"Castro's Last Dance" by At Random / LJWorld.com

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Castro's Last Dance

As a child growing up on a rural farm in NW Kansas, I enjoyed over hearing adults discussing Castro.

Their voices, thick with German accents, would be solemn, constrained, but at other times their conversation would turn lively and heated.

I would find a quiet spot to listen. As I listened I would drift away to Cuba. I would picture Castro dancing among his people in their bright red/orange/yellow clothing, which contrasted brilliantly against the white sand of their beaches. I could hear exotic music as he and his people danced, and I could smell the aroma of foreign spices - garlic, cumin, oregano, bay laurel leaves - in Cuban dishes as they intermingled with the smell of the salty ocean and the odor of Castro's cigar. Together they lingered, ghostlike, before drifting slowly away into the tropical night sky.

I envisioned Castro, a virile Robin Hood, riding with his band of supporters to take over a corrupt government and endangering his life while he did so. I pictured him dancing while imprisoned - knowing all the while that when he was released he would have the support of his people behind him.

When another hero, President John Kennedy, was at opposition with Cuba during the Bay of Pigs fiasco, I continued to picture Castro dancing, arms raised high and entwined with those of his adoring people. His face turned triumphantly to the sun and his dark hair and skin glistening with sweat, vitality, and good health.

When I read that Castro's younger brother, Raul Modesto Castro Ruz, is acting President of Cuba, I felt saddened. It is not uncommon to feel akin to someone who you have heard about your entire life. I don't know how much time Castro has left on his beautiful island of Cuba. I don't know how the majority of his people feel about his reign. Some say he has brought better health care, education, and economy to his country

.I know that any leader who has served for as long as Castro must be loved by many people and hated by a few. Many have fled under his leadership.

Tyrant or hero, I still picture Castro and he is dancing.

By Ronda Miller

January 22, 2008

At Random

From the Citizen Journalism Academy

Discussion

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23 January 2008
at 8:08 a.m.

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kanfans (Anonymous) says…

You should read “Waiting for Snow in Havana” by Carlos Eire. It paints a not so pretty picture of Castro, by one who fled Cuba as a young boy. He is waiting for snow there…or until Castro is dead to return.
23 January 2008
at 10:40 a.m.

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Gatiesa (Anonymous) says…

In my travels over the last 30 years in this wonderful country, I have come across a few people with your point of view. Nonetheless it still amazes me.

Mr. Castro took Cuba by force and he never let go. No one knows the right figure but there are over 3,000 documented executions with a trial lasting sometimes 15 minutes in the first two years of his revolution.

Actually when I read your article, I thought it was an attempt at humor.

Do you not read newspapers?

There are people willing to take to the sea in a home made rafts in either reach Liberty or die. Hardly a day goes by without having a dozen or more make it to land in Florida. Your statement on health care shows you've never been to Cuba. Wonderful hospitals were only foreigners and dignitaries are able to register. The common Cuban has different facilities. The common Cuban is not able to register at most hotels in Havana because it's for tourist only. Try to make a reservation and tell them you have Cuban family that will be staying with you. Cubans are third class citizens in their own country. Your statement about the Cuban economy shows ignorance. Cuba has no economy. The Cuban peso it is worthless outside the island. The economy or non-economy is kept afloat by hard currency coming in from the outside sent by relatives. I could go on and on but I'll leave it right there.

Sorry to spoil you're “drifting away”. Do a little research; I'll await your next blog entry.

Pepin
23 January 2008
at 3:50 p.m.

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kneejerkreaction (Anonymous) says…

Castro Fideled as Cuba burned.
23 January 2008
at 3:56 p.m.

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kneejerkreaction (Anonymous) says…

The only thing that Castro did for us was to nationalize the cigar market, causing Cuba's major cigar makers to migrate to other nearby countries with similar cigar-growing climates.

Cigars got cheaper and better and there's more of a selection now. Cuban cigars are currently mediocre at best. They are generally rushed to market, not aged and are sold solely on the mystique of their past and their unavailability in the US market, not on their present quality.

Other than screwing up Cuba's cigar market because of his own failed policies, I can't think of a single thing that Fidel has done for the world, or even Cuba.
23 January 2008
at 4:12 p.m.

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justbegintowrite (Ronda Miller) says…

Kanfans, I appreciate your mention of Eire's book “Waiting for Snow in Havana”. I have not read it, but have heard good things about it. I will read it the first opportunity I get.

Gatiesa, I appreciate your heartfelt comments. If you reread my post, you will see that it is written from the perspective of a young girl growing up in isolation. She over hears comments made by her German speaking grandparents and draws conclusions from the little she understands with her child's brain -” the grass is always greener on the other side” mentality.

There is really no politics in the post. It has to do with how opinions are formed when we are young and even after learning that someone may be considered evil, we have a preferred desire to continue picturing the “hero” as we formulated them in our mind's eye.

I would imagine there has been someone like this in all of our lives.

Having read a great deal about Castro's early life and how he had the support of his country behind him when he initially took over the government, that he has continued heading Cuba for all of these years, that he certainly must have offered the Cuban people something they wanted/desired initially, or they would have risen up against him long before now.

I know it is nothing similar to the situation in Cuba, but I have known people who moved out of the United States when President Bush was re elected. There are many different opinions about leaders.

I agree that we live in a beautiful country and I honor the freedom of speech that allows me to write the post I did last evening.
23 January 2008
at 4:15 p.m.

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justbegintowrite (Ronda Miller) says…

kneejerk, are you a cigar smoker? Where do you get the best cigars? I hear a great deal about Cuban cigars still.
23 January 2008
at 4:40 p.m.

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speedy (Anonymous) says…

i have lived,worked and been around many cubans. some were millionares. they gave up trucking empires to get away from castro and his corrup govn. never mind that catsro fought his way to power by getting rid of bastia. bastia also took over the gov. by force. he did away with a dem govnmmen. so how do you justify two corrupt people??? castro did more evil over a longer time. go to miami and spout your pro casto stuff, you wont come back misinformed!

23 January 2008
at 4:54 p.m.

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justbegintowrite (Ronda Miller) says…

Speedy, oddly enough while I was getting ready to post my entry I went on and read a web about how the people in Miami are planning on having a huge party and themselves dancing when Castro does die.
23 January 2008
at 11:08 p.m.

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sshreders18 (Anonymous) says…

I have heard both good and bad when it comes to Castro. He has been accused of human rights abuses over the years but I don't know if there is much truth to that or if it was all just anti-communist propoganda (correct me if I am wrong). As a political science major, though, I think that it's very obvious that Castro doesn't pose much of a threat to our national security anymore; there is no longer a Soviet Union to place ICBM's on the island. No one can argue against the fact that he is an object of intrigue. How many times could YOU survive an assassination attempt?
24 January 2008
at 8:11 a.m.

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justbegintowrite (Ronda Miller) says…

sshreders18, since you are a political science major, you already know more about Castro then I do, I am sure of that. I appreciate your post.

I am sure you discovered much younger then myself that it is important to determine that a lot of what we hear is true - or not, depending not only from whom you hear it, but which side of the fence is doing the telling.

Castro is intriguing to many people and it will be of interest to see what happens with Cuban once he has stopped dancing. I doubt any country has been all good or all bad - just as the majority of leaders (not all) have their strengths and weaknesses.
24 January 2008
at 8:49 a.m.

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manueltellechea (Anonymous) says…

I wonder if on those cold Kansas nights your German-speaking grandmother had fantasies of Hitler dancing in his lederhosen to the strains of Wagner's music as he plundered Europe and decimated the Jews.

http://reviewofcuban-americanblogs.bl…
24 January 2008
at 9:27 a.m.

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justbegintowrite (Ronda Miller) says…

manueltellechea, I appreciate the link you posted - very interesting read (I haven't made it through all of them as yet)

You have missed the point of my blog but I understand your comment. (Lets leave my Grandmother out of it though - a bit too personal of an attack, don't you think?).

Once again let me say the blog is about a young girl, filtered conception of what she overhears about a leader, and her fantasy about an escape to what she thinks is “an exotic place and leader). Don't read so much into something that is simple.

I suspect there are a lot of children who do idolize - for lack of a better word- world leaders (remember hearing about all of the young boys who killed themselves when Saddam was hanged?), simply because they hear so much about them and don't have the understanding of what they have done, or are doing, to the world around them. Kind of like playing cowboys and Indians to some extent. Didn't you ever play the bad guy, or were you always a good cop?
24 January 2008
at 9:38 a.m.

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Ziva (Anonymous) says…

Some fled? Try about 20% of Cuba's population, with more leaving daily. Sharks are preferable to Castro, and remember it's against the law for Cubans to leave without permission. Please read Armando Valladares “Against All Hope” and Enrique Encinosas “Unvanquished,” and for a good dose of much needed daily reality, please visit therealcuba.com. It's time to say goodbye to the childhood fantasy.
24 January 2008
at 9:47 a.m.

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justbegintowrite (Ronda Miller) says…

Thanks for the post Ziva - point about the childhood fantasy well taken. I do find him a fascinating figure - don't you? I would love to interview him.
24 January 2008
at 10:17 a.m.

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Marion (Marion Lynn) says…

manueltellechea wrote:

“manueltellechea (Anonymous) says:

I wonder if on those cold Kansas nights your German-speaking grandmother had fantasies of Hitler dancing in his lederhosen to the strains of Wagner's music as he plundered Europe and decimated the Jews.”

Marion writes:

Hmmmmm……………………………

manueltellechea, you are indeed quite the uneducated, prejudiced, discriminatory piece if biosolids, aren't you?

On the matter of “Dr.” Castro; he is, was and always has been a brutal dictator, a mass murderer, a communist who has donemore damage to his country than most will ever know and I will be at one of the celebrations of his death!

His death wiill hopefully throw the island into a breif period of chaos in which Itchy Brother; Raoul, will be taken out and shot while trying to escape along with a few other of the murdering b+stards of the Castro regeime!

Those of you who believe Castro to be anything other than what I have described, need to go do your homework!

I'll get you started but from the first citation:

“Seldom reported in the Western media are Castro's pre-Communist political beliefs. People who knew Castro at university recall that he used to carry with him a well-thumbed copy of Hitler's Mein Kampf and was fascinated by Nazi pageantry and paraphernalia. He also admired Italian fascist dictator Mussolini, and would stand before a mirror copying Il Duce's style of delivery and strutting manner.

Historian (Lord) Hugh Thomas observed that Castro's subsequent dictatorship was “more than anything the first Fascist Left regime - by which I mean it is a regime with totalitarian left-wing goals established and sustained by methods of fascism”.

http://www.onlineopinion.com.au/view….

Fidel and his murderous henchman, Che Guevara:

http://www.discoverthenetworks.org/in…

Brutal dictator and mass murderer, Fidel Castro supports Hillary and Obama:

http://www.reuters.com/article/politi…

A vote of Hillary or Obama is a vote for Castro and his murderous style!

24 January 2008
at 10:32 a.m.

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manueltellechea (Anonymous) says…

Marion:

You can insult me as much as you wish so long as you are not dancing with Fidel while doing so, which you obviously are not.
24 January 2008
at 10:39 a.m.

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manueltellechea (Anonymous) says…

Ronda:

Your grandmother, whom I do not know, was just a prop in my metaphor, just as Fidel Castro, whom you do not know, was a prop in yours.

You claim to be offended by what I said.

12 million Cubans were offended by what you said.
24 January 2008
at 10:44 a.m.

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Marion (Marion Lynn) says…

manueltellechea (Anonymous) says:

Marion:

You can insult me as much as you wish so long as you are not dancing with Fidel while doing so, which you obviously are not.”

Marion writes:

I took offence at your “metaphor” and well should have!

It is beneath you to denigrate the German population of Kansas and paint that population with the Nazi brush!

Or maybe it isn't.

In any case, it seems that we are on the same side regarding Castro but leave the Kansas Germans out of it, OK?

They had nothing to do with Hitler and the Nazis.
24 January 2008
at 10:55 a.m.

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justbegintowrite (Ronda Miller) says…

Manueltellechea, I wasn't in the least insulted by your post - I found it interesting - just want you to leave my Grandmother out of it.

Marion, how can you wish Castro to be killed, want to dance on his grave, and not put yourself into the same type of person he was/is.

I don't think voting for Hillary or Obama is quite yet a vote for Castro.

Yes, the German ancestors of Kansas have nothing to do with my post - or the horrors of World War II or Castro.

How about the people of Iraq our leader is responsible for having killed, maimed and displaced - let alone our women and men? How do we get past that one? Give me some examples of world leaders who have not condoned killing for
the “right”reasons?

I agree we need to leave the wonderful people of Kansas who have German ancestry out of this - they had nothing to do with World War II, or Castro.
24 January 2008
at 11:15 a.m.

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manueltellechea (Anonymous) says…

I am sure that the descendents of Germans in Kansas are fine upstanding people. My remarks were not addressed to them; but to one in particular, who admits to have fantasized about a “virile Robin Hood […] dancing, arms raised high and entwined with those of his adoring people. His face turned triumphantly to the sun and his dark hair and skin glistening with sweat, vitality, and good health.” The ogre thus described is Fidel Castro.

Surely this fantasy - which sounds too “precocious” to have been a childhood fantasy - is as repulsive as if her own German-speaking grandmother had entertained a similar daydream about Hitler, which was my point. In fact, many German women in Germany - and perhaps even in Kansas - found Hitler as irresistable as Ronda finds Castro. If you find that repulsive, so do I.
24 January 2008
at 11:57 a.m.

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Tati (Anonymous) says…

It doesn't take political science major to recognize that Cuba does pose a threat to the United States do you remember the 5 spies convicted back in 2001 or the FIU Professor and wife on 2006, how about Ana Belen Montes?
Montes was employed by the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) as a senior intelligence analyst. She began her employment with DIA in September 1985 and since 1992 has specialized in Cuba matters. She worked at Bolling Air Force Base in Washington, DC. Ms. Montes shared numerous classified documents with Cuban Intelligence but, it is her role in declaring Cuba harmless to the U.S. national security that may have had the biggest effect.
The claims that Cuba is no threat to the U.S. may seem believable in the sense that, for what it's worth, Cuba is in no position to mount a military attack on the U.S. But that is a long way from saying that castro and his ilk are a benign presence or are incapable of doing harm to the U.S. through indirect means. Cuba is still spreading anti-Americanism in Latin America and forging a strong relationship with Iran.

In Cuba it is a crime to have on your person or distribute a copy of the universal declaration of human rights If you are caught you will be detained and held without legal representation. You can also face jail time without a trial. Cuban people live under an oppressive system by a communist regime plagued by intolerance depriving Cubans of their most elementary rights.

Cubans are not allowed to own a typewriter, computer, radio or television antenna or fax machine, they are not allowed to travel freely within the country or abroad. They are not allowed to sell their own homes, move to another home or neighborhood, own a cell phone, stay at hotels or resorts were tourists stay, decide if their children will attend private or public schools. It goes on and on :.

After the fall of the Berlin Wall, East German archives were opened; researchers found that the castro regime worked closely with the Stasi in the 1970s to perfect surveillance and interrogation techniques and on other methods of enhancing fear. Let's remember that the fall of the Wall was not the end of all that. The Stasi's ideals, so grimly portrayed in Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck's 2007 Academy Award winning film, “The Lives of Others,” live on in Cuba today.

Please google sinking of the cuban tugboat “13 de marzo”

Ever heard of Dr. Oscar ElÃ-as Biscet GonzÃ¡lez you can read more about him at http://www.free-biscet.org/

I urge you to read Against All Hope: A Memoir of Life in Castro's Gulag by Armando Valladares.

Also visit the Cuba Archives web page where you can read more about castro's victims - http://cubaarchive.org
24 January 2008
at 11:57 a.m.

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justbegintowrite (Ronda Miller) says…

Goodness! I have put a shawl around Granny and removed her from this site.

Have you ever found someone far away (or close by) of interest - especially in your youth - only to later find out later they were evil?
24 January 2008
at 12:01 p.m.

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Marion (Marion Lynn) says…

justbegintowrite wrote:

“Marion, how can you wish Castro to be killed, want to dance on his grave, and not put yourself into the same type of person he was/is.(sic…is this a question or a statement?).

Marion writes:

Wishing for the final and ultimate demise of a mass murderer and despot in no way places one in the same category as the inhumane despot in question.

In your “learning to write”, look up a few things about equivocation, rationalisation and plain old common sense.

I intend to join my Cuban expatrate freinds in celebrating the passing of the mass murderer and evil dictator, “Dr.” Castro and we will party like H+ll!

24 January 2008
at 12:05 p.m.

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justbegintowrite (Ronda Miller) says…

Marion, you probably also believe in the death penalty which I do not - it takes all kinds in our world, eh?
24 January 2008
at 12:16 p.m.

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Marion (Marion Lynn) says…

Actually, I do not beleive int he death penalty; shows you what you get for ASSuming!

There are few who would say that had a decent opportunity to have killed Hitler popped up in their lives, that they would not have taken advantage of it and even fewer who would say that the massive celebrations which took place in Allied lines and camps over the defeat and death of Hitler were untoward in any way.

Grow up!

There is nothing wrong with celebrating the death of a mass murderer and tyrant!
24 January 2008
at 12:17 p.m.

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beatrice (Anonymous) says…

A vote for Clinton or Obama is as much a vote for Castro as a vote for Romney or Huckabee is a vote to jumpstart Armageddon. What an absolutely stupid thing to write, Marion.

Drinking already this morning? Don't you have a gun to go clean or something.
24 January 2008
at 12:54 p.m.

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Marion (Marion Lynn) says…

If Castro thinks that a thing is a good idea, that means that it a good idea for his dictatorship and punitive regieme, which means that it is a bad idea for the USA.

Castro says to vote for the Hillarybeeste and Obama.

Do you always follow the instructions of foreign mass murdering dictators?
24 January 2008
at 7:27 p.m.

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Ziva (Anonymous) says…

If you do not believe in the death penalty, then you should definitely be against castro, because his list of victims began at an early age. When he was 22 he was already involved in two gang murders and two assassination attempts. Read about the 1947 Cayo Confites attemp to invade the Dominican Republic, and the 1948 Bogotazo riots in Colombia, where thousands died. As an aside, as an death penalty apponent, I'm curious, what is your stand on abortion?
24 January 2008
at 7:47 p.m.

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Made_in_China (Paul R. Getto) says…

Castro is like many revolutionaries; he went bad after the war and power corrupted him at the expense of his people. Early on we needed to handle Cuba with kid gloves. Kennedy's deft handling of that episode was one example. As the Soviet Union faded, however, we should have traded with and undermined them with consumer goods and American ideals. The tactic worked against the USSR. We should be more creative in our Cuban relations. They are a wonderful people, full of dance and laughter, fine food, and-as others above have mentioned-they make some fine smokes!
24 January 2008
at 8:46 p.m.

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Ziva (Anonymous) says…

Made in China, you are wrong, Castro was always bad. See my comment above.
24 January 2008
at 9:07 p.m.

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Marion (Marion Lynn) says…

I would love to pull the trigger on the guy my very own self.

I would not lose a minute's sleep over it; ever.

Not now, not ever; NEVER!

24 January 2008
at 10:25 p.m.

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bearded_gnome (Anonymous) says…

I agree that we live in a beautiful country and I honor the freedom of speech that allows me to write the post I did last evening.
—justbegintowrite

it is worth noting, that perhaps you don't know that cubans have no free press, no free speech, no free assembly, no freedom to practice their faith, and of course, no freedom to carry arms.

Ronda, I am sure you knew you were taking a big leap into the pond of chance to write such an article drawing from childish fantasy. congratulations for taking that chance. I think you are capable of writing this topic with a different ending that still reflects your childish wimsy but doesn't put your foot squarely on a mine of ethnoculturopolitical strife.
24 January 2008
at 10:46 p.m.

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bearded_gnome (Anonymous) says…

there are two other points to add.

Fidel has thousands of political prisoners.

and, if you scale the tyrany and rule-by-terror by population brutalized, fidelito beats saddam's rule of iraq, and then in third place would be Darfur.

if I had been alive, I would have celebrated the death of hitler. I was quite glad at the death of Po Pot. Stalin should've been killed sooner and millions of deaths prevented. I celebrated the death of Saddam. I will celebrate Fidelito's death. now, to understand him through the eyes of a childhood wimsy is certainly understandable, I had similar wimsey about Hubert Humphrey…yeah pretty sad subject of childish wimsy! today, I would never vote for the man.
keep plugging Ronda.
25 January 2008
at 8:42 a.m.

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justbegintowrite (Ronda Miller) says…

tati, thank you for your lengthy comment and information. Apparently I was in the process of commenting myself and did not see your comment until this morning. You are obviously very well educated in this area. I appreciate your sharing of information. I am sure sshreders18, as a poli sci major, will as well. Thank you!

Marion, it was a question and a statement - it is hard for me to understand how you can want to kill someone yourself, want to see that someone has been killed, but say you do not believe in capital punishment. Explain further please.

Zira - I am against abortion even though I am betting on the little filly Hillary.

bearded_gnome, I appreciate your encouragement. Yes, I did suspect I would get some stronge reactions from my post, but did not expect people would take the time to give me the vast array of knowledge that they are willing to share.

I will try to come up with another ending to my post - perhaps one that has much more to do with fact as opposed to fantasy. It is hard to leave one's dreams.