Communist Dictator Fidel Castro Dead
Communist Dictator Fidel Castro Dead
The progressive media mourn their revolutionary icon.
November 26, 2016
By Mark Tapson
The mainstream media’s beloved revolutionary icon Fidel Castro, evil Communist dictator of Cuba for nearly a half century, reportedly died Friday at the age of 90.
In less than half an hour, the streets of Miami were thronged with thousands of Cuban exiles celebrating the death of the man who held Cuba in his iron grip from 1959 to 2006, and then beyond through the agency of his brother Raul.
“Satan, Fidel is now yours,” cheered 72-year-old Jay Fernandez, who came to Miami in 1961. “Give him what he deserves. Don’t let him rest in peace.”
The American mainstream media, which helped make Castro a worldwide star, still betray their hero-worship for him in headlines like this one from The New York Times, accompanied by a glamour shot of Fidel gazing off into the bright and glorious revolutionary future*: “Fidel Castro, Cuban Revolutionary Who Defied U.S., Dies at 90.” The article describes him as the “the fiery apostle of revolution” who “bedevil[ed] 11 American presidents,” which makes him sound like a roguish hero of anti-colonialism.
Speaking of which, Al Jazeera’s headline reads “Fidel Castro’s anti-colonialist legacy” and notes approvingly that “[t]he Cuban leader was an energetic sponsor of socialist movements throughout Latin America and Africa.” An energetic sponsor apparently is Al Jazeera’s euphemism for torturing, murdering tyrant.
The UK Guardian posted such articles as “‘He led a humble life’: Fidel Castro’s biographer on the legacy of a revolutionary” and “‘A revolution is not a bed of roses’: Fidel Castro in his own words.” Indeed it was not a bed of roses for the victims of Castro’s black-hearted brutality.
Admirably, The Washington Post almost alone in the major media had the intellectual honesty to label Castro a “dictator” in its headline, and to say in the obituary that “He was among the world’s most repressive leaders, a self-appointed president-for-life who banned free speech, freedom of assembly and a free press and executed or jailed thousands of political opponents.” The Post also noted that “Under Mr. Castro, Havana became something of a Marxist Disneyland — a shiny, happy veneer over something much uglier.”
Other news outlets were less honest, opting for the disingenuous description of Castro as “Former Cuban Leader.”
Those who suffered under Castro’s rule, either directly or indirectly, were less charitable. Twitchy.com reposted a tweet from California assemblywoman Melissa Melendez, for example, whose Cuban friend rejoiced at the official news of Castro’s demise:
Fidel Castro, finally dead at 90. The monster who once claimed that “history will absolve me” is now receiving his final judgment and finding that there is no absolution where he is headed.
Check out the Freedom Center’s extensive profile of Castro at the indispensable Discover the Networks resource site.
* To counter the glamour shots of Fidel that will proliferate on the internet today, artist Bosch Fawstin shared with us his take on the real Castro in the pic above.