I personally think its an impersonator. Either that old ba$tard is dead already or is knocking on the coffin's door. Why else would his brother start breaking all the commie rules with travel etc... in the last 5 months?

and that in turn helps Him continue to live.

Him?

Before we hear dozens of lies about Hugo Chavez let me say that he has offered to sell us All the oil we need and cheap enough to sell gasoline for 1.00 per gallon.

Is it just me or are we also paying enormous taxes on gas at 3.80 per gallon. Where is the outrage???? I remember in the 60s if anything like this happened we'd protest before it got to 2.00 per gallon. Now at 4.00 per gallon there is hardly a complaint.

Who really cares, his brother Raul as been in charge for years... same with the made-up news report about Iran..

MSDNC trying bait switch news to keep the dems from seeing reports that obama has lost all his leads in ALL states and is now4-5 points behind in swing states....

the sucide hotline will be busy this week !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Have any of you ever been to Cuba? Have you studied Cuban history? How many people have you talked to from Cuba? People often form opinions based on limited information. If those who hold, economic or political power, say it's so, then it must be, for most Americans. This is why propaganda is so effective. Most people won't take the time to do research in an effort to gain a broader perspective.

Mac...awww, that's really you, isn't it, Ozzie Guillen?

the CIA has wanted him for years. Castro has always beaten and outfoxed them.

Is it not a law in Cuba that Cubans, unless they are workers, are not allowed to stay or use the facilities of Cuban hotels?

It has to be relatively bad for people to put their children on makeshift rafts to escape and try and come here.

Get mad, we pay about 18.5 cents a gallon in federal taxes and, on average, about 22 cents per gallon in state taxes.

Chavez, in 2006, offered to sell us oil at $50 a barrel. At the time, that would have allowed us to reduce the price of gas from $3.00 a gallon to $2.00 a gallon. At the time, oil was going for about $75 a barrel.

You are definitely right about people in the 60s protesting if gas went as high as $2.00 a gallon. I remember the 60's and paying between 25.9 and 35.9 cents a gallon. $2.00 in 1969 would be the equivalent of about $12.72 a gallon today.

By the way, after adjusting for inflation, gas was more expensive in 1918 than it is today.

Conservative, it is relatively bad when young men put themselves on a makeshift raft and try to swim/float through shark infested waters (Mariel boat lift in 1980). When families, including the elderly, women, and small children are attempting it, conditions must be horrible.

Just think what it would take you to put your family in a raft made with scrap wood that looks like furring strips and covering it with Saran wrap and then try float across 90 miles or more of open, stormy, shark infested waters to get away. I was on one of the U.S. ships picking up refugees in the fall of 93. I saw these rafts for myself. I cannot imagine being that desperate.

Thank you for emphasizing my point, tiredofhypocrites.

I wonder how people rationalize away the notion that Americans don't take such extreme measures to escape from our evil capitalist system to Cuba, that socialist paradise.

The piper's a mad man and death is the dancer. Good riddance to the evil piece of dung when he eventually dies as we all do

I wonder how people rationalize away the notion that Americans don't take such extreme measures to escape from our evil capitalist system to Cuba, that socialist paradise.

Well I think we should start by pointing out its sanctions against Cuba that have done most the damage, not that they have a socialist system. If more countries traded with Cuba, Americans could travel there more openly, then I'm certain it would be better...and I think that is where the "threat" of Cuba is. If people saw a flourishing country that was also socialist, then maybe being capitalist slaves wouldn't be so appealing. There is a reason why there has been a public campaign against socialism/communism for so long and that reason isn't our "concern" for other people, it's just greed.

In the US, fortunately, some people were wise enough to see the flaws in the capitalist system and institute a safety net that keeps many people from falling too far. If you took away food stamps and unemployment without there being a surge in the number of shelters we'd have a much dire situation.

Americans don't get on a boat, we get a gun and kill other people and/or kill ourselves...or blow up a building, or rob someone or at a minimum turn to drugs and alcohol which can lead to any of the previous things happening.

Cuba is headed down the same road as USSR.

I speak from experience when I say that for all the flaws of capitalism, it's much more pleasant to live with than socialism, even if the socialist country is as well developed as USSR.

The main reason why Soviet Union collapsed, was the temptation of the West. You can't imagine the delight of Russian kids when they saw something as simple as can of Pepsi or a bubblegum wrapper with Donald Duck.

Now Cubans are experiencing the same, they've got the taste of Western luxury, and they will never let go of it.

Welcome to Perestroika, comrades.

People mistake totalitarian regimes like the old USSR, with being a representation of the socialist economic principle. The totalitarian and socialism dont have to go together. Socialism and capitalism are just economic models. Some of the Euro countries are more or less socialist, and democratic also. They have "western luxuries" lol. But, they also have strong safety net, and social structure. They dont have the poverty and homelessness. Its a mix of capitalism, and socialism. So there is incentive to work. Canada's a bit the same way, but not as much. Theres a ton of expense and social disorder that goes with poverty and social breakdown. Thats what is happening in the US in some areas.. So its actually worth it to help people in the long run. And it makes the economy stronger, because of more demand.

Socialism is a system where government has more power than private enterprise, and that in itself leads to totalitarianism. So far Europe managed to dodge that situation because they still hang on to capitalism, but they already suffer the consequences of giving the government too much power. WE can only hope that the crisis snaps them back to reality and helps the rediscover the balance.

Republicans want to make Castro out to be the ultimate boogeyman. He really has no influence of significance anywhere. If the US had opened full relations with Cuba years ago and Americans want to visit, it would not 'prop up' Castro...it would have exposed the people of Cuba to Americans and the joys of American Money. Just as The Soviet Union did, that is really a major part of what changed the USSR. How come China etc are all OK and Cuba isn't? Because the Republican party cons the Batista Cubans in Florida to dangle the possibility the US will fight a war for them to get back what they had when Batista was in office.

Castro did a lot of bad he also did some good, but Cuba back then was the stomping ground of the US Mafia who rape the country for their ill gotten gains...the people got sick of it, and how they were being exploited...this opened the door for Castro.

But Castro is nothing but a memory in Cuba now, his death will change nothing. We have to step up and open up to Cuba...that will bring change. BUT it is not up to the US to change Cuba, it is up to the people of Cuba to do that.

I do know I would like to go there and buy up all those old 1950s cars, bring them back and restore them...you could make a lot of money doing that with the ones that have not had too many modifications.

But Castro's taking the Mob owned hotels and Casinos from them does not make me shed a single tear. My Dad used to tell me how Cuba was where you went to 'be bad'. SOunds like Tijuana today, when we turn a country into our Whorehouse/gambling parlor,/drunk fest...don't expect respect from the poor locals that we are exploiting, they will smile at you while they hate you...as well they should.

If you would not do it in your own neighborhood...don't go somewhere else and do it.

Well I think we should start by pointing out its sanctions against Cuba that have done most the damage, not that they have a socialist system. If more countries traded with Cuba, Americans could travel there more openly, then I'm certain it would be better...and I think that is where the "threat" of Cuba is.

Actually, we are the only country that has an embargo against Cuba. Every other country trades with them and lets their citizens travel to Cuba. We even allow certain medical equipment and medicines to be sold to the Cubans.

And most Cuban exiles came to the US and a lot of them send American money back to their families every month. The government even has stores set up where you can only use American money to buy the goods.

Reports of his obvious demise were greatly exaggerated!

Impersonator? Really? The old SOB will die whenever his time comes.

People mistake totalitarian regimes like the old USSR, with being a representation of the socialist economic principle. The totalitarian and socialism dont have to go together. Socialism and capitalism are just economic models. Some of the Euro countries are more or less socialist, and democratic also.

You don't even have to go so far. Canada has a communist party (albeit small), Australia has a socialist party, which was in power previously (not up to date on who is in power now) and they still seem to be doing fine. Last time I checked, Canada didn't cause any Global Financial recessions. Neither did Australia or Cuba.

I commented on a post about a week ago (defending Hugo Chavez or at least some of what he does), but it's amazing how people in the US have been brainwashed to go against their own interest. If the Federal government for example, took over the oil industry (or started drilling Federal lands - or more specifically, hiring the same contractors to drill for them, the same way a BP might do) that would be viewed as some great evil! Even if meant that each citizen would get a tax cut or check because of it (wtf!?). In Alaska every resident gets a check every year! I.e. everyone who lives there (babies on) owns a part of the oil industry...you know, that evil socialism. WTF is so bad about that? People still work, still become millionaires (or can at least)

I speak from experience when I say that for all the flaws of capitalism, it's much more pleasant to live with than socialism, even if the socialist country is as well developed as USSR.

Many scandinavian countries have become really quite socialist, are doing very well and the vast majority are very happy to live there.

Emmanuel, leopards don't change their spots and neither do communists. Castro and Cuba are Communist, not Socialist! There is a distinct difference.

So is yours. And mine, and everyone else's. It's just a question of when. And when he dies, the Cuban exile dinosaurs in Miami will celebrate as if it were some extraordinary event and as if they had everything to do with it. The next day, Cuba will still be just like it was the day before, and they can start waiting for Raul to follow his brother. That's going to be another long slog, too.

In other words, aside from the pathetic, pandering Miami Herald having to search frantically for something to fill up the editorial page space so reliably occupied by their daily Castro-bashing op-ed piece, so what?

I've found the fountain of youth and will never die in the digital era....

oh, yes, nobody is eternal! He will die and from that day on things will change. Did you read the latest news about the traveling reform in the island. That is not possible with him alive, so, yes, he's probably dead.

Anyways, the good thing is that everything will be like it should be with freedom and economic prosperity and a few years all Cubans will remember Castro as the worst nightmare ever happened to our nation.

What a waste! Down with Castro and all his servants!

He's still alive because even hell won't let him in.

Is there a special seat reserved for you, in that hot place?

There is an old joke:

A man asks his old neighbor: "How are you feeling?"

The old man replies: "Don't hold your breath."

Republicans own Hell. Course they've outsourced the management of the place to the Chinese, but they retain the rights to whom can actually occupy the place. They likely will never allow Fidel residence there. God, on the other hand, with His sense of humor, just might......................................................

Tell that to the Native Americans forced to make the long march into the desert; 40,000 led by US soldiers, all but 2,000 died along the way. That wasn't Cuba my friend, that was right here by our government. Where's your outrage now?

what branch of the Nazi party did you say you were from?

Will the mass murderers Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, Ford, Reagan, Bush sr, Clinton, Bush jr, and Obama spend their time in hell as well? And where will your destiny be? Be careful what say about other people, unless of course, you are not a person too.

ANYONE WHO BELIEVE IN HEAVEN AND HELL is foolish No one has ever proven that there is a heaven or hell! Say things often enough and people will believe it. I'm 70 and no one has ever proven that these places exist.

Yeah, because you own the truth.

@yape - Have you lived in Cuba? Your understanding of life seems very juvenile. Suffering is not specific to those who have wronged other people. Plus, Castro has lived for years beyond the life expectancy of men in every country on earth. So how is that payback?

Ybfola-excellent points!!

Because your life is heavenly and you live in paradise! That is good.

Guys, I have not lived in Cuba, but I have lived in USSR, which is supposed to be pretty similar.

America is almost haven compared to that.

If you don't believe me, you can put it to the test by moving to North Korea, that's the last bastion of socialism.

What bad things did he do ?He did very good things for his people.

Eli100 It is not, Russians don't have many beaches, drink vodka and drop drunk like flies, Cubans drink rum, dance, get a girl and go to a nice beach.

In N. Korea everybody even dress the same.

He has died so many times and resuscitated, that I have started to think that he might be Jesus.

If you remember correctly, Castro kicked the US out. That was his biggest mistake. He thought communism was the answer. If he was so great, why do so many Cubans flee to the US.

We had a Sears store, just one of many retail stores that employed thousands of people. Cuba was on the way up. I have 2 friends that lived there and one night there was a knock at the door. They were allowed to leave with their clothes on their back. One of them , their father was a doctor. They never saw him again.

Castro was just another little dictator with a big ego.

Question for MSNBC: Why do liberals get to make all of their comments in bold but when a conservative uses bold type, they get shut down? Double standard? Naw! just over looked.

Jean- Why don't you move to Cuba if it is so great there?

Que clase de comemierda eres estupido,What a moorom stupid are you

@JeanValjean, I agree with 'sandie1962', go live in Cuba if you feel it is so great because of Fido.

He's trying to make it to Fl to help Obama refine his speech... or vote.... or both.

a--rand A-rand there is no communism in Cuba. Cuba is a state run dictatorship. Look up the definition of communism.

@ A-rand, sandie and Pedro and anybody else that agrees with you:

You are all obivously both uneducated and uninformed. You are typical examples of people here in the U.S. who swallow whatever misinformation the media and our government feeds you. Whatever you may believe, Castro's revolution came about because he decided to fight the greedy U.S. imperialism in his country where his people under Batista were being abused and cruely treated. Under Castro those horrors immediately ceased. So, to you all, stop allowing yourselves to be misled so easily with propaganda and outright lies. If, and clearly it's a big "if" for you all, as an adult, thinking person, learn to cull independant facts of information for yourselves from various sources--not just the U.S. media propaganda machine.

The typical Americans are well known, throughout the world, for their profound ignorance about their own country and their blinding ignorance about anyone else's country.

The average American could not tell you, if asked, which state was north or south of the state in which he or she lived. When that kind of ignorance characterizes a people, rational discourse is almost impossible.

Please, you do not to take my word, read the comments here and listen the level of debate among the politicians and their supporters.

Castro is a great leader. His country has a much higher literacy rate than the USA. They supply doctors for many third world countries. They eliminated the gambling and forced prostitution that the USA promoted on that island. Americans are brainwashed. Wake up and live.

Some of you people need to read up on the realities of Cuba. Castro was not a great person. Keeping power for all these years because you have outlawed opposition does not make someone a great statesman. He didn't save his people from anything. Before Castro Cuba was the richest Latin American country. Now, the average salary is less than what people in this country make in a day! They have rolling black outs and water shortages and unless you are high in the communist party you don't get the wonderful health care they love to talk about. We've been told by people that work in the hospital my paternal grandfather worked at that they don't even have aspirin!

He is so great that both my paternal grandmother and maternal grandfather were greeted at the door of the businesses they started one morning by people from the party and told to hand over their keys because those businesses no longer belonged to them. It is so great that my mother's family had to sneak to the airport, in the middle of the night, because the neighbor threatened to have my grandfather arrested if he tried to leave the country. It is so great that my family, all of them, had to leave with nothing but the clothes on their back because everything the brought with them to take was taken away from them at the airport. It is so great that my grandfather tells me stories of his friends and how many of them were assassinated within days of the revolution. It is so great that not only did the government move a family into the home my mother grew up in, they moved someone in to the playhouse my grandfather built her in the backyard! A playhouse!!!!!

And BTW the literacy rate in Cuba has always been high.

Some of you need to get your heads out of the sand and really see what the reality is there. Like Sandie said, you think it's so great, you should move there. I'm sure you wouldn't think so once you are there.

You are a fool, perhaps a brainwashed idiot and a great fool. How'd that bolshevick revolution turn out?

@dl- Are you Cuban? If not, how is Castro affecting your daily life? If you live here in America, you have plenty to concern yourself with. Let's see. If you're not wealthy, or get health insurance through your employer, you're out of luck. If you or your parents can't afford to pay for college, then you will most likely be burdened with a mountain of debt in order to pay for it. If you're employed, especially in certain industries, you don't know when your job will be shipped of the China, or India. The Cubans , all have healthcare, and have access to higher education. As a matter of fact, they have one of the highest literacy rates in the world. They also recently graduated the largest medical school class in the world. Some of the graduates were Americans.

@ybfola- Are you Cuban? If so, please move back there.

ybfola has some good points. Why not answer them instead of using ad hominem attacks?

the entire Cuban embargo is an obscene ridiculous piece of nonsense. Free trade should be established with Cuba immediately. There has never been a reason to justify the embargo on Cuba since 1970.

The Castro`s net wealth is 4 billion and the average Cuban earns roughly 10 dollars a day american !

I think Castro has far more than 4 billion. Maybe 30 trillion but I can't prove it. Maybe a zillion.

mitt romney

mitt romney

count 943 , That comment was so damn stupid you had to do it twice ?

you obviously know nothing about Cuban history. Feed L Castro liberated Cuba from Batista. Batista was a dictator turning children into prostitutes and running Cuba as an extension for organized crime and CIA black ops. Castro has been a brutal dictator but nothing in comparison to what the US forced on Cuba before his rule.

Who after the revolution, provided free medical, free training and education to all that wanted it. His only problem was that he wouldn't bow down to America. Hang in there, you old man who has beat America at every turn as they tried to kill you.

Free medical to the higher ups in his party, and medical tourists is great. To the Average Cuban not so much. We've been told that the hospital my grandfather used to work in does even have enough aspirin.

And not everyone gets a free education. They decide who gets to move on to college and who gets to study what. It's not like here we all have a chance to go to school and study whatever we want. The party decides who gets to go to school and what they get to study.

@middleofmyroad My wife is Cuban, all of your "facts" are false. She has various degrees ranging from Chemistry to Culinary. Her cousins are doctors and engineers. All school is free to any one. Castro even sent doctors to the mountains, built them lodging for them and their families. Is he a saint, No but he loves his people and wants the best for them. If Batista wasn't such a piece of work Fidel would have never happened.

I am Cuban too. My stepmother was a dentist in Cuba as was a close friend of mine, both defected to the US when they were "traded" to Venezuela in return for oil. My step father got a degree in Computer Engineering and my grandmother was a teacher. So your point is??? I didn't say people didn't get degrees and yes they do go to school for free, but once you pass a certain point in school it is not guaranteed that you will keep going. All school is free but not everyone is free to go to university to study what they want. My "facts" came from everyone in my family that grew up and went to school there.

If Fidel wants the best for his people then why is your wife not there? I'll tell you why my family isn't there anymore, because Castro didn't give a damn about the people.

Miami used to be the rose of Florida. That stopped when all the Cuban's showed up on their shores. Now, Miami police caution tourists and vistors, to NOT go in Cuban areas. Sad. Castro may be hated in this country for not bowing down, but to true Cuban's he was the savior who outed Batista and his CIA & Mafia thugs from their shores.

Jimmy you are so full of it! I grew up in Miami and the police have never said to stay out of Cuban neighborhoods. There are a lot of neighborhoods you shouldn't go to in Miami and Cuban neighborhoods are not it.

Jimmy-1104097 you are either an uneducated person or just a despicable a$$hole.

So they will join the rest of us here in the US... but the casinos will open again in Cuba...

Hey, ebola! That's is the most stupid comment that I have seen in a long time. Healthcare and education? You are screwed up to believe that.

Cuba should have the right to decide for itself what kind of industry it wants to support. The embargo is an obscene piece of legislation that is fostered nothing positive over the last 40 years.

poor Huberto, you're shouting again

When you type in all Caps, and in Bold, you're screaming. Please stop.

Perhaps, Americans should take a sreious look at tthe way the blacks were and are treated in America, before making any negative comments about any other country.

It was legal, in America, for a white man to kill a black person. And when the whites killed blacks they did not have to hide the bodies or keep silent about their wickedness. They could boast about the blacks they killed and still not be charged with a crime.

The truth is, Americans should be completely dumb with regards to the notion and practice of freedom and justice. For there is no period, in American history, where justice or freedom was given to most of its citizens.

In fact, for about a 150 years after America was founded, only about 25% of the citizens were allowed to vote, in national elections. From the manner of the American noise making, one would necessarily believe that, at least, most of their citizens were allowed to vote. Yet, that has not been the case for centuries! Now, is that not amazing?

if you're trying to say that bankers and big business in the US are this same ones that keep the Cuban embargo in place I tend to agree. Clearly the American people and the Cuban people have been victims of the corporate military industrial complex commonly referred to as the Bilderberg Group.

Yeah and I'm sure the person living in what used to be my mother's playhouse thinks that's a mansion but at least it's not a car.