Havana, Cuba, December 2016
Fidel Castro, Cuba’s Prime Minister then President until 2008, died on 25 November 2016.
He reached the grand age of 90, despite many assassination attempts. It has been estimated that he survived as many as 638 attempts! (Click here to watch a British TV program on this topic.)
I assume this black cat is wondering why he has only nine lives!
For a topical Louis Armstrong accompaniment:
Copyright Debbie Smyth, 6 January 2017
Part of Names
Travel with Intent 
Nice shot!
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It must have been quite extraordinary, Debs!
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Very interesting time to be there. But I’m keen to get back and see the more jovial side of the people.
On Sun, Jan 8, 2017 at 5:53 PM, Travel with Intent wrote:
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love the contrasts in this photo, particularly between the two sets of eyes, and the vibrant colors against the faded walls as a backdrop. you’ve frozen an important moment in time. lovely, thanks for sharing.
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A historic moment indeed
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I really like the black cat in this picture, he looks so lost/thoughtful in some way. Despite of who he was I like you photo.
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Thanks Lena
It’s a sensitive subject, but I really only wanted to show it as a photo with enough background to show why I had man andcat combined in the image
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Very sensitive.
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I too felt a sense of loss and relief that there’s one less monster in this world
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I have been watching your blog, I love it, love the pictures you have taken, until I got to this post. I do not want to create any conflict or argue with you. I guess we all see Cuba and Fidel Castro in a different way, from a different perspective. If you ask a mother who lost his son crossing the sea, escaping from that dictatorship government about Fidel, you can imagine what she will tell you. I was born there, I know very well what I am talking about. No one who has not lived there could ever know or imagine how is to live in Cuba. From the outside all look different. Cuba is a country with beautiful beaches, nature, if you visit the island people will treat you with love and give you what they have and no. But Fidel was a dictator, arrogant, egocentric, authoritarian, who destroyed the lives of three cuban generations, destroying families and dreams, and sequestrating the more basic right of the cuban people. Sorry for this, but I cannot just make silence in front of what have been motive of pain.
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I did not make any comments on him as a person or a leader. And I very much understand your views. I spoke to a lot of locals when I was over there and there are, of course, very mixed views on him. I don’t know how I could have lived through those times there. I am also sure those of us outside Cuba will learn a lot more about him over the next couple of years as books and films appear.
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And will history absolve him?
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Oh, I didn’t feel up to a political discussion! And certainly not online. This trip and the very mixed local views tells me I need to learn more about him. A complicated mix of good and bad
On Fri, Jan 6, 2017 at 8:41 PM, Travel with Intent wrote:
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Oh, you are quite right….and , as you say, a complicated mix
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Gorgeous!
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