when I learned of Mandela's deep gratitude to Castro for sending Cuban troops to fight racist apartheid-affiliated forces it took my respect yet another level. I'm grateful to have witnessed aspects of what the revolution has been able to accomplish in person multiple times.


http://bigstory.ap.org/article/e8a2e1b7a76b49b6888f5422540e523c/state-media-fidel-castro-attends-cuban-communist-congress

Fidel Castro gives rare speech saying he's nearing the end

"I'll be 90 years old soon," Castro said in his most extensive public appearance in years. "Soon I'll be like all the others. The time will come for all of us, but the ideas of the Cuban Communists will remain as proof on this planet that if they are worked at with fervor and dignity, they can produce the material and cultural goods that human beings need, and we need to fight without a truce to obtain them."