Contributor to the Journal
oppressive wind

Castro never shouts "Viva Castro", he only leads the chants of "Viva Cuba", and then the Cubans follow him to shout "Viva Cuba", and in this respect he is smarter than some of the leaders of the East, such as North Korea. In this respect, he is smarter than the leaders of some Eastern countries, such as North Korea. He also realized that it is impossible to live for 10,000 years. During the Sino-Soviet war, when Cuba was a follower of the Soviet Union, China had no qualms about accusing Castro of practicing "fascist rule," and Castro did not budge in his retort: "The red sun will go out, too. The red sun will also go out."

de factoHe only lived90Age. A certain former leader of the East who is almost as old as he is is still alive, and while in Cuba any questioning of Castro or disrespectful remarks about him will result in arrest, in the East that former leader has been made into various styles of emoticons and is allowed to a certain extent, and one wonders if this will help to prolong his life.

But in any case, Fidel Castro died today, and the Chinese, who have always emphasized the importance of the dead, usually show a certain degree of respect for those who have died, provided that they did not do any great evil in their lives. When it comes to tyrants, dictators or executioners, such as Hitler or Stalin, people are quick to call them "dead". Therefore, my use of the neutral word "death" here already demonstrates to a large extent the Chinese virtue of tolerance.

1959In 2007, Castro seized power in Cuba by force of arms, and the socialist experiment has been going on ever since. Everything in Cuba, from foreign-owned factories and farm land to cows and sheep used by farmers, was confiscated for state ownership. In Cuba, everything belongs to the state and everything belongs to the party. A legacy of the last century is in place: a planned economy where people are rationed for the necessities of life on which they depend. The Cubans are luckier than the North Koreans in that the basic rations of bread and oil satisfy their needs, but for meat and other foods they have to go on a shopping spree.

Per capita in CubaGDPthere are7000At just over a dollar, which is similar to China, it doesn't look too bad, but it doesn't explain why Cubans' standard of living is so bad. So let's look at what Cubans actually earn. The ban on the private economy during the Castro Sr. era, which was only loosened when his brother Raúl came to power, has left the majority of Cubans living on a pittance of a salary from the government or state-run factories, which is about $4,000 a month.20Dollars or so. That's right.20Dollars, I didn't write fewer zeros.

The lack of supply of goods from the state-run stores makes it necessary for people to spend a lot of money on the black market to buy what they need. This episode is a bit like the1984The "Miles of Oceania. I once joked to a friend of mine that if you went to Cuba, even if it only cost you a month of3000RMB, are able to live a heavenly rich life in Cuba, and can also bag several Cuban beauties with big breasts and long legs. But I soon realized that I was thinking too optimistically. Foreigners in Cuba do not exchange their dollars directly, but have to exchange them for an exclusive currency similar to foreign exchange certificates, which are almost equivalent, translating into the actual price of whatever you buy in Cuba25Twice as much money. Nonetheless, as a tourist destination, Cuba attracts many tourists, and ordinary Cubans can only look on as these tourists spend their money lavishly.

During Castro Sr.'s administration, it was illegal for individuals to own the Internet until Raúl came to power, when the Internet was gradually liberalized, especially after the recent improvement in relations between Cuba and the United States.Facebookand Twitter have also been unblocked in Cuba, leaving only North Korea and other countries where the aforementioned sites are still blocked. For the majority of Cubans, however, access to the Internet remains a distant dream, as the cost of Internet access in Cuba can be as high as $10,000 per hour.2Dollars, a day on the internet, you need to work for a month without eating or drinking.

So it seems that Castro's promise to the Cuban people at the beginning of his reign to eliminate inequality has been practically realized, but this equality is the same poverty. Cubans are certainly not satisfied with this kind of poverty, otherwise, after Raúl's small-scale liberalization of the private economy, private owners would not have sprung up. But the fact that Castro was able to keep the country stable when the level of the economy did not satisfy the nation shows that he found a good weapon to rule the people, and yes, that weapon was anti-American.

With the weapon of anti-Americanism, Castro can easily attribute all the problems in the country to the conspiracy of the United States imperialists, and if he wants to deal with his potential political opponents and opponents, he can easily label them as "colluding with the United States empire". Some people say that Cuba's economic difficulties have nothing to do with the United States embargo, but let's not forget that it was Castro's anti-Americanism that prompted the United States to impose sanctions.

The proletariat needs to maintain their revolutionary fervor at all times, so let's find them an object of revolution. The object, of course, could not be in the country, Castro was not stupid enough to start a movement like the Cultural Revolution, and the United States was the object to be used to stimulate national cohesion and patriotic fervor, with the United States Castro did not have to worry about Cubans complaining that their difficulties were due to irrational rule, and that they could put their freedoms on the back burner before the honor of the country.

If you want to give Castro a so-and-so verdict, I am not in a good position to say so here. Of course, if you would like to consider it a "four-six split", that is, four out of four faults and six out of six merits, you can do so, provided that you really think that the former leader's merits and faults are "three-seven split".

Castro lives.90age, is finally dead, and his brother Raul, the current Cuban leader, is also old. Obama's ice-breaking trip has brought new life to the country, and there are only blessings for the future of Cuba and the Cuban people.

I wonder if today's Cubans, while weeping and mourning Castro, the hero of the revolution who saved them from destruction, will hear the stirring and inspiring Internationale: "There never was a savior, nor a god or an emperor; it is up to us to create the happiness of mankind."