Cuba, with or without Fidel Castro

Fidel Castro has relinquished power to his brother Raul Castro, following a medical surgery.
But under his rule, Cuba missed the chance to be a prosperous island. It has been under the dictatorship of a communist regime which sees its neighbour the USA as a giant worthy of fighting instead of becoming liberal and enjoying the benefits of a political and economic alliance with it.

Its proximity from it could have made it a tourist resort for the wealthy Americans. But Fidel Castro opted to make a pact with the Devil by allying with the Soviet Union. During this alliance Castro regime had a honeymoon period. He enjoyed full support from Soviet leaders. Cuba had good social services, for example it had the best health care, not enjoyed in the Soviet Union itself. But Cuba was only exploited by the USSR. It wanted to make of it a window/ façade for other countries to show them the prosperity communism can bring to people.

With the fall of communism, Cuba economic situation plunged. Fidel Castro became like Dr Faustus who had sold his soul to the devil, faced with economic hardship and cajoled with lip services from “progressive” regimes.

Now Cuba altogether needs a surgical operation to recover from its accumulated ills. The continuation of a dictatorship will make no difference if either of the Castros, Fidel or Raul, is in power. What Cubans need is a new era where they can get the breeze of freedom and not a bloody nose when they try to revitalise their political scene with a new, vigorous and young blood, instead of remaining under the grip of the dictatorship of an ageing elite of . An elite whose principle was to free the Cubans from a regime it had deemed reactionary. But it has ended in enslaving them under the banner of propaganda which offers too many promises but very few results on the ground.