Celebs Mourn Dictator Fidel Castro's Death

Callista Ring
November 28th, 2016 4:21 PM
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Communist dictator Fidel Castro executed hundreds and exiled thousands over the course of his reign. But that’s not what celebrities and the liberal media are remembering the Cuban dictator for, following his death on November 25.

Actor Danny Glover, a frequent guest to Castro’s Cuba, tweeted, “Fidel Castro was a great revolutionary. Learn more about his life & legacy.” In the tweet, he linked to an article detailing a roundtable discussion on the “Cuban revolutionary leader.”

One of the discussion guests, Peter Kornbluh, director of the Cuba Documentation Project at the National Security Archive, applauded Castro. “He will be remembered for his emphasis on healthcare, education, and certainly his uncompromising commitment to independence and sovereignty,” he concluded.

Tom Morello, guitarist for the band Rage Against the Machine, posted an Instagram photo of Castro swinging a baseball bat with “#RIPFidel.” In the post, Morello praised Castro for “defying” “imperialism,” “instituting the best healthcare, child immunization and literacy systems in the Western Hemisphere” and “exporting doctors to countries in need.” He excused Castro’s legacy of tyranny by prefacing, “While I don’t agree with all that Fidel Castro did…”

 

"With what morality can the US leaders talk of human rights in a country where there are millionaires and beggars, where blacks face discrimination and great masses of Chicanos, Puerto Ricans and Latin Americans are deprecated, exploited and humiliated?"-Fidel. While I don't agree with all that Fidel Castro did there is ample reason why he is vilified in the US and yet remains a huge hero throughout the Third World. By defying Yankee imperialism for 50 years, instituting the best healthcare, child immunization and literacy systems in the Western Hemisphere (surpassing the US and Canada), exporting doctors to countries in need all over the globe (the Bush administration turned down his offer to send medical teams to New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina), and being an unrepentant advocate of the poor and exploited it is no surprise that millions will mourn his passing. Audioslave was the first US rock band to ever play in Cuba and that experience will be one I will always treasure, especially the trip we took to a former country club of the wealthy that had been turned into a free college for gifted musicians. #vivalarevolucion #RIPFidel

A photo posted by Tom Morello (@tommorello) on

In a post-game interview on Sunday in San Diego, California, San Francisco quarterback Colin Kaepernick, who has refused to stand for the national anthem to protest America’s “oppression,” clarified that he does not support the “oppressive things that he [Castro] did.” But he agreed with Castro’s “investment in education,” “investment in free universal healthcare” and his “involvement in him helping end apartheid in South Africa.” In August, Kaepernick made news after defending his choice to wear a T-shirt featuring a photo of Castro.

It’s not just celebrities who have praised Castro. Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein, who spoke at a fundraiser with Glover in 2013, took to Twitter to hail the dictator. She tweeted, “Fidel Castro was a symbol of the struggle for justice in the shadow of empire. Presente!”

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