The Economist calls him “the great survivor of world politics.” Fidel Castro first came to power in 1959 -- one year shy of half a century ago. He has managed to outlast 10 American presidents.
“El Comandante” also survived the cold war, the fall of the Soviet Union and decades of U.S. economic embargo. Now, finally, age and ill health have slowed him down when seemingly nothing else could. The 81-year-old Fidel has transferred power to his slightly younger brother, Raul. (Cuba’s new president is 76.)
The elder Castro’s influence will still be strongly felt. Fidel will continue to be First Secretary of Cuba’s Communist Party. His famously rambling speeches, which often went on for hours, will be replaced by newspaper columns. In his retirement address Fidel wrote, “I am not saying goodbye to you. I want only to fight on as a soldier of ideas.”
An Unfunny Joke
The Castro regime has no tolerance for humor. In modern-day Cuba, laughing at Fidel can still get you thrown in jail. Perhaps because of that humorlessness, communist leaders often fail to see the humor in their own windy statements. The idea that Castro is a “soldier of ideas” is a sad joke. If anything, he is a soldier of stagnation.
The ancient automobiles that cruise Cuba’s streets are a testament to both the ingenuity of the Cuban people and the utter backwardness of what Castro has done. Cuba under Fidel has been stuck in a time warp. Change has been painfully slow over the years, or hardly forthcoming at all, as the rest of the world has moved on.
Hope for Change
With the transition of power from one Castro to another, there is hope that Cuba can now truly change. And the slightly younger Raul does offer some noticeable differences from El Comandante. Where Fidel always spoke to the people in army fatigues, Raul presents himself in suit and tie. Where Fidel was known to ramble for hours, Raul speaks clearly and succinctly. Where Fidel was passionate, Raul is seen as pragmatic.
But no one should get their hopes up too much. The “old guard” is still very much in power. As mentioned earlier, Cuba’s new president is 76. His No. 2 man, known to be “a fierce Communist hard-liner,” according to The New York Times, is also 76.
Raul Castro summed up the reality of things with a simple statement to Cuba’s National Assembly. “Fidel is Fidel, you know that well,” he said. “He is irreplaceable, and the people will continue his work even though he is not physically here.”
A Necessary Enemy
In the past, a major facet of Fidel’s “work” has been keeping Cuba isolated.
The job was a lot easier with the help of the Soviet Union; a steady flow of funds helped El Comandante ignore the demands of a free market economy. When the Soviet money dried up, however, keeping Cuba isolated became a much trickier proposition. The regime had to walk a fine line between finding new ways to generate revenue and keeping the Cuban people sufficiently closed off from freedom.
America has kept Cuba isolated, too. Ever since 1960, Washington has maintained a policy of economic embargo, with the intent to punish Fidel and weaken his regime.
After nearly 50 years, it’s become clear that the embargo helped Castro more than it hurt him. While ordinary Cubans suffered, Washington’s policies gave Fidel a scapegoat to rail against. All revolutions need a cause célèbre -- an issue to champion or an enemy to fight against. For Fidel, America filled that role.
A History of Crackdown
To keep up his perpetual revolution, Fidel Castro had to keep Cuba as closed off from the outside world as possible. This is a big reason why Cuban-American relations never truly thawed; El Comandante simply didn’t want them to.