Reply #5: I think that Castro has ruled with an unnecessarily iron fist

[Warpy]

and I also think Cuba has been lucky to have him. Life for the average Cuban has improved greatly over the Batista years. Literacy and general health are nearly equal to those in much of the US, and they've managed it despite a 45 year embargo. However, Castro is a dictator, and has behaved like one.

What will tell us just how good he's been for that island in the long run is what happens after his death. If they're lucky, they'll get someone who will relinquish the ironfisted control of the media and move toward a more mixed economy. If they're unlucky, they'll go toward Stalinism. It all depends on how he's set up the succession, or if he's set up the succession, or if the succession is weak enough to be overthrown by the Batista Cubans in Miami.

Castro is a mixed bag. You can neither give him unqualified approval nor condemn him completely.