Why can't the left and the right agree that fascism and communism, and, in fact, all authoritarian forms of government are A Bad Thing rather than arguing over which was worse? It does a disservice to conservatives and the liberal left to see them saying things like "well, of course Dictator X was bad but Dictator Y was worse..."

The Holocaust, the Great Terror, the deliberate famines in the Soviet Union, the Cultural Revolution are all equally worthy of our disgust.

Alex, Norwich,

Mr. Baker,
"...is it really worse to kill a thousand of your own people than someone else's?" - the answer is yes. Try thinking about why (hint: "black and white" "right and wrong" won't give you the answer).

Ken Leyland, Liverpool, U.K.

It's always interesting to see how quickly the Right forget about all those lovely brutal dictators they've propped up and bank-rolled.
How quickly the US forgets about its sponsorship of Colonel Hugo Banser in Bolivia in the sixties - over 2,00 people tortured and imprisoned without trial. Of course, he couldn't have taken control without the US leading the coup to overthrow the democratically elected government.
Then there's Pinochet, Alfredo Stroessner and Jorge Videla, and that's just South America.
Yes, Castro is a dictator. He is not a hero. But before the Right starts to point fingers, perhaps they should check their own closets for the thousands of skeletons lurking there.

Ryan, Brighton, Sussex

Absolutely right.

JT, Leeds,

Sorry to stray from the key point, but isn't the Soviet stuff in the Tate well contextualised (I, for one, recall feeling deeply discomforted with the material) and haven't there been similar displays of Nazi art - Arno Breker in Germany for example?

With regard to Castro, I suspect that the feelings that are help by people are in part a response to the dislike of 'little' Cuba being bullied by 'big' America... we all feel for an underdog.

And, Mr Leyland, is it really worse to kill a thousand of your own people rather than a thousand of somebody else's? The issue is more complex than some of the black and white, right or wrong, with us or against us comments here would allow.

D Baker, London,

The funny thing in all this is, that the Left of today is about the exact opposite of what liberal, let alone socialist ideas once stood for: It is anti-western rather than pro-enlightenment, persistant rather than progressive, culturally relativistic rather than international, anti-technological rather than pro-science, protectionist rather than universal, bureaucratic rather than unconventional, politically correct rather than provocative. It also stands for the elitist attitude of the 'ruling class' within politics and the media rather than the revolutionary drive of the underdog or the conviction of the 'common man'.

So maybe glorifying Castro and similar thugs is nothing but a disillusioned longing for a time when 'being left' actually was filled with something like substance, whereas nowadays it seems no more than a lame and tired posture of an imagined moral superiority.

TN, Berlin, Germany

As a man who loathes Castro/Stalin/Mao etc let me make one qualifying point. Right wingers like pointing out that Hitler killed fewer people. This is for one reason only. He was physically defeated. Am I not right in thinking that Nazisms 'deaths per month in power' exceeded even Stalin and Mao? Do they believe that final victory would have made him more reasonable and not simply engulfed more of the world in his nihilism for longer?

E Skelton, cardiff, Wales

Great article Mr. Finkelstein.
You clearly know as well as I do that no-one can run a country on this strife-torn planet and keep his hands clean. Sooner or later he has to deal (in both senses of the word) with scum. That's just the way it is, and to believe otherwise is infantile. What marks out the dictator (left and right) is the habit he soon acquires of slaughtering his own people. Castro is a fully paid-up member of that club. Let's have no more nonsense from your respondents about Bush or Blair, or any other genuinely elected leader. They may be a million miles from perfect, but they ain't no Mao, Mugabe or Castro.

Ken Leyland, Liverpool, U.K.

Thank you, Mr Finkelstein, for consistently being a hero of Western democracy.

I wish you the very best in your continued fight against intolerance, oligarchy and the manipulation of history.

John, London,

True that communism has been proven wrong in history, but in the present day my concerns are with the fascist-like form of gov't that's taking shape in our "liberal democracies".
It's not about genes anymore, it's about prejudism, it's about ethnocentrism, and so on.
If you haven't realised of this yet just wait till the police state knocks on your door or pulls you over and you'll see for yourself. our rulers are in it for the power trip, and we are just their herd. Occasionally one sheep gets killed, but the others hardly ever notice.
So that might be why despicable people like Fidel Castro and such still receive credit for their struggle against the US. That they're wrong doesn't make you right.

J.A., Rochester, US

Simplest response - has anyone seen a queue of immigrants at border post of a communist country - ever? Any communist dictatorships had to cope with great crowds of illegal immigrants?
History has pased its judgement on communism - abject failure at immense human cost.

KR, Stockport,

To the obvious reasons given by Kiwi Expat one must also add the very factor of money. Governments do take economic consequences very much into account, and politicians -- Ms Abbot and Mr Livingstone might be two examples -- will take positions that appear to be absurd, even noxious to independent persons, for sheer economic reasons. Take oil, for example. But, again, economy probably is not the only factor in this and their own naivety is another contributing element to their choice of sides.

Another expat, London, UK

Raymond from Liverpool makes the most sensible and consise point I think I've ever read on this subject. It exasperates me that the far Left so often fails to see how black and white their ideas are thus eradicating any real personal freedom which surely is fundamental to liberalism.

Amy, London,

Did it ever occur to the readers and the author as well that communism must NOT be compared to nazism? Nor must communism be opposed to democracy. Why? The reason is rather simple and is the fact that nazism and democracy (although there are some subtleties to discuss) are related to a country's POLITICAL system while communism is a country's ECONOMICAL system. If we want to talk about COMMUNISM then we should compare it to CAPITALISM for instance.

About the atrocieties made by "communists". The murders were actually commited by a DICTATOR and his regime. It is just an interesting historical coincidence that most dictators (Lenin, Mao, Fidel) had the ECONOMY regulated by some form of communism.

The question then is, can we have DEMOCRACY with COMMUNISM? Once again, the two are NOT mutually exclusive. Well, inspecting today's Denamrk or Norway, I think we can argue that it is possible.

Fidel hero of the left? Fidel the DICTATOR, definitely NOT. Fidel the COMMUNIST, probably YES

Jevgeny, Cardiff,

What use of having 100% literacy if you cannot get the books of your own choosing?

What use of having excellent healthcare if you have no control over how to enjoy the good health it provides?

Ed Zuiderwijk, Cambridge, UK

A brilliant article, but hosting Harriet Harmon at one's table? That's truly beyond the call of duty!
A few short years in London has taught me two things. The first is that the ordinary Brits one meets are generally lovely people, warm, fair-minded, friendly, with a wonderful sense of humour : the second is that they are proud of being able to put up with anything, providing they can have a cuppa and a scone- the 'Blitz' mentality - so they do! Under Nu Labour, they tolerate ignorant, self-serving and greedy politicians who issue frequent diktats that usually ignore 'best practice' established elsewhere and who praise Socialist dictators such as Castro to the skies. Harriet (like Diane Abbot and Ken Livingstone) is merely staying true to form, which requires no thought on their part.

Kiwi Expat, London, Middlesex

While I was at University another student used to wear a Soviet Army jacket most of the time - despite Stalin and his successors being responsible for a huge number of deaths. If it had been a Nazi uniform then this would have been unacceptable.

Peter, MIdhurst,

with all "the left knows best" comments: the left did not form empires around the world taking power away (and in some cases land from native peoples). Communism had many deaths so did the empire and the foundation of the USA. I do not believe that communism works but I am not blinded that the alternative isn't the same: ie a group of people gaining power, doing anything to get it for their own interests.

raymond, Liverpool, uk

I hesitate to add to 127 replies but 'the Left' will never get this right until they understand that communism is extreme 'Right'.
Check out the characteristics - Left to Right is not from one side to the other; it's a circle.
In the area of 'Who gets the big cars?' , 'Whose children go to the best schools?' 'Who can justify the state killing its subjects?' There is no difference between these guys. Who else but a king could imagine that out of an entire population, his BROTHER was the obvious succesor?

John Carty, Medellin, Colombia

Enoch Powell did not merely have a point - he was one of Britain's most intellectual politicians - ever...... & he was correct in many of his forecasts concerning mixed race societies.

Richard, Bucharest,

If Cuba is so great, and America so bad, why then aren't all the world's poor immigrating to Cuba instead of the US? We could do with a few less illegal immigrants here in the US. And it seems the other great "evil" capitalist empire, the UK, also suffers from a large immigrant population. Interestingly, why are they all fleeing dictatorships and communist countries? Life might not be as well lived there? Maybe the lefties should spend some time in those Utopias and let us know what we are missing here in the evil capitalist empire. They could even maybe enlighten the masses there, too. They might find they will be staying a bit longer then they expected, and in not such a nice place (prison). Also, we haven't seen any comments here from Cubans in Cuba. Do you really wonder why?

Dave, Richmond, Virginia, USA

Sally - 2800 and do you think the US is the only country ever to be attacked by terrorists?
Don - You didn;t leave them the credit card number which can be accessed by any bank and which has your name on it?
Maybe you took history at the same school Junior took economics?

Jeff Larsen, Chch , NZ

"The US have killed a million Iraqis over the last fifteen years"

What utter Leftist drivel! The Sunni and Shia death squads and suicide bombers have killed millions of iraqi's. The Americans have been training the Police and army to defend the iraqi's from these terrorists.

sam, Birmingham, west midlands

Well put Daniel!

Sally Copperwaite, Brentwood, Essex

As the son of post-war Polish refugees, I was brought up to despise dictatorships of both left and right, and still do.
I used to think that the extreme left-right divide is false, and that the two meet in a third dimension: same cult of personality, nationalism, authoritarianism, art , architecture, etc.
However, there is one difference: fascism appeals to the atavisic, pagan residues of the mind; communism entices by pretending to be a combination of Christian ideals and the scientific implementaion of Enlightenment values: very dangerously seductive to the well-meaning well-educated liberal.

Konrad Brodzinski, London, England

Daniel, the answer to your question is: because we never learn history's lessons (like that liberal ideas look much better on paper than work in real life). Moreover, we live in a conscious denial of consequence of the past and do our best to shove it hard into the back of our minds.

Imagine what a better place this world might be if we grew wiser by drawing practical conclusions from historical events.

Vickie, Tel-Aviv, Israel

i can't say I have that much time for these people, but how many on the right worship murderous thugs like Pinochet et al? Remember, Mandela was a "terrorist" in the eyes of the rabid right.

As with everything, it goes both ways.

Tom, Bristol, England

Brilliant article. Needs to be said loudly everyday until people wake up. Croydon's Labour Party are having a 'Holocaust Week, they'd never have a Gulag week, would they?

Rusell Hicks, Woldingham, Surrey

Admiration of Communism is foolish and surely not a tenable viewpoint post-1990 but that pales into insignificance compared to the support given to right-wing dictators by governments in capitalist countries. The US government supported and funded countless petty dictators in strategically located countries during the Cold War. In Afghanistan, the US supported the non-Communist Taliban over the Soviets - and that was a huge mistake as they later discovered.

Similarly while some on the left were singing the praises of Castro, Republican governments in the US were using taxpayers money to support and arm right-wing regimes in the rest of South America (e.g. Operation Condor) which led to unimaginable brutality for Argentinians, Chileans etc. Some left-wingers might have uninformed sentimental attachments to Castro et al but that's harmless compared to the actual funding and arming of mini-Hitlers by right-wing governments.

MB, Edinburgh,

never i saw such a column. congratulations we today need heros but why comunists??.we do not need communists anymore

jess, madrid, spain

I have never understood why communists and fascists, so similar in their beliefs and actions, hate each other so much.

Simon Marshland, Bath, Somerset

Great article. Okay Harriet, respond please.

Harriet?

Adam, London, UK

As an active member of the Labour Party back in the 80s and 90s I used to always marvel at how the 'comrades' loved anyone in cheap fatigues, waving an AK-47 and shouting anti-American propaganda.

I always used to ascribe this phenomena to a mix of Labour's obsession with class-based politics (in its most crude sense - heaven help you if you wore a suit to work), its almost pathological hatred of the US and the authoritarian streak in the Left. The latter was particularly pronounced, hence the love of dictators who mouthed 'socialism'.

Mark, Berkhamsted,

Tim Footman, in answer to your question, Castro went to the U.S after the revolution seeking funds for his country he was snubbed ( he never spoke english again ) .The only other option was the U.S.S.R , the rest we all know .
The stand off between the two has suited both parties , America to look strong around the world and Fidel to look strong at home . Both winners in their own tiny minds , the only losers being the wonderful people who inhabit that beautiful island.
Why was Nigel Hastilow asked to resign for having an opinion,
since when has that been a crime in this country , I recollect the point Enoch Powell made was , if the immigrants are ghettoised it will cause a great many problems, which is what has come to pass .
Quite ironic , Enoch being a prophet in a Christian country.

Nick Dixon, Sutton Coldfield, England

Ben, Palma de Mallorca. your argument is catastrophically flawed. Without democracy and the will to defend it, militarily if necessary, classical liberalism would be crushed like an empty egg-shell by evil forces that would, correctly, see your moral relativism as a terminal weakness to be exploited ruthlessly.

Nothing in this life is perfect. The trick is to distinguish between shades of grey. And you are equating the stained white of democracy with a colour almost indistinguishable from black. You talk about death counts so let's stay quantitative (though that's only part of the story). Let's take Mao's slaughter of well over 100 million souls and quote an equivalent from the side of democracy. Too hard? how about Stalin's 12 million? Hitler's 6 million in death camps alone? Or even Pol Pot's "mere" 2 million (in his "defence", he was working with a limited pool of victims)? And if you can't match any of those, explain again to us why "it doesn't matter which side you lean".

ANW, Edinburgh, Scotland

The Left loves all shades of dictator, as long as it's on the Stalinist Left. Think: Stalin, Lenin, Castro, Blair, Brown. All of these had one thing in common: they all thought they knew better than the people what those people wanted and needed. All of them ended by bringing their countries to their knees.

David, Wolverhampton, England

Hi, there are two differences between Communists and Nazis:

1) Communists have won the Second World War and the Nazi lost it.

2) The Nazis killed 3 million people, the Communists 100 millions but they were better at marketing their ideology because they kill people for “good reasons”, for “humankind”, for “progress”…

I come from Italy where still 5% of voters vote for the Communist Party and we have a Communist president (or ex, apparently) Mr Napolitano. Lucky for the Uk the Left is not as bad as in Italy, for now...

Valerio , London, Uk

This article commits a straw man fallacy in conflating Stalinism/Cuban communism/Marxism with communism.

"the former [communists] regard us as entirely the product of our environment"

This is Marxism not communism. Obviously nobody would support any of the terrible forms of communism that were inflicted on peoples in the 20th century.

Yes, communists are "basically well meaning".

Simon, Bristol,

Naivety? Ignorance? Arrogance? Most people are ill-informed about other people's countries. Let's leave it to the Cubans to tell us what life under Castro was like and the Americans to tell us if they're happy with the way their country is run. Instead, as always, we have the usual rabble who think they know about everything and have probably never been to either country venting their prejudices.

tony, rochester,

"For Americans Castro is like some giant
boogey man under their bed and they are frightened children.

Kate, Victoria BC, Canada"
Kate, the only Americans interested in Cuba are the Cuban Americans living in Florida. One of the factors that has kept the embargo in place so long is the fact that Cuban Americans are a strong voting block. Cubans under Castro suffered just as much from his regime as the previous one. They may be better educated and have free health benefits but they live without the basic freedoms and in abject poverty. I wonder how many people that suffered under represive governments view them in a postive light.

Stephanie, Baltimore, USA, USA

I can't figure out whether idiocy, willful blindness or simply ignorance is behind remarks like "The behaviour of the US of A today is at least as reprehensible as those of the former Soviet Union in many of it's activities." Do Stalin's murdered millions have no place in the ethical calculus of the 'modern' leftist? Or is anti-American bigotry simply blinding people to the horrors of the world's various dictatorial regimes?

Nick, Rotherham, UK

In my first year of university, during a philosophy lecture, I was introduced to a debating technique I had been previously unaware of. It has been commonly employed by philosophers and intellectuals throughout history. It goes: when you know your own argument doesn't hold water, go on the offensive and criticise the argument of your opponent. You'd be amazed how often it's used.

James, London,

Perhaps Daniel would like Cuba to be America's brothel again....so he and his American pals can go there for a "good time".

Sam, Glasgow,

the main reason for the lefts positive attitude towards communism is that its fundamental objective is an entirely honourable one(the sharing of work and property by the entire community)

That is why the left aspire and subscribe to it.

However, Diane Abbot and Harriet Harman are disgracefully wrong and should apologise or be dismissed.

JP, London,

Excellent article, many thanks. I'd just add, in response to some comments, that to criticise Castro's actions is not to 'see him as a threat'. I personally don't feel that Castro or Cuba pose any direct threat to me or the UK whatsoever - i'm of the opinion that his beliefs and actions are consistent and abhorrent, mainly because of the killing, suffering and political unfreedom he has brought upon Cubans. I suppose you could call it my compassion speaking, but my views have absolutely nothing to do with a feeling of personal fear or danger.

Jakub, London, UK

First bit of advice to anyone reading this article - stop! Read Tom Dyckhoff's piece on architecture first. This will give you an enlightening primer as a lead in to Mr. Finkelstein.

Much of the debate in the "comments" reminds me of the "cigar" scene in Dr. Strangelove: capitalist stooges vs. commie stooges". What is truly abysmal is that we look at this as some sort of tally sheet where the taking of human life is nuanced between one ideology or another. I am reminded of a cartoon in some publication in the 1980s lampooning Jean Kirkpatrick (US Ambassador to the UNI) who is depicted as saying "that under totalitarian regimes torture, repression and murder is conducted by the state -- in authoritarian regimes (i.e., our friends) these functions are conducted by the "private sector".

I believe it was either FDR or Harry Truman who made the distinction about all dictators being SOBs -- but that we often have to live with "our" SOBs. Question: Who is Fidel's SOB?

Patrick, Toronto, Canada

All very well but your talking about people not communists people killed and massacared other people weather they were facist or communist . the point is this no matter what people are all the same those who want power will always find some excuse to imprison torture murder or execute in the name of their speicifc political or religious affiliations . People and Ideologies are not the same

Tom Hammond, London, UK

Spot on Daniel, and I say that as a card-carrying member of the Labour party.

Ed Gallois, London,

Another point Fidel was pretty iniquitous but the only reason the US hated him was because before he got in Cuba under batista was there little palyground full of mafia hoods and CIA operatives acted in a corrupt evil way murdering and extorting the whole island with batista with a puppett . then Fidel comes in and gets rid of them all and suddenly he is evil . so US sanctioned evil is good as were all free but Commuinist sanctioned evil is evil

Tom Hammond, London, UK

To those of you who claim to know Cuba's "true and accurate" statistics, have you ever been to Cuba? Have you lived in Cuba? Have you gone around Cuba and asked residents about their lives? Would they tell you the truth if you did? How many Cubans have fled to Miami in the last say 50 years? What do they say about Cuba and they quality of life there? I would continue my arguments, but am sure you are to extreme in your belifs to even bother to read or listen to "actual facts". Some of my family are Cubans, who escaped to Miami long after Castro took control, you could ask them. They could educate you about Fidel's Cuba. Then again, you don't care about the truth. You only care about the "perfect utopia" you could create if only someone like Castro ruled the UK or US.

As for Ms. Harman, she should travel to Miami and make those statements about Castro. Let us see what a warm welcome she would receive.

Mary, Atlanta, USA

in reading most of these comments, yes there is substance to the claims of us/uk supporting thugs, but does that make the castro regime any less accountable for the deeds they did and for sending advisors into africa???

Richard Dow, Stenhousemuir, Stirlingshire

Castro has less blood on his hands than G.W. Bush a leader of the worlds largest and most powerfull democracy. Between 100 000 and 500 000 people have been murdered in Iraq in the name of freedom and democracy these last few years. Castro might have ordered a few disidents jailed or even to be murdered, Castro is a angel compared to some others.

dantisimus, Split,

Perhaps Mr Finkelstein would like to explain what Enoch Powell ever did or said to justify him being bracketed, even remotely, with a monster such as Castro?
I can only think that it is because Powell rejected the concept of Britain obediently following the USA, and favoured a modus vivendi with the Soviet Union, on the grounds that the latter did not directly threaten British interests.

Ed Hirst, Congleton,

Castro was no hero; but I doubt he can be classed in quite the same bracket as Stalin, Mao and Pol Pot. The biggest problem with Castro is that he overstayed his welcome by about 40 years. There is a reason very few leaders in the west rule longer than 10 years; they become stale at the very time that they completely disconnect with the reality on the ground. We are seeing that with Labour now. As a Zimbabwean I can relate to this phenomenon only too well; and if you throw in a megalomaniac tendancy then you have a recipe for disaster and, in a third world country with a cowed people, the likely outcome of stagnation at best (Cuba) and untold misery at worst (Zimbabwe). I would however agree with Daniel that bashing the US entitles you to an awful lot of rope from the left; rope they would not extend in other circumstances. Sadly the more rope you give them, the more a dictator uses it to hang the voiceless majority.

Guy Thompson, London,

There is another reason why the Left loves dictators like Castro, Mao and even Stalin: they are similar. Most of the Leftists I've known have a desire to control the lives of others. They claim to know what's right and accept no disagreement. I've even known some who would gladly kill those who disagree with them if they thought they could get away with it. They also tend to be politically bipolar: to them, the choice for Cuba is either Castro or the gansters of the 50s; democracy is never an option to them.

WH, Washington, DC USA

A few months ago the Tory candidate Nigel Hastilow had to resign for saying that Enoch Powell may have had a point. And it was right that he went.

Wrong! Why should he go for stating the truth, especially when he was grossly misquoted?

I have no doubt that had Enoch been PM, the UK would have turned out rather better that it is now.
Mass immigration brings mass crime, sick persons en masse and massive burdens on the welfare state. And given the current governing Labour lot we are not two steps away from a Castro regime. God won't help us - he's already left.

Tony Quick, Brighton, UK

Why do most Tories still worship Margaret Thatcher? 'Tis one of life's mysteries.

Peter K Day, Doncaster, UK/ Yorkshire

I think communism is a failed economic system. However the murderous dictator tag seems only to be applied to the left. He may have caused deaths in order to keep power but the same can defiantly be said for the USA in various wars mentioned already: Iraq , Afghanistan, Korea and what can only be seen as an act of terrorism- dropping a large bomb on a city killing many civilians. Does the fact that they are elected at home give them moral authority to cause bloodshed abroad? and no the excuse but "we are less bloody than the last guys" or "we can run the place better"won't do! Or is it a case of the ends justifies the means? Also saying that simply he his communist makes him on the ranks with pol pot is like saying any nationalistic leader is like Hitler.

raymond, Liverpool, UK

If those US haters do not want the Americans to be top dog and the most powerful and the most powerful. Who would they choose?
Russia, Germany, China, North Korea, Norway, It is very difficult to decide. I would rather go along with the Americans that anyone else.

Fred Sage, Surbiton, England

What a wonderful article. I was thinking along similar lines before I read this. It is so beautifully true, but it is a pity you ruin it at the end by saying .....

..... A few months ago the Tory candidate Nigel Hastilow had to resign for saying that Enoch Powell may have had a point. And it was right that he went.

You agree he should go; you therefore mirror the type of people you are writing about.

Michael S., Reading, England

It is almost on par with Livingstone referring to the Tiananmen Square massacre as equivalent a reaction to the Poll Tax riots in London. "We need to look to the future, not dwell on the past" was his excuse.

The left, though now soft and fat with middle age, pensions and property, still hate the idea of capitalism - which has allowed them to grow old, fat and middle aged with pensions and property.

Their world view is that all the evil is committed by the USA/Israel and it would be a better place if neither existed. What a twisted view on reality.

No system is perfect, but if you look at the living standards of communist and islamic countries and compare them to the capitalist system then the capitalist system has elevated the standards of living of the majority of its citizens by the greatest amount.

Marc Levine, harrow, Uk

Look at Cuba's nearest neighbour, Haiti, and admire the benefit of 200 years of American interference. Cuba has been savaged by the rogue nation to the north, which now threatens to drag it down to a similar, but unimaginable horror.

The worst part is how the US has taken in and trained Cubans to hate their homeland, and wish only violence and oppression on it. Note how similar their attitude is to that of American-Irish, American-Vietnamese, American-Iraqis and everyone who has settled in the US from a small nation. American-Cubans don't hate Castro because he's a nasty dictator, they hate Cuba and Cubans because they were given no choice. "Love it or leave it" means - join the campaign, terrorise your own people you left behind - or face expulsion from the US.

Andy Dyer, London, UK,

good writing d.f., but I fear in asking why harriet harman believes and says what she does, you are crediting her with considerably more intellectual capacity than she would appear to possess. the simple answer is "because she's an idiot" as is anyone who would even consider voting for her. if you were to ask her this question directly, I can assure you that you would not get anything approaching a sensible and coherent response. the same goes for ken livingstone.

jem, london, uk

Perhaps Harriet Harman underneath that earnest hen exterior is a crupto-communist like Gordon Brown.

Gervas Douglas, Andorra la Vella,

Well, you certainly got them going there, Dan. Seems like two sides to the argument. Will it be better when you can find a McDonalds in Havana as well as Moscow?

David, Bromley,

Oi Danny, Do tell us why the West is cozying up to China , doing record trade from fur coats made out of german shepherds and counterfiet good all over, with the worst human rights record known .Compared to Cuba, well there is no comparison is there?
Amazing that the US is happy to run a huge trade imbalance with communists of China-remember Tibet-while boycotting trade with Cuba. Well Double standards all round

bob holmes, Axbridge , Englan d

Whilst accepting Daniel Finkelstein's views based on the experiences of his family, I found his reasoning to be at best trite and at worst disengenuous.

The behaviour of the US of A today is at least as reprehensible as those of the former Soviet Union in many of it's activities. In it's self-proclaimed role as the Sheriff of the free world, it's action are as bad as those of any of the Communist regimes.

We need to stand firm against any regime inclined to genocide, from whatever part of the political spectrum.

Castro's Cuba is as much of an anachronism today, as Tito's Yugoslavia was during the 60s and 70s. The major difference seems to be that the Americans all but declared war on the one, yet poured billions of dollarsof aid into the other.

Alan Mead, London, UK

Simon Smith, who refers to Israeli leaders as 'murderous dictators' in a debate about Castro is making a couple of quite transparent errors. He mistakenly (and I am being kind to him to presume it to be foolishness, and nothing more malign) presumes the author's being Jewish to be of some relevance, and furthermore that there's an implicit connection to Israel as a result of that. His point, then, is simply attacking the author for being of a certain religion. There's a word for that. He also uses the word 'dictator', which has quite a specific meaning, to describe a person democratically elected by men, women, black and white, Jews, Christians, muslims and atheists in Israel. The accusation of being 'murderous' is similarly shallow and ignorant, as it is the Palestinians, not the Israelis, who continue deliberately to attack civilians, hence the moral difference.

Bob, London,

As a note to Patrick in London, the reason the US infant mortality rate is higher than Cuba's is because in the US far more children die on the day they're born. And the reason for that is that in the US the technologically superior medical system will frequently keep many terminally-ill newborns alive long enough to count towards the infant mortality rate, while equivalent babies in Cuba and many other countries register merely as fetal deaths (which don't count). Ironically it's because the US tries to save so many marginal cases and, inevitably, frequently fails, that its figures look worse.

Sorry, it's a good David-Goliath story but very misleading. It illustrates the dangers of taking simple bottom-line statistics at face value without inquiring as to what's behind them.

CC, Edinburgh, Scotland

Cuba in the 50s was run by gangsters, literally. Meyer Lansky etc etc. Does Mr Finkelstein support that regime?

Why doesn't Mr Finkelstein acknowledge the force of the USA's economic squeeze on Cuba? Is that irrelevant to the shifts to which Castro was put?

And the multiple CIA assassination attempts? Does he support those, too?

Mr Finkelstein's black-and-white world is as false as that of the communist dictators.

Matt, London/Moscow,

PBrockly claims that Cuba has better education, healthcare,life expectancy than the USA.
Who does he think he is kidding. The East Germans were also fond of making such false claims.

Baz, London,

I find it ironic that so many have used this forum to attack what the author has said regarding Fidel and communism. Freedom of the press is a good thing. Freedom of expression is a good thing. Freedom to assemble is a good thing. Freedom to disagree is a good thing.

All of these freedoms guarantee a public debate about issues and policies.

I find true IRONY in the fact that in Fidel's Cuba or Stalin's Soviet Union or Mao's China NO ONE would even be allowed to write an article like this let alone have any debate whatsoever...yet so many on here want to defend communism and Fidel's actions.

For 50 years of revolution Fidel has given the people of Cuba a WORSE standard of living than what they had before he came to power. Yay for communism.

David, Las Vegas, USA

Mr. Finckelstein, your piece is nefarious: how many dictators were and are supported by the US/UK, including by right wing governments , and were or are hailed as heroes by the RIGHT??

Pinochet, Karimov, Saddam Hussein (see Rumsfeld's 1980's handshake), Mubarak, Kabila, Amin, Somoza, Shah of Iran, Suharto et al, the list could go on.

The US even tried to prevent the Falklands operation because Galtieri was ITS man!

Perhaps, sir, it would simply be more factually accurate to state that the UK/US don't support democracy except in strategically irrelevant areas!

If you are going to be critical, then please be balanced, else you do yourself and your readers a disservice

Fabian, London, UK

Why the snide reference to Enoch Powell at the end? Is any seriously questioning that he was correct in his predictions?

Adela, Karlstad, Sweden

Yes, consider how many Miami Cubans (I lived there for 14 years) yearn for the good ol' days of America's favorite RIGHT wing dictator, Fulgencio Bautista, who certainly could rival Fidel for ruthlessness and arbitary rule. It all depends on who benefits in the "dicatorship". Remember how the US avoided calling Mobutu or Marcos or the Shah dictators? And still avoid calling Musharraf or the Saudi king by their richly deserved titles.

Hardy Campbell, Houston, Texas

You used the phrase "communists and fascists," and I have always wondered why the leftists persist in referring to right wingers as fascists rather than Nazis.

According to my dictionary, the word "fascist" refers to an extreme right-wing nationalist movement in Italy , 1922-43, whereas Nazi is a diminutive of NSDAP which translated from the German reads: "National SOCIALIST German WORKERS Party." Anyone got any clues!?

Peter, north London

Peter Silver, London, England

I canvassed an escapee of the holocaust in Hampstead many years ago. He told me he would be voting Tory at the upcoming General Election, which surprised me (other elctors I had canvassed from the same background were Labour supporters). When I asked why, he replied that unlike the others I had canvassed he had no doubts about what socialists could do that

richard roney, London,

My uncle did 4 years in a Soviet Labour camp and my grandmother died in Auschwitz so I can keep up with the Finkelstein-Joneses on that count.

I read the article until Daniel started complaining about "liberals" supporting Castro. I consider myself a proud "Liberal" (not in the lib-dem sense) and Harmann to be a Socialist and possibly a Marxist. Certainly not a Liberal.

The problem is that the left has never come to terms with its record of supporting leftist genocides.

So keep the good work up but remember it's the Liberals who maintain democracy and created Human Rights. Support Liberalism and not apologists for dictatorships.

Jonathan L, Tel-Aviv, Israel

Pinochet, Franco, Sadam Hussein, Somoza, Trujillo.
Left or right Mr Finkelstein?
Funny with the constant fear for communism Hitler had time enough to kill millions of people.
But after all Communists , we all know, are red devils not wearing Prada.

MÓNICA FERRER, VIGO,

You have a problem, John Problem, one shared by ideologues like yourself.......short-term memory. You conveniently forget that Thatcher followed an ideological programme, anointed Major as her successor and praised Pinochet as ' a good friend of Britain '. Spin, focus groups and PR machines were not invented by the Labour Party. Admiration of dictatorships, by anyone, is abhorrent.

Fred Wiseman, Droitwich,

Harriet and the New Labour crowd probably admire the power Castro had to force people to tow his party line: After all, the govt have passed thousands of pointless laws, and spent 10 years either banning things or making them compulsory!

paul, sheffield, UK

Hitler's National Socialists and today's Leftists are virtually identical and spring from the very same understanding: We are right, you are wrong, and we have the right (if not the power) to curb you, confiscate what is yours, make you flee the country, or crush you. People, such as people in eastern Germany, know this reality fully well.

James, Jacksonville,

Castro and Pinochet,
Argentinian dictators of the 70's - Their counterparts of the left insurgency (and now the Plaza de Mayo's Mothers),
Che Guevara - Bolivian dictators of the 60's
FARC - Paramilitary forces
Same garbage - diferent ideology.

Ivan, Jupiter, Fl, USA

Yet again, fascism is confused with racism. The truth is that the early Fabian socialists, as well as the early American "progressives", were more racist than the Italian Fascists.

The other problem with this article is that opposition to the USA cannot be the reason why communists are seen as "progressive": the Fascists and the Nazis were also opposed to the USA.

Otherwise, an excellent article: this has been said before, but it needs to be said again.

Arthur, Tallinn, Estonia

murderous dictators - you mean like Israeli leaders?

Simon Smith, London, England

As a note to stephen in london, according to the CIA world factbook Cuba has a lower infant mortality rate than the USA.

Patrick, London,

Mahatma KH, I have no idea what you are smoking in blaming the US for the situation in Cuba. Just another Socialist.

mark, Lutz, FL

Right wing rants rule in Mr Finkelstein world view
no mention then of , better education, healthcare,life expectancy than the usa

PBrockly, conwy,

"Why does the Left still worship Fidel Castro and all his appalling fellow communists?"

Or alternatively, why does the Right still worship Margaret Thatcher and all her appalling fellow free market neo-conservatives?

Because they are both inspirational figures who appeal to those who hold similar political beliefs.
I'm genuinely sorry to hear about your fathers experiences, but it does not automatically follow that all communism is inherently evil.

Philip H, Northampton,

I'm also amazed at the zeal of Fidel's defenders. They exist here in Canada too and I think the writer has hit on a very important point - he is viewed as standing up to the big,bad USA. Never mind the fact that he suppressed democracy and freedom of speech for 50 years. People use statistics like infant mortality rates (the most common one used) to justify why a dictator is a hero? The most important indicator to me is how many people have died trying to get to Florida as opposed to the number attempting the reverse trip. The US is far from perfect but freedom and opportunity will always be a magnet for people who have no say in those that govern them and no voice in how they are governed.

Jim, Toronto, Canada

Akram, are you really saying that teaching some people to read can justify the murder of other people? And we are talking about the muder of his own countrymen, much the same as Stalin. If it looks like a dog, and sounds like a dog, it probably is a dog. And it is not a competition - just because the USA may have caused the death of more people overall, doesn't negate what Castro, or anyone else, has done. And I would venture that the USA killed less of its own people...

Nathan, Mid-Wales,

A leader of a country however gifted he is, when he is possessed of a messianic vision the temptation is there to play god or to believe he is the anointed one in whose image he imagines his people have been created. He also believes he has been given the right to impose his arbitrary rule over them and decide their destiny, and anyone who defies him does so at their own peril. But being a mere mortal like any of us he is prone to all the imperfections and delusions that 'flesh is heir to'. The wise one knows when to relinquish power when the time is due, while the obdurate persist in their folly thus confirming Lord Acton's dictum: "Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely."

SD Goh, PJ, Malaysia

Oh hush. A freedom fighter to some and a terrorist to others. A murderer to some...

Where does Bush and his hawks rank? Hell you could take most of the important leaders of the world and they have murdered someone in some persons eyes.

There is good and bad about Cuba and America, and to hear the same circular debate is dull.

Matthew, Chiang Mai, Thailand

Having lived in a comunist regime myself I can understand the frustration of the liberated people from the Eastern Europe, aimed at the revival of the Comunist Ideas, but to put in the same sentence Fascism and Comunism is an oxymoron.
These two ideologies fought each-other and the Western Civilization chose the Comunism as an Ally and the Fascism and what it rapresented as an enemy, therefore its obvious than you can not see a CCCP trackies and a Svastika in the same way.
Please tell me which South American Country is better off than Cuba? What has become of Argentina one of the biggest Economies in the beginig of the century, and what of Brazil with its immense natural resources but with a very poor social strata. etc etc etc.

Fidel is no angel and probably he ise a dictator and has killed thousands over the years, but what was the alternative?

Cuba is no Russia, there are tens thousands of Turists that go there every year, let the cubans decide for themselves...!

Juli, Tirane,

The UK will be the Nu Cuba formed by Nu Labour. A country that you want to leave but nobody wants to come to. Even the recent influx of immigrants from the former USSR are returning home.

Congratulations Gordon.

Michael, Cambridge, UK

Give it up, Mr Finkelstein, it is not worth it. You are trying to use reason and facts against people who have abandoned them a long time ago. The adage "Never argue with an idiot; he will drag you down to his level and then beat you with experience", applies to Socialists, Communists, Labourites, and other creatures of the Left as well.

Frederick Davies, Oxford, UK

Akram I don't think Thatcher actually shot or tortured anybody.

Albert Hall, kettering,

The reason the British left admires communist dictators is simple.

Because in their hearts they would like to use the same methods to create their 'paradise', but don't have the ruthlessness to do it.

It's the ruthlessness they admire.

Mike Newland, London, England

Isn't true to say that the only reason The Right hates Castro is because he successfully toppled Fulgencio Batista, a US-Mafia-backed dictator. The US political establishment has been obsessed by Cuba ever since. The notion that this Caribbean Island represents a threat is a joke.

Lets not intentionally over the numerous thugs and gangsters that we and our allies have installed around the world over the decades. Even at the cost of overthrowing elected governments.

It's just a great shame that The Extreme Right never recovered from the fact that Hitler and The Axis lost WW2.

Rich, Cambridge,

Castro did some bad things but is no Stalin! I do understand the general point made - you can buy T-Shirts with Mao on but not Hitler; there is a double standard when it comes to communists. I think a lot of it is down to the fact that many liberal-left people (myself included) were wannabe-Trotskyites when younger and to criticise communism is to reject the idealism of your youth. Completely nonsense I know, but if I am honest I think I am guilty of it.

However I do feel it is possible to view someone as a hero, but reject some of their past behaviours or specific policies. For instance Churchill; the black and tans in Ireland or using mustard gas in the Middle East. I still view him as a hero, but as with most people in history, flawed.

John, LDN,

Stephen London
Just looked up infant mortality rates for CUba. They are better than the US and anywhere else in the Americas. Answer the question. The poverty there is nowwhere as bad as that found in other Islands like Haiti, or the Domenican Republic etc.

John, London,

Surely the litmus-test for Cuba, and a host of other so-called "utopias", was that while tens of thousands wanted to get out, no-one in their right mind wanted to get in - or is that just an "inconvenient truth"?

Ken Leyland, Liverpool, U.K.

My wife's family was destroyed by the Soviets, first in the Ukraine, then in exile. Having spent 15 years working in the wreckage that is the former Soviet Union,and knowing this was the norm rather than an exception, the only conclusion I can come to is that Socialism leads to poverty, dictatorship and misery.

It is good to see someone in the politically correct media daring to write this.

Peter, London,

Mr. Finkelstein has described with fantastic accuracy a view that I believe has and is still hindering Latin America from building true democracies. Among other serious problems, a great proportion of the people (and governments) is under the influence of the senile, comatose, or plainly thick-witted political discourse of the proverbial left-wing leaders.

Angela Signorini, Buenos Aires, Argentina

Leftists want to create heaven on earth, while rightists want to create hell on earth. In the end they all create hell on earth, but it's the thought that counts. And that is what makes leftwing dictators heroes.

Igor, Ljubljana, Slovenia

The question should also be why do the Right still support Bush & Blair's world peace tour? whilst, talking about the Left in the political context of a country's leader who has not invaded another, nor become a leading arms deals.

Joe Fish, London,

One thing about Anglo-Saxon left I never understood is why they are called liberals? A liberal is someone like Hayek or Friedman, who oppose the increase of powers of government in our lives.
It's time someone called them by their name Socialists or Social-Democrats...

Luis Ferreira, Porto, Portugal

Jeff Larsen (NZ): you are naive. "They don't take your fingerprints". No, they don't, because they don't need to, they have much more efficient means. I lost a credit card in Cuba (useless to Cubans in Cuba, but that's an aside). So went to the bank for advice and they would kindly and politely find out for me. When I was back at my hostel I realized that I had not left my address with them and actually, they had not asked me. Yet the next morning I duely was presented an envelope with instructions on how to get money from the UK into Cuba should I need to.

They new exactly where I was.

Don Basilio, Cambridge, UK

The left has the belief that it has an ideological superiority regardless of the methods used to attain what it believes in.

Fidel Castro and Che Guevara started with the best of intentions but quickly resorted to the slaying of those who would challenge their beliefs.

I am always amazed when I see students with a Che Guevara t-shirt on and sometimes mention that he killed women and children, amongst many others.

To the left, the end justifies the means.

Geoff., Portsmouth, UK

As a Lib Dem, i have to agree with Danny. There was no difference between Naziism and Stalinism. Yet I often read obituaries of life long Communists, praising them and yet mentioning their loyalty to Stalin. I was amazed to read a letter in the Guardian from a number of trade union leaders singing Castro's praises. would they have done the same for Himmler ?

bob Jones, Cheltenham, Glos.

"I've heard this argument made before. When I wrote that my mother had seen Anne Frank arrive in Belsen, I had an e-mail from a Nazi claiming that I was wrong to describe the little girl as having been killed by the Nazis. She had, he said, died of typhoid. I responded that if you imprison an innocent person in terrible conditions or starve them, or both, and they die, you have murdered them. The same goes for the communists."

...and for israels treatment of palestinians?

jake, manchester,

Here, here!

Although to be honest, I've never heard anyone praising Fidel Castro himself as a hero over here in the USA. Those who have praise for the Cuban Revolution tend to praise Che Guevarra - God knows why, since the man died a loser's death in Bolivia.

Brett, Salt Lake City, UT, USA

Cuba has been an artificial state for a long time, the result of two forms of action, one mainly from Castro himself and one from the United States government. The United States government has withheld any aid or even trade with Cuba for years. At the same time Castro – and he has some very fine qualities – has been a long-term dictator in Cuba, and a dictatorship of any kind, beneficent or otherwise, is no good to anybody. So the people of Cuba could advance very quickly if America stopped its embargo now Castro has retired and may give up control of every aspect of Cuban life.

Mahatma KH, A'dam, NL

The reason the left like Castro is his two fingers to the USA
as most of the tears shed over Cuba by the US is over lost opportunities for capitalism to screw the workers.

Terry, Aylesbury, UK

While having sympathy for Daniels family history, Castro was no more like Stalin than Thatcher was like Hitler.

Castro led a people's revolution against a foreign imposed dictator. Cuba has close to 100% literacy in a region where no one else gets even close. This is why socialists regard him as a hero. I have no doubt many died under Castro's rule, but compare how many died in Cuba with how many the Americans killed in those same 50 years (Korea, Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan, Panama, Nicaragua, to name a few)

I'm not a socialist but to put him in the same sentence as Stalin is to do a dis-service to history. If we are counting bodies, Surely the US comes much closer to Stalin than Castro?

akram, london,

I agree wholeheartedly- however, think of castro's crimes, murder, jail, jail for homosexuals, tough law- its not too different to Britain not so long ago in terms of brutality, we too imprisoned homosexuals and also committed many atrocious acts. Communism is a great idea- its great pitfall is that it takes humans to run it, humanity is the real weak link- before one judges an ideal, you must judge humanity- when those who seek power take it, they generally like to maintain it, and by any means possible. Castro as a man is a dictator, his country however ruined by american blockades and trade sanctions-is it right that the people of cuba should suffer because the world does not like communism? I dont think it should be- America...still racist and misogynist- is that so great? Castro has done horrible things- so have alot of the world. Harman is wrong to call him a hero of the left- he is not a hero, give him this though at least, his health care system is better than ours ha!

David B, Newcastle, UK

Spot on. There are plenty of trendies walking around British cities wearing CCCP trackies (many of whom probably don't even know the letters are in the Cyrillic alphabet - but that's by the by). Haven't seen any Swastikas on the High Street since 1978. Yet the soviet iconography should be as offensive as the punks wanted to be, given what I would hope is common historical knowledge, but it's simply today's commodified cool.

Colgan, Manchester, England

After living in Sweden in the early seventies I realised that there was such a thing as a successful and popular socialist government. Unfortunatly it has never been an option here as the sad procession of unreformed communists & fellow travellers, many now ministers and "respected" elder statesmen, constantly held up the USSR as some sort of model to be followed. The central planning lives on, as does the secrecy and control. We have been swindled out of a socialist choice.

R Bowden, London,

I daresay your article is at least in part inspired by Jonah Goldberg's recent book Liberal Fascism which says so much needing saying these days. However, I don't understand your point about Enoch Powell. Are you saying that anybody who agrees with anything that Mr. Powell espoused should be excluded from government service?

Mr. Powell was rightfully elected by the British public to stand among the 100 greatest Britons. He was brilliant, courageous, conscientious, a lover of his nation and possessed of a balanced and refined power of judgment.

Packaging a blanket condemnation as a rhetorical device seems to relieve you of the responsibility of supporting it - but it doesn't make you any less of a jackass for making it.

Derek Carson, Fulda, Germany

We've had the neo-cons and now must prepare for the neo-coms: young people, mostly in "free" universities, whose communist and socialist zeal borders on religious devotion, especially for Castro, Stalin, Mao and others in the Left's pantheon. Cyprus has just elected a communist president and the Left parties in Greece have reached 20% of the electorate in recent poll surveys. The communist parties in France and Italy continue to hold their own. Is Europe turning Left? Is this necessarily a bad thing? The UK has taken the ethnic route with devolved assemblies which may save it from a Left onslaught and in any case has to deal with a major ethno-religious immigration problem. That is not a fertile environment for Leftist fundamentalism. I have also no doubt that those countries in E Europe which have just been released from the Soviet yoke are unlikely to take the Left path. In short, the Left's adulation for Fidel may be the last rites of a dying fantasy. Fear not the lions Daniel!

Dr David Green, Athens, Greece

Why ? Because Castro was an improvement on the US backed mafia/gangster rule that Cuba had before him. That's why!

burrator, St Sulpice, France

Perhaps those would find Casto picturesque would like to consider infant mortality in Cuba, or any other measure of the appalling poverty to which he has subjected his beloved people. Who loath him.

Stephen, London,

Communism and Nazism are, respectively, the 'scientific' and 'artistic' versions of the same thing. One appeals to the intellect and the other to the gut. It is the pseudo-scientific gloss on Communism that makes it attractive to intellectuals. You can argue about it, abstractly.

Frank Upton, Solihull,

Daniel, another brilliantly insightful piece from you.

You might also have mentioned the favorite apologist for the far left (and much else which is morally reprehensible besides), London's mayor. Red Ken was on the BBC on Sunday morning expressing his admiration for Fidel, describing Cuba as a great success story, and conceding that whilst "he made some mistakes", those mistakes paled in comparison to the wrongs of American presidents across the decades. One wonders how the families of murdered "dissidents" and tortured political prisoners would feel at the categorisation of these actions as "mistakes".

Adam, London,

Daniel,
I am a product of Ceausescu's Romania, and I couldn't have said this better! Only I would never invite Harriet Harman to my home for dinner. Ever. I despise these people.

Alexandra, NY, USA

Compos mentis.

Well said. Thank you!!!

One only wonders whether many lefties in positions of power have a sound mind or not.

Sous, Bristol,

There are some curious similarities between Cuba under Castro and Britain under Blair. Both leaders hand their baton on to their anointed ones, both pursued ideological programmes, both had a cult of personality, both wouldn't brook disagreement. However, anybody who has visited Cuba will know that Castro was a disaster for the unfortunate people of that unfortunate country. More so than our leaders. That should be a compensation for us.

john problem, winchester, uk

Well said. For so long I have been waiting for someone with a voice to speak up against our society that seems to embrace Communism as a misunderstood ideology that we should admire for supposedly standing up against the status quo of America and the West.
Pol Pot killed 2mil, Stalin 20mil, Mao 30 - 70mil, yet you can go into almost any store and purchase books of Communist propaganda, Guevara shirts and The Communist Manifesto (with a foreword and introduction that praises Marx and Engels).
As a history graduate, it is extremely frustrating as it is clear that the vast majority of Britons have no knowledge of this authoritarian, backwards and bloodthirsty ideology.

Ash, Sheffield,

Why do they still support Blair and Brown - 600,000 dead Iraqis and they still say that getting rid of Saddam was worth it. Better the devil you know springs to mind.

Frederick, London, UK

In truth, it doesn't matter which side you lean, since all world leaders have made decisions that have ended countless lives in the pursuit of "principles". The dream of democracy across the world hasn't a glorious history either; In terms of the death count.

I'm not praising the left here either. Both ends of the spectrum can all rot in hell as far as I'm concerned.

Classic liberalism is a doctrine that stresses "individual freedom" and "limited government". Whilst the existing governments of the world muddle our silly brains with ideas of right and left, behind the scenes they really don't want you to imagine a world where their control is limited.

Ben, Palma de Mallorca, Spain

The reason for such starry eyed regard for dictators is quite simple deep down they are at war with the West and it's values. They long for those 'enlightened' communist regimes and values imposed on all of us. Of course their vision of socialism would be different more 'perfect', just don't disagree!

A test of socialist dogma is where a power elite insist in micromanaging social affairs and criminalises and stigmatises anyone who disagrees. This power elite ignores popular opinion, is always right (arrogant) and will not give up power easily. Does this sound like New/Old Labour, the party that dear old Harriet belongs to?

Alan, Luton,

Jeff Larsen, Chch , NZ, they also have never had 19 muslim terrorists fly planes into their buildings killing 3,000 of their people either.

Sally, Sydney, Australia

To Mary Anne Farowell: You clearly must be living in a different USA to the one that supported these freedom loving leaders then:
Saddam Hussein (of course), Anastasio Somoza, General Suharto, Shah of Iran, Augusto Pinnochet,Fulgencio Batista, Manuel Noriega, Anwar Al Saddat, Jean-Claude Duvalier / Baby Doc, The Saudi Royal Family. And they are just the ones that spring to mind at the moment.

Peter Jones, London, UK

Very good article. The basic answer is that liberals simply let ideology blind them to reality. A huge swath of the U.S. liberal intelligentsia in the 1930s, '40s and '50s were Stalin apologists. U.S. liberals welcomed the Khmer Rouge rise to power, because they brought down a corrupt strongman regime. When information began to come out about what happened, they demanded proof. When the proof came, they ducked for cover--they did not condemn the destruction of 2 million people. Mao's Cultural Revolution destroyed millions of people, deprived an entire generation of a decent education, and almost destroyed the country. Fidel? A hero only if one admires dictatorship, thuggery, murder, torture and suppression of dissent.

Kate in Victoria--Fidel didn't "dump" the missles. He had nothing to say about it. Nikita Kruschev made that decision after the U.S. put a naval "quarantine" around Cuba, and the U.S. and Russia were nose-to-nose, on the brink of war..

Terry L. Walker, Ladson, S.C. / USA

Castro is a vile dictator. So why has the US for so many years applied an embargo that elevates him to the status of embattled hero?

Tim Footman, London/Bangkok,

How well said! This article is a masterpiece.
I might add that too often we read that “Castro was a great leader because he stuck to his ideas and values for more than 50 years”. We are well aware that all the far right or far left radicals in our society have also stuck to their political ideology for more than 50 years. I wonder how useful have such citizens, and Castro, been to their countries. I never had the opportunity to visit Cuba but I did travel to E. Germany (for a scientific conference) just a few months before the Berlin wall came down. Interestingly enough I watched the beginning of the chipping down of the Berlin wall while on a UNDP assignment to another communist paradise (China). Like most (if not all) people from the West I was happy for the opportunity to visit both (communist) E. Germany and China as a visitor but I would not wish my worst enemy to get stuck to such a country (I mean a country run by communism) as a permanent resident.

Tom Papadopoulos, Windsor, Canada

Sitting safely in a democracy, protected by a 200+ year old Constitution, makes it easier to shrug-off the crimes of Communist dictators. A life made possible by past wars fought by others, in turn makes possible present-day complaining of wars now being fought.

The Left's belief in their own perfect understanding of the world will not permit anyone else to make mistakes - except for one of their own.

R.A. Jones, Nashville, Tennessee

Probably something to do with how the US treated Russia and Red China who were guilty of far worse compared to Cuba who the US thought they could push around. The US was too busy learning how to play ping pong than how to apply sanctions to those "evil" countries however
How can the US complain about Cuba after killing millions in Laos Cambodia and Vietnam and propping up democracy loving leaders like Pinochet, Noriega and Somoza ? What absolute hypocrisy! The US have killed a million Iraqis over the last fifteen years. Makes Castro's thousands (if any) look puny
Rightwingers hate Cuba because Castro has successfully held off the US attempt to install another puppet like they have done so many times before including Afghanistan and Iraq today. It looked so easy up to the Bay of Pigs
One good thing about that evil Cuba. Unlike the freedom loving Americans they do not fingerprint tourists, take DNA, or have iris photos.
I hear are even polite at Customs!

Jeff Larsen, Chch , NZ

This is an absolutely outstanding opinion piece: Exactly correct.

The adulation of the left for any murderous thug who happens to claim the US as an enemy never ceases to amaze me.

Chris, Saint Louis, USA

I don't know, but why does the right still think that neocons like John McCain are going to unite the GOP?

Newsflash -- they are not!

Rob Miller, Halifax, Canada

Maybe the allure of Communist ideology is this: it promises a 'happily ever after', and people love that. Capitalism doesn't really do that - it is more practical. So Communist fellow-travellers will blank out anything which contradicts their fairytale happy ending. When you have a big, Father Christmas figure in Castro who insists that Cuba represents a happy ending (and suppresses contradiction) many people fall into line behind it the fairy tale.

Paul Francis, Brisbane, Australia

It is estimated that Castro murdered between 15000 and 18000 Cubans for political reasons. Although this pales beside the millions of corpses piled up by Mao and Stalin & co; it still demands an answer of the Left: why should anyone be killed ( or dispossesed, arrested, imprisoned, tortured or exiled ) for their political convictions?

Cuba had a better per capita income than Italy, was the destination for tens of thousands of immigrants and was the font of a famously prolific culture. 50 years of Castro and the population of one of the world's lushest islands doesn't get enough to eat.

Now the "parlement" annoints his 77 year old brother as the new "president". Communism is red fascism plain and simple.

Hugh Brennan, Princeton, NJ/USA

"But they are often smart enough to know that America tends to encourage leaders not followers; strength not mimicry; personal confidence not self-contempt; authentic freedom not self-censorship."

Mary Anne Farowell i'm not sure your idea of America is consistent with reality. i feel a large percentage of the American public is kept in the dark by terrible journalism and a sense of patriotism that is shoved down their throats all their lives: "America is never wrong, Americans are infallible." 'leaders' think for themselves and are capable of questioning the actions of those in power, they don't follow blindly.

personal confidence actually becomes a problem when it's based on a wonky sense of nationalistic pride. the 'self-contempt' you see in the left isn't so much self-contempt as an adherence to rational thought, and a compassionate understanding that sometimes our 'authentic freedoms' come at the expense of other people's freedoms.

tony edwards, Sydney, Australia

I find that the vast majority of people who hate Castro do so purely on the basis of him being a dictator, the same people who thought that after toppling sadam Hussein Iraq would magically become this great example of democracy in the middle east. Well I have news for those people, It isn't going to work not in Iraq and not here, not without a long term plan for stability first and foremost.
While recognising the faults of Castro I can also point out that America are far from 'the good guys' image they seek to portray. Yes Cuba did support a nuclear first strike on America, but at the same time America had first strike capabilities on the USSR in several European countries. Americans talk about freedom, but is it freedom to just force democracy on to a country that isn't ready for it?

Abdul Malik, London, UK

Castro is a hero to many because his right-wing predecessor, Batista, was a torturing dictator who murdered around 25,000 people. I'm not sure where Castro comes on your scorecard in terms of deaths, but apparently the Cubans prefer Castro to Batista and were extremely thankful when he got rid of him. The minority that objected left for the US, where they settled right in and voted Republican. If the residents of Cuba really didn't like Castro, they would have thrown him out with the help of the US, but in fifty years the US doesn't seem to have found enough people on the island to go in on this idea. Castro might not fit in in the UK (or many other places), but apparently most Cubans don't mind him. Life under Batista was good for a few, and brutal for the rest. Apparently, with Castro it is the opposite - not perfect, but most would say better. As a result, he is a hero to many in Cuba, and many on the left elsewhere.

George Haig Brewster, New York City, USA

Religion teaches the difference between good and evil. But this new type of ideology that has evolved from neo-paganism through Communism lacks the concept of what's truly evil. Ask old Harriet if the rape and murder of a 10-year old child is evil and she'll likely answer, "Of course, but..." And it's in that "but", that qualifer, where lies the danger. However, the blame lies no so much with elites like Harriet but with the larger population. When an innocent is brutally murdered, there is a marked lack of anger. Remorse, sadness, flowers and candles and poetry to be sure, but where's the community outrage? The thug gets "life", really only 20 years, cut to 7 for good behavior, and out in 4. And no one is hardly ever at all angry. When people lose the will to identify and confront evil, they get rapists and murderers and tyrants. Small wonder that Stalin and Mao and Fidel lived in fear of Christianity.

Leon A Davis, Mesa, Arizona

This article is entirely in keeping with my own experiences - on both sides of the Pond. When we arrived in London early in 1969 from Prague recently redecorated by the Soviet hardware, we were met by everything from incomprehension to downright contempt among our fellow students, from whom we foolishly expected support and understanding. I will never forget the sense of utter pointlessness. Nobody, but nobody had any interest in the realities of life behind the Iron Curtain. They "knew better", and we had "an axe to grind". The same happened ten years later, on the West Coast of the US. Our liberal colleagues showed absolutely no comprehension, no sense of the extent of suffering inflicted on countless human beings by the Communist regimes. All they knew was that those regimes were "progressive" and did not discriminate against women. What a farce! I cannot describe the bitterness we felt when faced with such willful blindness. And I will never, ever understand. The sheer arrogance!

Sarka Z Cech, San francisco, US

"you would think Castro ran China not a third rate banana republic that is not a threat to anyone but Cubans."

That's right Kate, they're just Cubans, after all, and Castro only murders his own people...so it's none of my business...

Jeanne, VA, U.S

Well said, Mr. Finkelstein.

KL, Near Seattle, Washington, USA

Isn't it obvious? They don't hate them because they ENVY them.

Jim, Clinton, CT, USA

A similar phenomenon is the desire of some on the left (Including British politicians) to characterize those in Iraq who plant bombs to kill civilians with the aim of returning a minority (the Bathists) to power as "freedom fighters". If the left thought they could be linked with the US, they would be called "death squads".

Ironically, it ends up as circular reasoning as well as hypocracy. Castro is a hero because he opposed the US. The US is evil because of the bad things it has done (or has been said to have done). So that means you have to overlook equally (or worse) bad things Castro has done to celebrate his "struggle".

D. Summers, Menlo Park, CA, USA

The Left love monsters because they are themselves weak.
They are natural followers. But they are often smart enough
to know that America tends to encourage leaders not
followers; strength not mimicry; personal confidence not
self-contempt; authentic freedom not self-censorship;
and America also tends to help those people and countries wanting the same freedoms they enjoy.
I have known serious Leftists deeply and have always
found the fear of freedom and love of power hiding
beneath a hypocrical facade of peace, love and fraternity.
They dont mean it. They are enchanted by power. The
powerful who throw their power at anyone defying them.
Obeying these monster dictators as Castro, Mao, Stalin
provides a sense of security, safety while backing the
strong horse. America expects individuals to be strong
and powerful in ways that harm no one. Authentic freedom to personally achieve, take risks and possibly fail. Leftists
want freefom from, not freedom to.

Mary Anne Farowell, Chicago, USA

Why are you all so afraid of a man that ruled an island that you could drive around in a day? What has he ever done besides
allowing the Russians to put missiles on his island some
45 years ago and which, when threatened, he promptly dumped. Honest to goodness you would think Castro
ran China not a third rate banana republic that is not a threat to anyone but Cubans. If they hate him so much why haven't they overthrown him in last 50 years. They managed to do
it to the guy before? For Americans Castro is like some giant
boogey man under their bed and they are frightened children.

Kate, Victoria BC, Canada

Not all liberals embrace(d) Castro -- see attached from Mathew Yglesias's blog on the Atlantic Monthly site
25 Feb 2008 03:22 pm

I sometimes think journalists should write more about the stories we wind up not writing. In a slow moment, for example, I thought I'd click over to The Nation to see if they'd published something embarrassing about Castro that I could flag to try to regain my mainstream credibility. Instead, I wound up reading this:

Conversely, if [Hugo] Chávez is such a democrat, why has he embraced Fidel Castro--a full-fledged authoritarian who, for decades, imprisoned his critics and quashed internal dissent--as his mentor and model? Why has he aggressively undermined the independence of the Venezuelan judiciary and concentrated power so heavily in the president's office?
What follows is a long and nuanced discussion ....

So be careful with your wide tarnishing brush of us "liberals"

David Pursch, New York, NY

I couldn't agree with you more. We shouldn't support ruthless dictators on the right or the left.

Kevin T. Katske, Trumbull, Connecticut

I recently met a (male) friend's new boyfriend at a pub and simply sat there aghast as he talked about his "activism for social justice issues" while wearing a Che Guevara t-shirt.

When I finally pulled myself together and explained to him the implications of his t-shirt he assured me that he doesn't support every action of the Cuban regime etc... he just likes what it stands for.

I feel sure that he was referring to its defiance of the US.

James, Adelaide, Australia

I think you're wrong Daniel. The Left eulogise communists because they know that their ideology relies on compulsion, and this inevitably requires force. They can therefore overlook this aspect of communist dictatorships because they themselves see the need. You still hear Labour MPs talking about the inability to make an omelette without breaking eggs. A democratic society should not let such people anywhere near the Kitchen of the Nation..

Kay Tie, York,