Judging Fidel Castro

This lesson, however, has not been learnt in the case of Cuba. As Fidel Castro because of illness prepares for a transition of power, it is clear that he is still admired in many quarters. The standard propaganda — that the Cuban people are still loyal to the 1959 Revolution — continues to be spread. Cuba’s achievements in the areas of health and education are cited as if this is irrefutable proof of the superior social order of the island. It is as though the hundreds of Cubans who continually risk their very lives to leave the Communist nation are mere traitors and fools who do not appreciate how well they live under Castro’s rule.

But the basis of Castro’s reputation lies in a romance - that this island-nation has for over four decades defied the mightiest country in the world. It is because people like to root for the underdog that Castro is so admired. But that admiration conceals a few facts — that Castro could not, in the first instance, have succeeded without the now-defunct Soviet Union at his back; and, latterly, that the geopolitics at the end of the 20th century made it unwise for the United States to take military action against Cuba after the fall of the USSR. This is not to say that Castro’s defiance is not an accomplishment of note. But, when it comes to judging leadership, this is surely a secondary consideration.

The primary consideration when estimating good leadership has to do with the quality of lives of a people. Cubans have the greatest life expectancy amongst all Caribbean nations and one of the lowest infant mortality rates. Their literacy rate is also very high. And yet, only a few months ago, the Cuban government was boasting of a plan to provide all its citizens with generators, to be run on cheap oil provided by Venezuela, so that people could be assured of an electricity supply. So here we are in the 21st century, and the Cuban people do not even have an island-wide electricity network. And, of course, thanks to the inefficient economic system they live under, they are denied access to a wide range of goods that most people in the western hemisphere take for granted, while their own productive and entrepreneurial capacity is stymied by the same system.

It might be argued that there are more important things in life than goods. This is quite true. And first amongst those more important things is freedom. Longevity, good health care, literacy — all these things do not outweigh a lack of freedom. The argument that Cubans are free within their one-party system is nothing but Orwellian doublespeak. If Castro’s decline is the start of democracy for the Cubans, this is a development devoutly to be wished. And only then will history have the chance to put him in his proper place.