Sir — This refers to the editorial, “Both loved and despised” (November 29). The demise of Cuban President Fidel Castro is a great loss not only for his countrymen, but also for those who patronise self-respect and who refuse to accept any superpower’s hegemony.
Castro’s long-standing abhorrence to the US brought him closer to the then Soviet Union and from a democratic country, it became a communist one. Castro defied US hegemony for nearly half a century and bedeviled as many as 11 US Presidents and briefly pushed the world to the brink of nuclear war. Although it was backed by the Soviet block, Cuba was a pioneer in the establishment of the non-aligned movement.