Sunday, November 27, 2016

Why Did Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau Call Fidel Castro A 'Remarkable Leader'?

Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. (Chris Wattie/Reuters)

New York Times: Justin Trudeau Criticized for Praising Fidel Castro as ‘Remarkable Leader’

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada would like the world to know that he was rather fond of Fidel Castro. Or at least, that is the message that many people took from his unusually warm statement on the death of the Cuban dictator, whom he hailed on Saturday as “a remarkable leader.”

“Fidel Castro was a larger than life leader who served his people for almost half a century,” Mr. Trudeau said in the statement, which was issued while he attended a summit meeting in Madagascar. He described Mr. Castro, who ruled as a Communist autocrat for almost 50 years, as “Cuba’s longest serving President.”

“While a controversial figure, both Mr. Castro’s supporters and detractors recognised his tremendous dedication and love for the Cuban people who had a deep and lasting affection for ‘el Comandante,’” Mr. Trudeau continued. He added that Mr. Castro was “a legendary revolutionary and orator” whose death had brought him “deep sorrow.”

Read more ....

Update #1: Trudeau called Castro a ‘remarkable leader.’ Twitter imagined what he would say about Stalin. (Washington Post)
Update #2: Fidel Castro: Justin Trudeau ridiculed over praise of 'remarkable leader' (The Guardian)

WNU Editor: Canadian Prime Minister's Justin Trudeau's statement is here .... Statement by the Prime Minister of Canada on the death of former Cuban President Fidel Castro.

The Trudeau family's relationship with Fidel Castro goes back a long way .... Fidel Castro even showed up at Pierre Trudeau's funeral .... so the Canadian PM's remarks do not surprise me, and I do expect Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to be at Fidel Castro's funeral this coming week. Were the PM's remarks a bit "too much" .... it depends on who you talked to. One of my Quebec business partners is a fan of Castro .... and he is a deep funk right now. Everyone else .... the feelings are either neutral and/or they do not care. The Canadian press .... as expected .... a bit fawning of Castro but at least they are highlighting his repressive and brutal rule. The reaction in Russia has been interesting. Remarks from Putin were not surprising .... recognising the long relationship between the Kremlin and Cuba (and the Russian media is repeating the same story) .... but on Russian social media and forums .... brutal. Fidel Castro has no fans there .... none. As to what is my take .... a typical Latin American dictator who was in power too long .... leaving behind a legacy that will not be kind to him when the Cuban Communist party (PCC) is finally put into the dustbin of history.

31 comments:

Bob Huntley said...

Because he appreciated someone who befuddled America for half a century?

RRH said...

Because it is the truth.

TWN said...

Trudeau is a Twat, like his old man, doesn't care that many Canadians see Castro with different eye's. Personally I have respect for ability as a Warrior took on Batista and the US and won, that's no mean feat, like all politicians he was corrupt scumbag that's why he got along with Trudeau's old man.

RussInSoCal said...

Trudeau's remarks make Obama's statement seem reasonable.

The "#TrudeauEulogies" is a hoot.

"Not too crazy about the Alsderaan thing, but the Emperor is making great strides in free healthcare and on-time trains."

RRH said...

Trudeau said what said what needed to be said (for a change).

When Bush dies you'll all be lining up with your pants down looking for your asses to be kissed. "Oh look what we did for the world..."

Unknown said...

RRH,
Do you truly think Castro was a good leader?
If yes I would love to punch you square in the head of yours!

RRH said...

i'd love for you to try it.

Anonymous said...

of course RRH thinks Castro was a great leader. he and other liberals love to make those who disagree with them disappear...they hate opposition

RRH said...

And I don't think he was a good leader. I think he was a great leader and better than anything America has managed to elect since FDR.

RRH said...

1) I'm no Liberal

2) Nether were the regimes you've back who have managed to "disappear" millions.

3) I've never called for anyone to disappear. Let alone someone who disagrees with me. No sir/ma'am. But sometimes, and this is where I see eye to wye with Castro, when you gotta go, you gotta go.

Jac said...

Yes Castro was the greatest Leader of all time:
85% of the population is living under the world poverty level. Marvelous!
Every country is jealous of its economy, of course.
Very good level of education. The proof: almost all Nobel price are Cuban.
And so on.....
I don't understand why people who like him so much never go to Cuba for a living. I must be stupid.

RRH said...

Obama won the Nobel.
That speaks for itself.


Cuba has been under an economic blockade for decades. Regardless, more people live in poverty in the U.S. than occupy the entire island.

Education in the U.S., not to mention health services available to the population consistently rank below Cuba's. Cuban scientists consistently win awards and make breakthroughs. including a vaccine against lung cancer you dummies are too ignorant to lobby for access to.

You should be ashamed. But shame is a messure of humility and introspection both of which have been indroctrinated riught out of you.

You are the ultimate commie robots.

RRH said...

Every single American I know personally, and I know dozens, can't wait to visit Cuba.

I'm positive the Cubans won't mind you not visiting. Anyone interested talking to you moved to Miami a long time ago. And they won't be interested in talking to you much longer especially when you start asking them about their immogration status.

aaa said...

"Cuba has been under an economic blockade for decades. Regardless, more people live in poverty in the U.S. than occupy the entire island."


LOL, yea because America has nearly 30 times the population

RRH said...

Actually, ISIS, al Qaeda/al Nusra are rather enamoured with you. It's (very much) like a relationship between an adolescent amd their parent. When they get their way, all is cool, when it doesn't fit in with the "adults" putting on a decent show for the neighbours, it's a no, then comes the tantrums, fatwas, threats, shoe bombs, plane rides....

RRH said...

but in the end, they're all family and somebody, somewhere, needs some "moderate" opposition.

RRH said...

Exactly.

Anonymous said...

I suppose you would be better off being born in Cuba than North Korea, better weather and more food, but still a risk to your life to escape. Could you imagine being locked into your own country...criminal, absolute criminal.

RRH said...

I have stated on here before that I have never agreed with that policy. Never.

But there are millions in U.S. jail, many on three strikes your in over a f'n joint or some stupid shit, who are prisoners in their own country.

Poverty, homelessness, lack of education are prisons too..
and lets not forget it was not that long ago hustorically that is was illegal for human chattel to escape the U.S. In fact, many times they were chased across the border by bounty hunters.

Cuba is not perfect by any stretch, but the U.S. and Canada have enough faults of their own to focus on and need to stop pointing fingures to distract from them.

Anonymous said...

Boy you've got those blinders on tight, I think you might be losing blood to your brain. Just be thankful that you weren't born in Cuba or North Korea for that matter.

RRH said...

Oh and lots of Cubans have been allowed to leave the country,

As doctors, engineers, and soldiers fighting against bullshit like apartheid for instance.


Spare me the "oh you should be thankful" routine. I'm thankful that people with the mindset of Fidel Castro stood up and made the people like the one's running things over here scared enough to loosen up on the indentured servitude policies, but with right to work laws (whatever), Patriot Acts, mass surveillance, security certificates, etc. Soon enough we'll have all of the ism with none of the social. To believe there is not correlation between the increasing assault on whatever freedoms people well before our time struggled to wrestle our of this system and the fall or strangulations of alternatives is to be as a lamb to the slaughter, or in the case of your latest election, a lemming.

I'm not the one wearing blinders. I see very clearly what's afoot. You have a dead chicken tied around your neck, it's getting more rotten by the day but you still think it's dinner.

And at least I have a brain.

Anonymous said...

RRH said...
Obama won the Nobel.
That speaks for itself.


Obama being given the prize for having done absolutely nothing speaks volumes about the Nobel Prize.

RRH said...

Jac thinks Cubans are uneducated because they aren't hauling down Nobels.

Obama winning the Nobel is like awarding a Pulitzer to Breitbart.


This year it was Bob Dylan.

Next year, Spot the Dog. Why? Cuz he said "Ruh Ruv Roo".

RussInSoCal said...

And by the way; this Fidel love-fest is just practice for the progressive, transnationalist orgy set to happen when Gorbachev kicks off.

RRH said...

Gorbachev,

If there was a Nobel for treason....

Anonymous said...

If you have compassion for someone that holds his entire population hostage, that is unless you are an elite (oh the irony) then I don't know what I can say to you. I suppose you think Nusra is doing the people of East Aleppo a great service by imprisoning/protecting them from Assad...

Oh and by the way, if Cuba has such a great health system why is it that they had to fly Castro back to Spain to have life saving surgery? Perhaps they didn't have enough leeches?

RRH said...

Look,

Obviously I don't have any time for Al Nusra and anyone one here who is remotely familiar knows it so, come on already.

I have said before and will say again, one more time, I have never agreed with the policy of not allowing people to travel freely. This being said, I understand why Castro and Cubans in general would feel threatened and institute a from of seige communism.

Long before Castro came on the scene, Cuba was subject to intervention by the U.S. Just as the Cubans were set to defeat the Spanish and win their independence, along came the U.S. to "save" them. For most Cubans, as for most others who have been "saved" by the U.S. and friends, it was a disaster. This left a heavy imprint on most Cubans, including Castro.

There are legitimate reasons why the man thought and acted as he did. I do not believe for a second that he was "evil" or full of malice for mankind. I believe he did things for truly altruistic reasons.

If you haven't, I suggest you read Conflicting Missions by Piero Gleijeses.

I don't expect it to change your mind. I don't want to change your mind but none of you will change mine. Castro and his era deserves a much deeper analysis and critique than the "bloody, evil, dictator, worse than Hitler" hysterics/propagandizing mascarading as insight.

Our Editor states that the Cuban Communist Party will be relegated to the dustbin of history and that said history will not be kind to Castro. I believe that depends on just who's history we are talking about. For as long as there are imperialists, racists, colonizers and their victims there will be a calling for Castros and Communists and their parties.

So, if you don't like either, stop letting the real dictators, oligarchs, aberrants, and mass murderers, that run your country run roughshod over someone else's.

Anonymous said...

Fidel is dead, who gives a shit

Jay Farquharson said...

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=VFQz8racYNk

638 Ways to Kill Castro is a Channel 4 documentary film, broadcast in the United Kingdom on 28 November 2006, which tells the story of some of the numerous attempts of the Central Intelligence Agency to kill Cuba's leader Fidel Castro.

Castro did good, Castro did bad,

At the time of the Cuban Revolution, Cuba was ranked lower than Haiti and the Dominican Republic.

Both Haiti and the Dominican Republic have been subject to the tender administrations of the US.

Cuba, #54 on the IOCD index, ( beats Texas)
Dominican Republic, # 132
Haiti, #291

All economic, social and environnmental similarities are consistent.


Ropestuff said...

I fully admit I'm a liberal. I also hated Castro and dictators in general. Castro was an animal to his people. I also have no interest in seeing people who disagree with me disappeared. My two very best friends are FAR right, they are the 2 friends I have stuck with through thick and thin for decades, and I love them. Funny thing is they never shut the hell up with their ideas while I respect theirs and don't confront them. We have a serious problem in this country if you think liberals support fascism and people like Che Guevara and Castro. Anarchists where Che t-shirts, not liberals. And this just proves the division between us. But tell you what, keep ripping on liberals and making sh!t up about us all you want. Doesn't change the fact that ALL right wingers are closeted homosexuals who all watch My Little Pony in pink leotards. See? How does that feel? Quit generalizing. Maybe human beings are actually a tad more complicated than left/right. Case in point, I voted for Obama twice, and caucused for Bernie, and I support a wall, want to see our jobs brought back home, and have a safe full of guns and a couple thousand rounds of ammo not designed for hunting or target practice. It makes me mad there isn't a national concealed carry program so I have to pull over as I cross every other state to either put my piece in the trunk or back in my holster. I support nationalized healthcare and I have no love for a lazy bum who won't support himself. So again, being a liberal doesn't always mean what you think it means. Also, if you hang out here long enough, you might pick up that RHH is not a liberal. He is in a different group entirely. But thanks for playing the us vs. them game.

Unknown said...

Trudeau call Fidel remarkable to earn RRH's vote

Will RRH feel betrayed when Trudeau does not attend the Fidel's funeral?