Villain and hero – world leaders cast their verdicts
Trump has harsh words for ‘brutal dictator’, while Latin Americans mourn their revolutionary hero
DONALD TRUMP condemned Fidel Castro as a “brutal dictator” who murdered and oppressed his own people yesterday, in an apparent attempt to undo Barack Obama’s thawing of relations with Cuba.
The president-elect’s statement on the former Cuban leader’s death was a marked contrast from the reaction of President Obama, who has overseen a historic renewal of diplomatic ties with the communist state.
“Today, the world marks the passing of a brutal dictator who oppressed his own people for nearly six decades. Fidel Castro’s legacy is one of firing squads, theft, unimaginable suffering, poverty and the denial of fundamental human rights,” Mr Trump said in a statement.
He added that the “deaths and pains caused by Fidel Castro cannot be erased”, promising to help the Cuban people “begin their journey towards liberty and prosperity”.
Mr Trump has previously threatened to reverse Mr Obama’s trade deal with Cuba unless it released some political prisoners and restored civil liberties. Mr Obama struck a different tone. He described the Latin American former dictator as a “singular figure” whose socialist policies had “an enormous impact on the world around him”.
Mr Obama was widely praised for his efforts to heal divisions between the two countries after he became the first US president in 80 years to visit Cuba last March. “We offer condolences to Fidel Castro’s family,” he said, adding that he “extended a hand of friendship to the Cuban people”.
Boris Johnson, the Foreign Secretary, acknowledged the former communist leader as a “controversial figure”, as he offered condolences to the government and people of Cuba. “Fidel Castro’s death marks the end of an era for Cuba and the start of a new one for Cuba’s people.” Jeremy Corbyn, the Labour leader, was less circumspect: “From building a world-class health and education system, to Cuba’s record of international solidarity abroad, Castro’s achievements were many. [He was] a huge figure of modern history, national independence and 20th-century socialism.”
Castro was praised by Left-wing governments in France, Canada and neighbouring Venezuela. François Hollande, France’s socialist president, hailed Castro as a “towering figure in the 20th century” and called for the US trade embargo to be lifted. “[Castro] incarnated the Cuban revolution, in both its hopes and subsequent disillusionment,” Mr Hollande said.
Justin Trudeau, Liberal prime minister of Canada, described Castro as a “family friend” and praised his “significant improvements to the education and healthcare of his island nation”.
Last November Mr Trudeau met President Raul Castro, Fidel’s brother, in a move that echoed his own father, Pierre Trudeau, visiting the country as Canada’s prime minister in 1976 – the first Nato leader to do so.
China’s president Xi Jingping also had kind words in a statement read out on state television: “The Chinese people have lost a good and true comrade. Comrade Castro will live for ever.”
Vladimir Putin described Castro as “a sincere and reliable friend of Russia,” while Mikhail Gorbachev, the former Soviet leader, praised him for standing up to US pressure. “Fidel stood up and strengthened his country during the harshest American blockade, when there was colossal pressure on him. And he still took his country out of this blockade to a path of independent development,” Mr Gorbachev said.
Russia, which has retained its relations with Cuba since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, had perceived Castro as the leader of socialism in the developing world during the Cold War.
Jacob Zuma, the South African president, praised Castro for inspiring Nelson Mandela and others. “President Castro identified with our struggle against apartheid,” he said.
“He inspired the Cuban people to join us in our own struggle. As a way of paying homage to the memory of President Castro, the strong bonds of solidarity, co-operation and friendship that exist between South Africa and Cuba must be maintained and nurtured.”
However, it was across Latin America that the 90-year-old’s death was greeted with the most sadness.
The alliance which lionised Castro may have weakened – with the Leftwing leaders of Argentina, Brazil and Peru no longer in power – but he could always count on the loyalty of Ecuador, Bolivia, Venezuela and Nicaragua. “A great one has gone. Fidel has died. Viva Cuba! Viva Latin America!” tweeted Rafael Correa, president of Ecuador, yesterday.
In Bolivia, where Ernesto “Che” Guevara died in 1967 in a failed bid to export Cuba’s revolution, President Evo Morales said in a statement: “Fidel Castro left us a legacy of having fought for the integration of the world’s peoples.
“The departure of Comandante Fidel Castro really hurts.”
But it is Venezuela – teetering towards becoming a failed state – which perhaps most illustrates the end of the leftist dream. Nicolas Maduro, like his predecessor Hugo Chavez, idolised Castro. “It is up to us to continue his legacy and carry his flag of independence,” he said.