December 09, 2016
Tiny Nation, Towering Figure
2016 saw the departure from the global center stage of two dominant and iconic 20th century figures: Muhammad Ali and, now, Fidel Castro – Fidel to his countrymen.
Cuba is only 90 miles south of Key West, Florida. Yet, Fidel remained defiant rather than being a doormat, setting a priority on self-respect.
The lack of propriety shown by jubilant Cuban-Americans in Miami can be juxtaposed with messages of sorrow from across the globe, including the Pope.
In the eyes of foes, Fidel and Che Guevara formed a deadly duo. He outlived Che by almost 50 years and nearly outlasted and tormented 11 US Presidents, from Eisenhower to Obama.
Motivated by social inequity, Fidel – a skilled baseball player – started off as a lawyer, who morphed into a guerilla combatant and a revolutionary firebrand. Surviving multiple assassination attempts, Fidel didn’t let Cuba crumble despite embargo-induced arduous living conditions. Even Fidel’s foes acknowledge the exemplary life-expectancy enhancing social services furnished to the Cuban people including, but not limited to, free health care, mass literacy, and inclusivity of dark-skinned Cubans who were hitherto relegated to an underclass by Spaniard elites.
His mesmerizing oratory, egalitarian message, and charismatic rebel aura enabled him to spread his influence far beyond the shores of the Caribbean. He sent troops to fight apartheid-era South African forces in Angola, eventually thwarting them, and he dispatched his vaunted medical teams to Pakistan when the Kashmir region was devastated by the October 2005 earthquake.
Instead of weakening him, US obstructionism further fortified him, forcing a policy reassessment of the very utility of sanctions and isolation. Obama’s March 2016 visit to Cuba was a significant step in this direction.
Fidel’s gut instinct for leadership and in mobilizing masses enabled him often to find a way forward, becoming in the process a Third World beacon. He helped his image by cultivating a simple lifestyle, not being tainted by pelf and plunder, nor setting up a dynasty wherein his children could encash on his fame.
His weakness he converted into his strength. He made the tiny island nation of 11 million relevant. He was an inspiration to many, including Nelson Mandela, for his anti-apartheid activism.
Most Americans, who wouldn’t know who was their Vice President, knew of Fidel. For decades, he was the one Latin American leader whose name readily sprang to mind.
Fidel was the last historic figure of the Cold War, whose watershed moment was the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962, which pushed the world to the nuclear brink. He had deep apprehension that vested quarters would fabricate that he had a role in JFK’s 1963 assassination.
Over the years, America changed. He didn’t. Fidel lived and died on his own terms. Pakistanis, who are hard-pressed to name the leaders of Chile, Argentina, Brazil, or Mexico, know who Castro is – a measure of his impact.
In the end, Havana may have won its long duel with Washington.
When Fidel was captured and tried in 1953 for his role on the attack on the Moncada Barracks, he told the tribunal: “Condemn me; it does not matter. History shall absolve me.”
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