer and spoke out against him for years.
Fidel’s brother, Rául, has ruled Cuba since 2006 when Fidel fell ill, and Cuba has since seen a turnaround in both economic and personal freedoms. The relations between the United States and Cuba are on the mend with a prisoner exchange orchestrated by President Barack Obama with the help of Pope Francis.
While relations with Cuba are improving, it may be many years before the lasting wounds left by Fidel Castro’s reign heal.