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December 2, 2008 10:52:04 AM CST

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US Should Have Hugged Castro to Death

Posted Feb 19, 08 12:23 PM CST in World 

(Newser) – Fidel Castro has left power, but his legacy endures because the US never did what it took to eliminate his regime: embrace it. Fidel survived for decades because his people were afraid of the angry superpower to the north, writes Newsweek’s Christopher Dickey. Had America embraced him, the Cuban people might have dared to hope for more than his regime could provide.

Instead, the US has "has continued to oblige you, Fidel, by rattling the saber at your country or slamming the door on it, or both," Dickey writes. He contrasts Cuba with Iran, Syria, and Saddam’s Iraq. For them, as for Castro, all that mattered was staying in power. What's more, he laments, "I do not expect enlightenment to arrive in Washington any time soon."

Source Newsweek

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In a file photo Fidel Castro exhales cigar smoke during a March 1985 interview at his presidential palace in Havana. Ailing leader Fidel Castro resigned as Cuba's president early Tuesday Feb . 19, 2008,...   (Associated Press)
Illustration of Fidel.   (Associated Press)
Cuban President Fidel Castro salutes during a speech in Havana, Cuba in this May 20, 2005, file photo. (AP Photo/Jorge Rey, file)   (Associated Press)
Cuban President Fidel Castro, speaks with the press at the international airport Jose Marti, Tuesday August 23, 2005 in Havana. Ailing leader Fidel Castro resigned as Cuba's president early Tuesday...   (Associated Press)
In a file photo Cuban President Fidel Castro gestures as he welcomes the president of Mali Thursday Sept. 4, 2003 at the Revolution Palace in Havana, Cuba. Ailing leader Fidel Castro resigned as Cuba's...   (Associated Press)
In a file photo Cuban President Fidel Castro gestures as he protests against the US embargo Friday Oct.31, 2003 in Havana, Cuba . Ailing leader Fidel Castro resigned as Cuba's president early Tuesday...   (Associated Press)
Cuban President Fidel Castro, left, and his brother, Minister of Defense Raul Castro, attend a Cuban Parliament session in the Palace of Conventions in this July 1, 2004, file photo in Havana, Cuba. ...   (Associated Press)
This undated file photo released on Sept. 5, 2006 by Granma, the official publication of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba, shows Cuba's President Fidel Castro after he lost weight...   (Associated Press)
A small group stage a street demonstration in Miami's Little Havana neighborhood after learning that Cuba's President Fidel Castro had resigned Tuesday, Feb. 19, 2008. (AP Photo/J. Pat Carter)   (Associated Press)
Santiago Portal listens to his radio for news of Fidel Castro's resignation, Tuesday, Feb. 19, 2008 in Miami's Little Havana neighborhood. (AP Photo/J. Pat Carter)   (Associated Press)
A small group stages a street demonstration after news that Cuba's President Fidel Castro had resigned Tuesday, Feb. 19, 2008, in Miami's Little Havana neighborhood. (AP Photo/J. Pat Carter)   (Associated Press)
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Iran • Cuba • Syria • Fidel Castro • Soviet Union • Cuban embargo • isolation


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