Died man of the era – Fidel Alejandro Castro RUz. Having survived 638 assassination attempts, quietly and peacefully died at the age of 90 years. He will remain a symbol of the Island of Freedom – Cuba, as the first person who radically changed the lives of a generation of Cubans, and not only them. History again will change the attitude about it, probably from a variety of angles – even the memory of contemporaries is changeable. But he remains an iconic figure in world history.
“Cuba is far, Cuba is near” – a line from a song of Soviet times was dedicated to Fidel Castro, the leader of the Cuban revolution. The implication was that distant island was nearly the sixteenth Republic of the USSR. Besides the fact that we received almost a third of the Cuban cane sugar, that “weight” was sold in almost every rural shop, exotic rum Havana Club, which was a hangover even Siberian peasants, of the Cuban cigars that were a little more expensive tobacco and cigarettes “prima”, Cuba was the Outpost of the Soviet Union is not peaceful shores of America in sustaining the fragile balance of the world.
During the Cuban missile crisis it was the presence of Soviet missiles in Cuba helped to avert a global crisis. And the most important role in this confrontation played Fidel Castro, who played on the side of Moscow, not Washington.
To evaluate the role of Fidel Castro in the history of the world is very difficult. Many now mourn his death, there are those who openly rejoices at death of commander (ally and friend of the legendary Che Guevara). In Russia – who remembers Fidel not only on the pages in social networks, genuinely sorry for those who don’t remember – indifferent shrug. Nevertheless, Fidel Castro has played a huge role in the establishment of friendly relations between our countries.
Then, in the sixties and seventies of the last Millennium, it wasn’t just friendship and assurances of loyalty, it was a guarantee of the preservation of nuclear parity, when each advantageous position as the US and the USSR, provided the probability of retaliation. NATO is based in Europe, then just West. The Soviet Union, through Cuba, were able to retaliate and inevitably blow right to the gut of the United States. And since this was not to be considered.
“In a series of events and actions of the heroic epic of Fidel Castro and Cuba I have highlighted the last 25 years, says international journalist, personally met with Castro, Alexander Zimovsky. – After the disappearance of the Soviet Union from the map of the worlds, Fidel Castro and Cuba remained alone with the US and its satellites in the Western hemisphere. And Fidel was able to save the country, virtually nothing has changed neither in ideology nor in economy. At that time, as former allies of the USSR were gone, and in their place appeared various Pro-Western regimes, Fidel continued to be a sample of a principled and consistent foreign and domestic policy.
First, Cuba lost the economic support of the Soviet Union, have developed their own economic program.
Second, Castro was able to use the weakening of the geopolitical position of the U.S. in Latin America. That is, Fidel lived to the Latin American “left turn” and restore relations with the States South of the Rio Grande.
Thirdly, changed the political situation in the US, where “Latino” has become one of the most influential groups of voters. Internal pressure has also led to changes in US policy towards Cuba, and Obama made his moves.
Thus, it is political longevity and the huge political authority of Fidel turned modern Latin America, the former only the “backyard” of the United States, a region open to the other great powers. Simply put, don’t be Fidel – we would not have seen the Russian flag and the Russian business on the continent a very long time.
And, of course, this will be a nice historical trace of the Comandante. About the longevity of Fidel, who has survived almost all the political leaders from the camp of both opponents and allies (the Soviet Secretary-General Leonid Brezhnev died in 1982) legends and anecdotes went during his lifetime. One of them said that when the commander received a gift of a parrot and learned that he lives three hundred years, sadly and said: “Sorry to part”.
Even handing over political power in Cuba to his brother Raul, Fidel was not just a symbol of Cuba, but also an active participant in the events in the country. And when Cuba came American President Barack Obama, he ignored that fact and even commented. As Raul Castro, who pointedly did not shake the outstretched hand of the American President – the Cubans of old grudges and do not forgive.
Resentment Cubans remained in Russia. When in the early 90s Moscow disown Havana and turned both military and commercial presence in Cuba, the Cubans bluntly stated about the betrayal. They we truly believed and hoped for help. Is now back almost to normal and Cuba is ready for them in full scale. On Liberty island ready to accept not only Russian tourists but also Russian military as the guarantor of their security. And this was the will of Fidel Castro, who has always believed in partnerships and Alliance with Russia will provide Cuba’s prosperity.
“It was a real disaster when Russia, under us pressure turned away from Cuba, says former correspondent for the Cuban government newspaper Granma (Granma). But we knew that it is not the will of the Russian people, but only short-term circumstances. And our leader Fidel Castro did not allow myself a single negative word against your country, only a certain regret. Even when it was closed the representative office of our newspaper in Moscow, the tone of publications in relation to Russia has not changed. And the work of the Cuban Embassy in Moscow has never stopped. And now, after retiring from the life of Comandante Fidel, I’m sure deterioration of our relations will not happen. Havana and Moscow is near!”
As a quick and almost lyrical digressions about the Cuban journalist, who graduated at the time the faculty of military journalism in Soviet Union, you may think of his personal participation in the strengthening of friendly relations between Russia and Cuba. When in 1992 in Moscow were problems with the sale of tobacco products, Pedro Prado brought friends to the newspaper “Krasnaya Zvezda”… Cuban cigars. As a “return stroke,” invited him on a trip to Moscow plant “Crystal”, where there were no easy tasting. However, the tone of his publications on Russia are not dependent on such contacts – as most of us have studied with Cubans, Pedro Prado always believed that friendship is the concept of persistent.
“The death of Fidel – it is rather an occasion for mourning, but it does not mean that Cuba will turn from his ways, says Pedro Prado. Life goes on, and our country will not lower the flag of the Island of Freedom.”
Author: Viktor Sokirko
Photo: James Woods / Twitter, 90061 / Globallookpress, imago stock&people , Zentralbild ADN , dpa , Ernesto Mastrascusa