Fidel Castro was the last great revolutionary
The demise of Cuban leader Fidel Castro has brought an end to an era in global politics. He was of the kind whom the Western powers led by America always found an enemy or at least an irritant, ever needing containment. Equally, it was true for Castro also, who never trusted any of the Western nations till the last breath of his life. He had fumed at the recent friendly overtures shown by outgoing US President Barack Obama towards his country. Indeed, a US head of the state landing in the bitterest of his nation’s enemy's territory, for restoring bilateral relations, was no less than history.
But this was all initiated by America, not by Cuba. Since 2006, the country has been ruled by Castro's brother — Raul Castro — but still there has not been any significant improvement in its repressive policies towards criticism and freedom. The shadow of Fidel Castro's larger than life image, ideology and authority, will remain to haunt, much beyond his brother's regime and the future leadership of the country. It will be so because the way Fidel Castro shaped Cuba's profile since 1959, when he entered Havana as a ‘great revolutionary leader’, was absolutely total. Experts on latin American affairs say that Cuba will have to re-design a new policy framework to deal with the rest of the world. But it is widely felt that Cuba's chance to come out of the 1950s Cold War politics starts from now. Its leadership must give a new future to its people to come to terms with a globalised world.
Sadly, Fidel Castro always lived in a closet. He failed to see the global power dynamics beyond Havana — or Moscow. His dogged commitment towards the core credentials of socialism never allowed him to see a world order existing outside his country. It was so strange that even when socialism was fading and dying in its motherland, he refused to come out of his regressive ideological worldview. Apart from spectacular heath reforms and successes in a few other sectors, the rest of the system received very little from his much-publicised leadership. Rather, he made Cuba the epicentre of a near imminent fight of the two superpowers — the US and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.
His constant outreach to the Soviet leadership for support made him an arch enemy of the US and the rest of its allies. However, Cuba's relationship with India during Fidel Castro’s rule was cordial. India was always regarded as a trusted ally. It is time now for Delhi to reach out to Havana and set the tone for rejuvenating its power dynamics in the latin American hemisphere. Cuba's status of being a geopolitical capsule for decades has just gone. But it’s not just Cuba’s leadership that needs to change the mindset; the global community also must extend its hand of cooperation so that the island nation can gradually align with the main currents of international politics. Cuba should no more be seen as a pariah state. Reports of Raul Castro retiring in 2018, could lead Cuba to either an uncertain future or the dawn of a new era.