An Open Letter to Fidel Castro

Farewell Fidel,

Most Americans never knew how bad you were. That's why I'm writing. Since you're dead, you won't mind. So here goes...

Best estimates are you murdered more that 100,000 Cubans between 1959 and last month. That's in a country of only seven million. You killed more political prisoners in your first three years of power than Hitler did in his first seven. Twenty times as many Cubans died trying to escape your "paradise" as did trying to escape East Germany. You jailed and tortured political prisoners at a higher rate than Stalin did during the Great Terror. At one point in 1961, one out of every 17 Cubans was a political prisoner.

Firing squad was your preferred method, because then there'd be no judicial process. You'd video
these  executions and televise them. Televise them! That was a form of terror we thought ISIS started. ISIS, SHMISIS. You and Che Guevera had them beat by 60 years.

You're not just a thug, you're a thief. Big time. By mid 1960, you had stolen $8,000,000,000.00 (in today's money) from U.S. businessmen. Any who resisted were tortured and murdered.

However, this firing squad thing created a slight problem. So much blood was spilled on Cuban soil from so many that you and your partners in crime started tying victims to a stake, extracting most of their blood and then shooting them. Then you'd sell most of that blood on the international market. Sounds kind of capitalist, no?

Speaking of capitalism, you eliminated it's last vestiges under Batista with a totalitarian system of central planning, i.e. public slavery. The results? Uh... not so great. In 1958, Cuba's per capita income was the second highest in Latin America, higher than Japan and much of Europe and double that of Spain. Your people owned as many cars as the Italians, boasted an 88% literacy rate, had a lower infant mortality numbers than France, Germany and Belgium, and spent more on education than any country in Latin America. Not anymore. Half the population now has an estimated $300 to $400 annual household income, while in urban areas it's $1000 to $2000 per annum. Guatemala, with its $3800 per capita GDP, looks luxurious compared to your socialist slave island.

This abject poverty is best seen in the squalid living conditions. Many cities have tall communal apartment buildings which house 10 to 12 people in each small studio apartment. These buildings haven't been maintained since 1959 (that year keeps coming up). The elevators and indoor plumbing don't work, but you were kind enough to place public outhouses around these buildings.Needless to say, the stench is stupendous.

But health care, that's where you excelled right? Even some conservatives bought that piece of propaganda. Turns out you had three levels of health service in Cuba. The best was for the
tourists, featuring state-of-the-art equipment and the best doctors. Michael Moore featured it in Sicko, his fake-news movie. You showed it island-wide for free, which sickened Cuban dissidents. You reserved the next level for high-ranking military leaders, artists and your communist comrades. Pretty good care there, as well. The vast majority, however, endured a filthy, understaffed, massively under-equipped medical system staffed by unqualified, overworked doctors who re-used latex gloves, had few antibiotics and often treated patients in fly-infested beds without sheets. Bat droppings, mice, cockroaches and mosquitoes were all in evidence. Patients frequently had to bring their own soap, towels, food, light bulbs, and .... toilet paper.

Your worst health problems were not those. They were malnutrition and starvation.

The mainstream media bought your B.S., from start to the bitter end. If only they listened in 1958, when you said "Propaganda is the heart of the struggle. We can never abandon propaganda." That's why you deported any who were critical, and called those who complied your "U.S. media recruits" who were "much more important than guerrilla recruits for our guerrilla army."

Their statements and actions after your death attest to their naivete. The NY Times called you "the savior" of the Cuban people. ABC News labeled you "the George Washington of his country." BBC called you "a world icon" and "the most astute politician of his time." Chris Matthews labeled you a "folk hero" and "a romantic figure." CNN somehow failed to show the tens of thousands celebrating your death in the streets of Miami.

Most politicians were no better, especially on the left. Canada's socialist prime minister called you " a remarkable leader" and expressed "deep sorrow" over your death. Britain's leftist labor leader praised your "world class health and education system," adding that your "achievements were many." Ex-president Jimmy Carter didn't disappoint when he said "Rosalynn and I remember fondly our visits with him in Cuba and his love of his country. One-percenter Jill Stein tweeted that you were "a symbol of the struggle for justice in the shadow of empire."  As well, President Obama couldn't utter a negative word about you--- one of modern history's worst villains. He said you "altered the course of individual lives and families, and of the Cuban nation," adding that "history will record and judge the enormous impact of this singular figure..."

And that great patriot, Colin Kapernick, wiped tears for you with his U.S. flag, as he stood at attention with his hand over his heart.

At least  President-elect Donald Trump didn't sugarcoat your demise, quickly tweeting "Fidel Castro is dead!" and following that up with a statement which said your legacy is one of "firing squads, theft, unimaginable suffering, poverty and the denial of fundamental human rights."  He added that his administration "will do all it can to ensure the Cuban people can finally begin their journey toward prosperity and liberty."

I hope he's right.