Fidel Castro's Death

Submission 12,054

Overview

Fidel Castro was a revolutionary and politician who served as the leader of Cuba from 1959 to 2008. While he was praised by many for expanding various socialist institutions in the country, including education and healthcare, others have criticized him as a dictator responsible for numerous human rights violations and executions. His death, which occurred in late November 2016, sparked many online conversations regarding the controversial political figure.

Background

On November 25th, 2016, Raúl Castro announced on state television that his brother Fidel had passed away earlier that evening. The following day, Castro was cremated according to stipulations within his will. From November 28th to the 29th, his ashes were placed on display at the José Martí Memorial in Havana for Cubans to pay their respects. Starting on November 29th, his ashes will be carried to Santiago de Cuba along a 560 miles route.

Developments

Celebrations in Miami

Following the announcement, Cuban-Americans celebrated Castro's death on the streets of Miami, Florida (shown below).

Online Reactions

Barack Obama's Statement

That day, United States President Barack Obama issued a statement about Castro's death, which discussed improving relations with Cuba and extended condolences to the Castro family (shown below).^[2]

Donald Trump's Statement

Also on November 26th, United States President-elect Donald Trump tweeted the message "Fidel Castro is dead!" (shown below).^[3] Within 72 hours, the tweet received more than 140,000 likes and 31,000 retweets. Later that same day, Trump posted a longer statement on his official Facebook^[4] page, where he referred to Castro as a "brutal dictator" who caused "tragedies, deaths and pain."

Justin Trudeau's Statement

Meanwhile, the Prime Minister of Canada Justin Trudeau released a statement praising Castro as a "legendary revolutionary and orator" and noting that it was "a real honor" to have met him during a visit to Cuba (shown below).

Following the release of the statement, critics of Castro's regime condemned Trudeau for praising the deceased leader without mentioning his human rights record.^[5] On Twitter, many mocked the statement in tweets praising other controversial figures, along with the hashtag #TrudeauEulogies^[6] (shown below).

Meanwhile, users on 4chan's /pol/ board began speculating that Trudeau was Castro's illegitimate son, comparing various photographs of the two men (shown below).^[1] Additionally, a photograph of Castro holding Trudeau's late brother Michel began circulating on social media, with some falsely identifying the child as Justin Trudeau.^[7]

Quote Hoax

Shortly after Castro's death was announced, a joke began circulating online attributing the false quote "I will not die until America is destroyed" to Castro, insinuating that the former Cuban leader had died as a result of election of Donald Trump. On November 27th, Snopes^[8] published an article listing the quote as "False."