Let’s always try to find the more interesting story. Obviously the Fidel Castro black or white story is dull and ridiculous.  The story of his 84 year old estranged sister, who left Cuba in 1964 and lives in America, is very interesting and her perspective is more nuanced. She supported the revolution against the brutal Bautista oligarchy that included the Mafia. But she says Fidel betrayed her and the revolution when they aligned with Russia and he declared himself a Communist.

Her brother’s rhetoric, she had concluded, amounted to cheap slogans.

“ ‘Bread with freedom’ — that expression remained recorded in my mind, because I thought it was going to be that way. I felt as betrayed as the most humble of Cubans,” she said. “He had it all in his hands, without having to turn it all over to any power, and then he goes and turns himself over to the worst of powers, the Russians.”

She finds the celebration of his death in South Florida unseemly.  For those Cuban-Americans (the only acceptable hyphenated Americans as far as Republicans are concerned) to simplistically cite the human rights violations of the Castros, without the context of the numerous other countries that have worse human rights records (see Saudi Arabia) that we would never dream of embargoing.

“I live with pain in my heart, but I accept my destiny,” she said. “I forgive everybody, including my brother.”