Fidel Castro Dead: End of Communist Regime?

By Douglas V. Gibbs
Author, Speaker, Instructor, Radio Host

The New York Times' reporting of the death of Fidel Castro, the communist revolutionary and dictator of Cuba, reads more like a celebration of the man's life than the reporting of a dead enemy of America.  Other mainstream media reporters are doing the same, with journalists hailing Castro for his "achievements" and comparing him to figures like George Washington.  In reality, Castro was a ruthless tyrant who brought the diabolical communist specter of the Soviet Union's communism to the Western Hemisphere, and a mere 90 miles from the shores of the United States.  Now, after a long wait, Cuba's state-run television has announced the death of Castro at the age of 90.

Cuban exiles who came to America to escape the terror of Castro's communism, once the word of Castro's death reached the shores of Florida, poured into Miami's streets to celebrate.  Cuba has been reluctant to announce Castro's death, but the news of the death of the despised dictator did eventually spread across Havana, and ultimately, the world.

Fidel Castro represents a final brick of the Soviet wall of communism that attempted to engulf the world, a fall that began in Berlin, and now finally may topple in Cuba.  The era of Soviet aggression we hope will eventually fade, but as it looks right now, the communists in Cuba will do all they can to try to keep Castro's revolution alive.

Ten days before his death a Vietnam leader presented Castro with a portrait of himself, garbed in his revolutionary uniform as Cuba's El Comandante.  Worldwide communists hold Castro up as a hero, while those who cherish liberty recognize him as a ruthless tyrant.

The era of Castro ushered in a vicious political confrontation while John F. Kennedy was president, bringing the fears of communist expansion into our backyard.  The Cuban Missile Crisis, however, was merely only one of many moments in history that Castro defied the United States.  Reality, however, dictates that the dictatorship may very well continue.  Donald Trump vows to reverse Obama's relationship normalization with Cuba, calling Castro a 'brutal dictator' who, because of his tyrannical leadership, was the target of 638 assassination attempts'.

While Miami is celebrating, as is all persons who embrace liberty and stand against communism, the Pope is actually grieving, and praying for the atheist revolutionary.  While the Pope is correct that we must love our enemies and hope they come to Christ, I think the Marxist Jesuit from Argentina is grieving and praying because politically, he and Castro have much in common.

In the end, while the end of Fidel Castro is something to celebrate, the reality is, the era of Castro may not be completely over - and the return of Cuba to liberty may not necessarily be something that will happen in the near future.  The disease of communism is something that may take decades, if not longer, to emerge from.  While the journey may finally be beginning, the prize still remains beyond the fingertips of the Cuban people, in the distant future - held there by the iron fists of Castro's allies.

-- Political Pistachio Conservative News and Commentary