Fidel Castro dies at 90
 

http://www.cnn.com/2016/11/26/americ...l-castro-obit/

I missed this on Friday. :(

Wow! 90! I should have been a communist! :eek:

"Castro, dead at 90, faced more than 600 assassination attempts"

Some people have all the luck! :mad:

I don't expect this will impact the Luger collecting community in any meaningful way, but I imagine that American hot-rodders are salivating at the prospect of 1950's/60's Yankee cars being sold & imported... :D

Will Obama try to salvage his presidency by opening trade with Cuba in the next 4 weeks??? Will Raul change Cuba's policy of isolation from the US??? Will we finally get some decent cigars??? :p

Good. Now Adolf has some company in hell.

Good Riddance
 

We fled our native Cuba in the summer of 1960, a year and a half after Castro and his henchmen arrived in Havana to establish his "worker's paradise". On Friday evening, my wife and I lifted up a toast in celebration of Castro's demise and the begininning of his richly deserved eternal damnation in the company of the rest of the world's past dictators who have caused so much misery and death during the lifetimes. Our world is a better place now that he is no longer among us.

when we were in europe, you could buy cuban cigars - I don't smoke so...

Not familiar with his history. Usually, communist party has very intensive internal political fighting against each other. Stalin purged almost all his former comrades in 1930s. On Chairman Mao's obituary, Xinhua News Agency summarized his 10 victories against opponents inside the party. As we heard today, Korea's Kim also purged his father's regime members.

No such story on Castro?

Christmas came early this year!!! Dirt Bag!!!!!

I was too young to remember but my parents told me a number of times that the trials and executions of the more noteworthy Castro opponents were televised nightly as a means of cowering the opposition. It is probably impossible to accurately tally the number of Cubans killed let alone imprisoned during Fidel's 57 years in power. I think that it is safe to say that the dead number at least in the 10s of thousands during the initial years as he consolidated power. Some were killed outright by firing squad while thousands suffered a slower death in the prisons/"work" farms. Others died as a result of Castro's numerous overseas interventions. Cuba is not a big country. The population when he took over was approximately 10 million and Cuba went from being the most prosperous country in Latin America to one of the poorest during Castro's time in power. We see the same story repeated in Venezuela but on a not quite as ruthless scale.
I doubt much, if anything, will change with Fidel's death. The powers behind the "throne" are still in place with little motivation to moderate the current form of government.

Some people said that Devil took a real bargain on Black Friday by taking Castro with 90% off!
I loved that one!

It is a bit ironic...

Yet so many of the "Beautiful People" mourn his passing...http://theresurgent.com/shameful-blindness/

Done at last, for now! Whats Next???? At least one major influence or factor will be gone for good!

A lot of the doublecrossed bay of pigs POWs got ransomedback to the US.
Many went into the US Army, and a number of them in Special Forces.

Two SFA conventions ago at the picnic a few of them were lounging around when another walked up.
One began laughing and said, "The last time I saw you, you were chained to a wall in Havana waiting to be shot!"

I really enjoy being around these folks. Next convention in June.

As ayoungster I recall the revolution and goings on. We were behinf Fidel and supplied most of his things. He appeared to be the consumate revolutionary figure and the percieved savior of his nation.
Fini revolution and he did an about face and announced his commie agenda. Russkis moved in and intense tines ensued.
I believe both sides blinked over the missle deal and concessions were made we will never know about.
Nuclear war was a big issue and consideration in those days. Nobody wanted that, but it was close a time or two.

Couldn't happen to a nicer dictator.