With the forty-ninth anniversary of the Cuban Missile Crisis approaching, it is only natural that these next three postings will be dedicated to Cuba, where, hopefully, not only will the reader learn a few new things, but will be able to better understand a few other things which have always been public knowledge, yet never quite made any sense. We start with a short but fitting panegyric to Fidel Castro, a genius malgré lui, yet an authentic world-historical genius nevertheless. I guess that an overwhelming majority of political geniuses in history have been just like him: geniuses malgré eux…
Fidel Castro has long emerged as one of the most outstanding legendary heroic leaders in world history. The fact that from his little island ninety miles away from Florida he succeeded in elevating his stature to one of the most formidable enemies of the great American superpower, and stayed in power for half-a-century, no matter what; the fact that no coup against his authority had been allowed on his watch; the fact that after the collapse of the Soviet Union, his protector, Fidel was easily able to survive on his own; the fact that, having peacefully retired from power, he left behind more than a governable stable entity, but a nation everybody in the world, including the United States, is eager to do business with; the fact that today so many countries of Latin America are recognizing his spiritual and ideological lead and developing after his political mold--- all these facts point to Fidel’s foremost position among the political geniuses of modernity, and, perhaps, of all time.
Therefore no matter what I have said about him elsewhere, usually quite irreverently, regarding his exceptionally good luck and circumstances malgré lui conspiring to keep him alive and well (none of which I am taking back or even revising) to all this I ought to add a lavish panegyric to Fidel’s natural formidable genius and conclude with the title words of this entry: ¡Viva Fidel!
Fidel Castro has long emerged as one of the most outstanding legendary heroic leaders in world history. The fact that from his little island ninety miles away from Florida he succeeded in elevating his stature to one of the most formidable enemies of the great American superpower, and stayed in power for half-a-century, no matter what; the fact that no coup against his authority had been allowed on his watch; the fact that after the collapse of the Soviet Union, his protector, Fidel was easily able to survive on his own; the fact that, having peacefully retired from power, he left behind more than a governable stable entity, but a nation everybody in the world, including the United States, is eager to do business with; the fact that today so many countries of Latin America are recognizing his spiritual and ideological lead and developing after his political mold--- all these facts point to Fidel’s foremost position among the political geniuses of modernity, and, perhaps, of all time.
Therefore no matter what I have said about him elsewhere, usually quite irreverently, regarding his exceptionally good luck and circumstances malgré lui conspiring to keep him alive and well (none of which I am taking back or even revising) to all this I ought to add a lavish panegyric to Fidel’s natural formidable genius and conclude with the title words of this entry: ¡Viva Fidel!
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