Woke up this morning to the news that Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz, commonly known as Fidel Castro, has passed away at the age of 90. He governed the Republic of Cuba as Prime Minister from 1959 to 1976 and then as President from 1976 to 2008.
Why do so many Africans regard him as a hero? Do they realise what life under Castro was like in Cuba? I understand that he fought with many liberation movements and assisted in many countries gaining independence. For that we should thank him. But make no mistake, that was not for the benefit of the African people, it was for his own benefit. It allowed his Russian masters communist influence in Africa while they concentrated on problems closer to home. For that he was well rewarded by the Russians. This is a man that protected an American oil installation in Angola when it suited his purpose.
Human rights were badly trampled on in Cuba under Castro’s rule. Numerous human rights abuses including torture, arbitrary imprisonment, unfair trials, and extrajudicial executions took place under his rule. Human Rights Watch has stated that the government “represses nearly all forms of political dissent” and that “Cubans are systematically denied basic rights to free expression, association, assembly, privacy, movement, and due process of law”.
That sounds pretty much like the conditions many Africans lived under during colonial rule. I can thus see no logical reason why Africans should see him as a hero. Thankful for his help? Yes. Celebrating him? No! He represented exactly those values you fought to escape. If you honestly believe in freedom, human rights, free speech, the right to vote, the right to life, and a free and fair society Castro is not the man to celebrate. Ask yourself one question, how can I look up at a man who gave his people no more freedom than the Apartheid Government gave the majority of South Africans?