Indymedia Ireland wish to pay tribute to the late leader Comrade Fidel Castro who died on Fri 25th Nov 2016, aged 90. He was an iconic figure of the 20th century and perhaps most famous for leading Cuba away from the clutches of a dictator and the mafia which ran the country on behalf of the US prior to that and then to events of the CIA backed failed invasion to overthrow him referred to as the Bay of Pigs and then later to the Cuban missile crisis which brought the world to the brink. This came about because the US had placed nuclear missiles in Turkey which were 15 minutes flight time to Moscow and Castro allowed the Soviet Union to respond in kind by placing Soviet missile in Cuba which were 15 minutes flight time to Washington.

Not only that he and Cuba defied the US for many decades simply by existing despite the US openly being hostile including imposing economic and financial sanctions against Cuba since the revolution and an estimated 600 assassination attempts against him and for daring to give the example that there is another way to exist than naked capitalism. A successful example on their doorstep of a state that provided benefits such as education, health and general well-being for their citizens is what the US most feared. Even to this day, the health system and life expectancy exceeds anything in Latin American and including huge swaths of the USA itself and this lesson is surely being brought home to many not just in the US but elsewhere where many are mired in puntative debt and are prey to vulture capitalists and increasing unstable and uncertain existence in their daily lives. read full story / add a comment