Castro rekindled the Caribbean in world geo-politics

This became a reality in the aftermath of the dangerous Cuban Missile crisis in October 1962, when the Russians were stockpiling nuclear warheads in the Bay of Pigs area, in the Cuban landscape, and which cause then USA President John Kennedy to push part of the panic button demanding that then Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev dismantle his military hardware, and after several days of phone talks and telexes and media statements, Premier Khrushchev had no choice but to yield to Kennedy’s order and dismantle his stockpile and remove it as quickly as possible.

And in a terse but venomous warning Kennedy cringed these words: “If at any time, the Communists build-up in Cuba were to endanger or interfere with our security in any way…,or if Cuba should ever…become an offence military base of significant capacity for the Soviet Union, then this country will do whatever must be done to protect its own security and that of its allies”.

We must remember that there were three outstanding features in the Caribbean at the dawn of the seventh decade of the 20th century, in the Caribbean.

Namely, the West Indies Federation had collapsed in May 1962, followed shortly afterwards with Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago gaining Independence from Britain on separate days in August 1962.

These two countries were not given the chance to design their respective foreign policies, and two months later were confronted by the American-Soviet Union crisis, at which Cuba and Castro were one of the main players.

No one would have thought that Castro would get his Caribbean sisters in this international diplomatic dilemma.

Whilst, this intervention was viewed as the Caribbean once more, becoming at the heart of world history and world affairs, the Caribbean leadership were not sure of its own existence at that time, and while praises must be given to him for such becoming the mouthpiece for the Caribbean, it did not augur well for the peace and peace and security of the Caribbean community.

Certainly, Trinidad and Tobago, and Jamaica had to rely on the British or the USA, or both on their positions in the world crisis. So much for that. On the other side of the coin, Castro was a brave, an intellectual, and a revolutionary leader in our time.

His actions would always be the study of historians, researchers, students and politicians as there would always be issues, new issues and new thoughts, in this matter for generations to come.

Dr Fidel Castro was a political colossus, a thinker, and a maker of history, whose name will always be etched in world history.

Paras Ramoutar, former councillor, CAPARO