海角大神

He was a revolutionary and a liberator: delivering his island nation from the colonial powers and mafia dons that ruled over it from the 16th century halfway into the 20th, and inspiring other independence movements in聽Latin America聽and聽Africa.

He was a dictator and a despot: delivering basic needs but denying basic rights, ultimately turning his nation of 10 million people into what some considered a collective gulag where the individual with a differing political vision was shown the door 鈥� to prison or to exile, or even to the firing squad.聽

Fidel聽Castro聽Ruz, who died聽late Friday night after nearly a half-century of rule over聽Cuba, leaves the world stage a larger-than-life icon of nationalism and collective struggle. His brother, President Raul Castro, dressed in military uniform, somberly announced the news on state television, concluding with Fidel Castro's revolutionary rallying cry: "To victory, always!"

Simply 鈥淔idel鈥� to a world that across much of its southern half was for decades drawn to his vision of third-world freedom and social liberation, Mr. Castro loved to brag that he had outlasted six 鈥� then seven, eight, nine, and ultimately 10 鈥� US presidents, all of whom had sought his demise. But that only underscored the degree to which the Castro mystique and legitimacy depended on a belligerent imperialist power only 90 miles across the Florida Straits.

During his long tenure, Mr.聽Castro聽ushered communism into Cuba and brought the US and Cuba to the brink of war during the Cuban Missile Crisis. But he lived to see diplomatic ties with the US restored in 2015, and President Obama visit the isolated island earlier this year.聽He served as an inspiration to revolutionary figures in Latin America and Africa, and set the stage for leftist leaders who swept to power across the region in the late 1990s and early 2000s, most notably Venezuela鈥檚 former President Hugo Ch谩vez, who referred to聽Castro聽as his mentor and father.聽But he also watched his influence wane as democracy and capitalism gained ground.聽

Whether Cuba is one of the longest-running experiments in social equality or a state ruined under a dictatorship, it鈥檚 indissoluble from the man known by many as simply 鈥淔idel.鈥� His mixed legacy will be debated for years to come. His power on the world stage, while largely symbolic at the time of his death, was emblematic enough that it continues to inspire long after the close of the cold war.聽

How聽Castro聽is remembered 鈥渄epends on where you stand,鈥� says Riordan Roett, director of Latin America studies at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. 鈥淭he left will always hold聽Castro聽in high regard as someone who overthrew a dictatorship鈥� and who embodies Cuban nationalism. 鈥淏ut if you鈥檙e on the right, you see repression of the press and of opposition voices.鈥澛�

To many, his legacy encompasses both elements.

Another Castro

Castro聽stepped down in February 2008, just months before the 50th anniversary of the Cuban revolution, handing power to his younger brother, Raul聽Castro. While still under聽Castro rule, Cuba has undertaken economic reforms and most recently normalized relations with the United States 鈥� a move for which the elder聽Castro聽offered his carefully hedged support of in a letter.

鈥淚 do not trust the politics of the United States, nor have I exchanged a word with them, but this is not, in any way, a rejection of a peaceful solution to conflicts,鈥澛燜idel聽wrote in a letter that was read to a student group marking the 70th聽anniversary of his graduation from the University of Havana.聽

He added that Raul had 鈥渢aken the relevant steps in line with the prerogatives and authorities awarded to him聽by the National Assembly and the Cuban Communist Party.鈥澛�

Official ties between the US and Cuba long seemed unfathomable 鈥� from the heady day a bearded, fatigue-clad, air-punching revolutionary descended from the Sierra Muestra and entered Havana in 1959 to overthrow Fulgencio Batista.

鈥淏efore聽Castro, Cuba was a banana republic,鈥� says聽Wayne Smith, a former chief of the US interests section in Havana and now a senior fellow of the Cuba program at the聽Center for International Policy聽in Washington. 鈥淗e turned it into a player on the world stage.鈥�

After taking power,聽Castro聽quickly moved to redistribute property and make access to health care a human right. When聽Castro鈥檚 guerrilla forces triumphed in 1959, one-quarter of Cubans could not read or write. Today, the literacy rate is near universal 鈥� a model shipped to other developing countries 鈥� and Cuba鈥檚 infant mortality rate is one of the lowest in the world. Racism persists, but not nearly as palpably as in other Latin American nations.

At the same time,聽Castro聽showed little tolerance for those who did not support his regime, executing his most vociferous foes and jailing thousands of political dissidents. He shut down media outlets, replacing them with a state voice. Elections were merely rubber-stamp events. He set up neighborhood groups that created a level of paranoia that could hang over every transaction in Cuba, and instituted a feared secret police.

Mariel boat lift

But his ideals, in the end, were hardly sustainable.聽All Cubans get food supplies, but food has been rationed since 1962, and the nation failed to support industry. With the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 came the collapse of Cuba.聽In 1980, when the government announced that anyone who wished to leave the island could, tens of thousands left in an exodus for Miami, in what is now known as the Mariel boat lift. Today roughly 2 million Cuban-Americans聽live in the United States,聽more than 1 million in southern Florida.聽

鈥淭he fact that he survived the loss of the Soviet subsidy and then the pressures of a globalizing economy is one of the more remarkable parts of his legacy,鈥� says Mr. Smith. 鈥淲hat聽Castro聽is, basically, is an egalitarian, and it may be that egalitarianism won鈥檛 be part of the 21st century. But, then again, the failings of the current direction suggest it may not be dead.鈥�

Revolutionary exports

Castro聽exported his ideals, and manpower, to revolutionaries around the world seeking to emulate his struggles in their own countries.

He was hailed for standing up to the US, through the Bay of Pigs, the Cuban Missile Crisis, and most defiantly in the face of trade restrictions slapped on by President Eisenhower in 1960 and a full trade embargo and stringent travel restrictions imposed by President John F. Kennedy in 1962. Cuba was on the US list of state-supported terrorism until April 2015.

Castro聽continues to inspire many in the region. Even if communism is not the ideal, the push for a more just Latin America with wealth redistributed to the poor has been behind a slew of elections, from Venezuela鈥檚 ex-President Ch谩vez to Evo Morales in Bolivia to the resurgence of Daniel Ortega in Nicaragua.

鈥淟atin America creates these larger than life characters: Juan Peron, Salvador Allende, Hugo Chavez,鈥� says Roett from Johns Hopkins. 鈥淭hey all have their own little following and important place in Latin American history, but as time goes on 鈥� there aren鈥檛 a lot of people talking about them in the longer term.鈥�

But that鈥檚 not likely to be the case for聽Castro, he says.

鈥淗e really transformed how we look at the left in Latin America,鈥� Roett says. 鈥淯S foreign policy became reactive to聽Castro聽and eventually to others in the region.鈥�

It鈥檚 a lasting legacy, a point underscored by just how much US-Latin American relations have changed since聽Castro鈥檚 time in power. Over the past decade-plus, the region has asserted its autonomy 鈥� both diplomatically and economically 鈥� from the US, creating regional organizations that don鈥檛 include the US or Canada, and threatening to boycott the 2009 Summit of the Americas if Cuba wasn鈥檛 allowed to attend.

鈥淔idel聽changed the way the game was played,鈥� says Larry Birns, director of the Council on Hemispheric Affairs. 鈥淗e symbolizes standing up for a Latin America that is authentically free 鈥� [and] Latin America鈥檚 relationship with the US is no longer defined by deference to the north. It鈥檚 now working among equals in the region,鈥� something Mr. Birns attributes to聽Castro鈥檚 legacy.

Castro鈥檚 resolute anti-Americanism became a jumping-off point for many others, from overt 鈥渁nti-imperialist鈥� name-calling by Ch谩vez, to more subtle messages of independence like Brazil鈥檚 move to cancel a US state visit after it was revealed the National Security Agency had snooped in the president鈥檚 emails and text messages.

鈥淐astro聽defined Cuban nationalism as the antithesis of the United States,鈥� Robert Pastor, who under President Carter was the first US official to meet with聽Castro聽after diplomatic relations were broken off in 1961, told 海角大神 in 2007. 鈥淏ut that was not sustainable for a small island off the US,鈥� said Mr. Pastor, who died in 2014.聽

Few appearances

Castro聽had made few public appearances since falling ill in 2006, but had appeared on television and maintained his most public profile through penning reflections in the communist daily Granma.

Now pent-up expectations are likely to be unleashed.聽Raul聽Castro聽was behind reforms in the 1990s 鈥� called the 鈥渟pecial period鈥� 鈥� triggered by the collapse of Soviet Union subsidies. The US dollar was legalized, and the economy was opened to tourism and some joint ventures from abroad.

But聽Fidel Castro pushed back on some of those things, with taxes that made private restaurants, for example, harder to operate. Instead, he relied on largesse from other nations 鈥� most notably Venezuela, which at one point was sending it some 90,000 barrels of subsidized oil each day.

Lately, Cuba has taken even bigger steps toward reform, and Raul Castro has called for the modernization of the Cuban revolution.

鈥淭here have been changes in the areas of paternalism, idealism, and聽egalitarianism,鈥� says Brian Latell, a聽former CIA analyst and senior researcher at the Institute for Cuban and Cuban American Studies at the University of Miami.

鈥淚 can鈥檛 think of any three words or concepts that better summarize聽Fidel聽Castro鈥檚 dogma through all the years,鈥� he says, noting cuts in food rations and health care since Raul came to power. 鈥淭hose were articles of faith for聽Fidel鈥�. The recognition among Cuban leadership today is that聽Fidel鈥檚 doctrines didn鈥檛 work, and need to change,鈥� says Mr. Latell, who wrote the book, 鈥淎fter聽Fidel:聽Raul聽Castro聽and the Future of Cuba's Revolution.鈥�

Mr. Pastor once recalled that during his first meeting with聽Castro聽in December 1979, it dawned on him that the bearded leader was talking as if he were the country of Cuba. 鈥淚t was like Louis XIV鈥檚 鈥業 am the state,鈥� 鈥� Pastor said.

Indeed,聽Castro鈥檚 uniqueness is one point on which both his supporters and detractors agree.

As his brother Raul told Cuba鈥檚 parliament in 2006, 鈥淔idel聽is irreplaceable 鈥� save that we all replace him together, each one in his place.鈥�

鈥� Sara Miller Llana contributed reporting.