Originally Posted By: Virtual1

Interesting dichotomy, widespread mourning in cuba while cubans in florida were mostly partying and celebrating. Not sure if perspective or government coordinated or what. I suppose it all depends on if you were on the receiving end of his bad tendencies.


There are two classes of Cubans in Florida.

The first wave is exiled Batistas, members of the upper class under President Batista when Castro came to power. Fulgencio Batista was a fantastically corrupt (think Donald Trump meets Vladimir Putin) kleptocrat and totalitarian dictator, and the Cubans who fled Castro were the wealthy oligarchs who (pre-Castro) controlled most of Cuba's resources and almost all of its wealth. They and their descendants looted whatever they could when they fled. When they settled in Miami, many of them were still extremely wealthy, though not as wealthy as they had been before Castro deposed Batista.

These Cubans are still wealthy and politically connected. They still nurse lifelong grudges against Castro, and feel that he took what was rightfully theirs. So they are, unsurprisingly, cheering his death.

The second class is the post-Castro refuges. Most of them are impoverished and few have political connections; they have very little power, and may be anti-Castro, pro-Castro, or ambivalent. (Some of the refugees were prisoners when Castro came to power, freed by Castro under the condition that they leave the country.)


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