Americas should support Castro, says Gorbachev

Former Soviet Union leader Mikhail Gorbachev was instrumental in introducing vast reforms which led to the fall of communism there. During a speech yesterday, the ex-president advocated that the U.S. and Latin America back the recent reforms in Cuba under Raul Castro:

“I believe that Raul Castro will continue in, many ways, the cause of his brother, but I do believe that there will be changes. I believe that both the Americans and Latin America should respond and help facilitate that change,” Gorbachev said during a speech at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Florida.

Gorbachev advocated dropping the U.S. embargo against Cuba and added that “it was a mistake to demonize Fidel Castro.”

Coincidentally, a March editorial in Canada’s National Post compared Raul Castro to Gorbachev by claiming that the Cuban leader will “preside cluelessly over its collapse.”

Sources- PBS, AHN, South Florida Sun-Sentinel, National Post, The Latin Americanist

Image- Palm Beach Post