WASHINGTON, Feb 25, 2020 (BSS/AFP) – Bernie Sanders, the US Democratic
presidential frontrunner, came under fire Monday for defending part of the
late Cuban leader Fidel Castro’s record.
In an interview that aired Sunday on CBS’s “60 Minutes,” the Vermont
senator who calls himself a democratic socialist noted that after the 1959
Cuban revolution, its leader Castro led a widely successful literacy program.
Sanders asked, “is it bad, even if it was Fidel Castro who did it?”
Sanders stressed that he opposes “the authoritarian nature of the Cuban
regime” but said it was unfair to call everything it has done over decades as
wrong.
He even made the point to condemn the Americas’ only Communist regime for
repressing dissidents.
Regardless, some of his rivals seized the chance to criticize Sanders as
potentially unable to keep his socialism democratic.
Former vice president Joe Biden’s campaign said Sanders had a long habit of
espousing the ideas of autocratic leaders.
“Bernie’s comments indicate he either fails to understand the pain and
suffering that Fidel Castro, Nicolas Maduro, and Daniel Ortega have caused to
so many people, including Americans now living here, or worse, that his
ideology blinds him to the realities of life in these countries,” Biden
adviser Cristobal Alex said.
Billionaire former New York mayor Michael Bloomberg said Castro’s long
legacy of repression was so dark and vast that talking about literacy was
ludicrous.
“Fidel Castro left a dark legacy of forced labor camps, religious
repression, widespread poverty, firing squads, and the murder of thousands of
his own people. But sure, Bernie, let’s talk about his literacy program,”
Bloomberg tweeted.