Fidel Castro Has Died. Born August 13, 1926 he was an Heroic Figure to some an authoritarian Caudillo to others but also a major figure on the world stage for 60 years.

The whole history of Latin America in particular and the cold war in general bears the imprint of Fidel Castro’s influence. Canada despite clear ideological differences over democracy, freedom of speech and human rights was a friend of Cuba and will continue to be so even if American policy shifts away from the the lessening of tensions promoted by President Obama. Many Canadians have visited the island and brought back warm memories of their stay, particularly in Québec. That is not likely to change. At the same time we were often disappointed that Cuba under Castro did not free political prisoners, persecuted gay people and generally behaved too frequently in an authoritarian way. One of our most popular prime ministers Pierre Elliott Trudeau visited Cuba with his family and became very friendly with Fidel and despite American pressure and the embargo established an independent Canadian policy with respect to Cuba and Latin America in general. Many anti Castro Cuban Americans who live in Florida and elsewhere in the United States today would like compensation paid to them for properties and assets they lost to the Cuban Revolution. This is understandable and in the coming years these disputes might be resolved. But for now many Cubans will be grieving the death of Fidel Castro and wondering what the future will bring.

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About haroldchorneyeconomist

I am Professor of political economy at Concordia university in Montréal, Québec, Canada. I received my B.A.Hons (econ.&poli sci) from the University of Manitoba. I also completed my M.A. degree in economics there. Went on to spend two years at the London School of Economics as a Ph.D. student in economics and then completed my Ph.D. in political economy at the University of Toronto. Was named a John W.Dafoe fellow, a CMHC fellow and a Canada Council fellow. I also was named a Woodrow Wilson fellow in 1968 after completing my first class honours undergraduate degree. Worked as an economist in the area of education, labour economics and as the senior economist with the Manitoba Housing and Renewal Corporation for the Government of Manitoba from 1972 to 1978. I also have worked as an economic consultant for MDT socio-economic consultants and have been consulted on urban planning, health policy, linguistic duality and public sector finance questions by the governments of Manitoba, Saskatchewan,the cities of Regina and Saskatoon, Ontario and the Federal government of Canada. I have also been consulted by senior leaders of the British Labour party, MPs from the Progressive Conservative party, the Liberal party and the New Democrats on economic policy questions. Members of the Government of France under the Presidency of Francois Mitterand discussed my work on public sector deficits. I have also run for elected office at the municipal level. I first began to write about quantitative easing as a useful policy option during the early 1980s.
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