BY ALEXIA JAMES

Friday brought the announcement of the death of the vicious dictator, Fidel Castro.

If you have the slightest doubt about what a monster Castro was, look up the poet Valladares who Castro had charged with terrorism – jailed for thirty years in a cell so small he had to stand and ate his own excrement. Google the name Huber Matos, Castro’s once comrade in arms who attacked Castro’s ties to Moscow, who was then jailed for twenty years of which sixteen were in solitary. Look up how Castro’s prisoners had their blood drained before execution so it could be sold to the Vietcong. Castro’s stats are up there with the worst political monsters: 5,600 Cubans murdered by firing squad; 1,200 in “extrajudicial assassinations,” tens of thousands jailed or tortured or slain escaping.

By anyone’s definition of vicious dictator, Castro can be talked about in the same breath as Idi Amin, Jean-Bedel Bokassa and Charles Taylor – second division tyrants who never quite made it into the same division as Pol Pot, Adolf Hitler or Vlad the Impaler. There is no “but” here – Castro was a vile human being who died with blood on his hands and billions in the bank. Even his own daughter says so.

So, outright condemnation of Castro should be as simple as pointing out black from yellow, no?

No.

Jeremy Corbyn: “For all his flaws Castro was a champion of social justice … Fidel Castro was a massive figure in the history of the whole planet, ever since the revolution in 1959. There are stories of his heroism while living in Mexico in exile and then the boat to Cuba, the march to Havana and the revolution in 1959.”

Emily Thornberry, Lady Nugee: “There were not people starving and they still had an excellent health and education service. I’m not saying any more than that. But it was an enormous achievement for a little Caribbean island.”

Jean-Claude Juncker: “With the death of Fidel Castro, the world has lost a man who was a hero for many. He changed the course of his country and his influence reached far beyond. Fidel Castro remains one of the revolutionary figures of the 20th century. His legacy will be judged by history.”

Ken Livingstone: “Castro was an absolute giant of the 20th Century and a beacon of light all over Latin America.”

Should we be surprised by the Left’s blindspot when it comes to not distinguishing evil dictators from decent political leaders?

No.

Certainly not here in the UK.

Go back to 2008 and you’ll find 69 Members of the UK Parliament backed a motion praising Fidel Castro  Amongst the signatories were Colin Burgon, Richard Caborn, Jeremy Corbyn, Paul Flynn, John McDonnell, Austin Mitchell, Dennis Skinner, George Galloway, John Trickett and Diane Abbott (yes the same Diane Abbott who defends the mass murderer Chairman Mao.)

Go further left than these jokers and the adoration of Castro gets even more fulsome:

What is wrong with this world that we must put up with this praise of what is blatantly evil from our leftist politicians?

We must remind each other daily to make sure these fools stay well clear of elected power.

As for unelected Juncker, give him and the EU a little more time. I daresay his comeuppance will be spectacular.