Castro, who led Cuba for nearly 50 years, died Friday. In 2006, he had transferred the presidency to his younger brother, Raul Castro, after a debilitating intestinal ailment. Fidel Castro’s vision and iron rule shaped every aspect of life in Cuba and its relations worldwide. Many, perhaps most, Cubans would say he held power too tightly and too long. He was Latin America’s most prominent 20th century leader, but his legacy remains to be defined.
No one can deny Fidel Castro his place in history. He was, by any measure, the most prominent political figure in Latin America in the 20th century, maybe since Christopher Columbus. The question is whether the narrative will be mostly about bold dreams and progressive change—or about oppression and stagnation in Cuba.
Nadie puede negar Fidel Castro su lugar en la historia. Era la figura política más importante en América Latina tal vez desde Cristóbal Colón en 1492. La pregunta es hasta qué punto su legado será el de unos sueños osados y unas transformaciones progresistas o por el contrario, un relato de opresión y de estancamiento para Cuba.
Ninguém pode negar a Fidel Castro o seu lugar na História. Ele foi a figura política mais proeminente da América Latina talvez desde Cristóvão Colombo, em 1492. A questão é até que ponto sua narrativa será mais sobre sonhos ousados e mudanças progressistas — ou sobre opressão e, no fim, estagnação em Cuba.
On Friday, March 3rd, the Dialogue welcomed Director and Deputy Director of Cuba Posible, Roberto Veiga and Lenier Gonzalez, and a small group of Latin America policy experts for a discussion on social and political trends in Cuba. The discussion focused on upcoming leadership dynamics in Cuba and the role of young people in the future of the island.
Lenier González escribe esta reseña sobre el libro del noruego Vegard Bye que intenta explicar por qué el Gobierno cubano paralizó en 2016 el proceso de reformas iniciado por Raúl Castro.
Over a year ago, as Donald Trump was on one of his tirades full of insults and falsehoods – to which most Americans have, sadly, now become accustomed – I asked an Argentine friend if he had ever heard such aggressive rhetoric from a president before. “Sure I have,” he responded, “but never in English.”
On October 16, the Inter-American Dialogue hosted an event to explore the Cuban economy’s future, its growth prospects, and the internal and external obstacles it faces.
Mr. Trump should be commended for coming down hard on Latin America’s strongmen. But by also resurrecting an impulse for unilateral action and indifference to the region’s needs and concerns, he is making it more difficult to help bring about the democratic change he ostensibly seeks.