Bernie Sanders has praised Fidel Castro’s ‘massive literacy program’, standing by comments he made praising the dictator’s rule of Cuba in the 1980s. The Democratic frontrunner and socialist, 78, defended the Communist regime as ‘not all bad’ during a wide-ranging 60 Minutes interview which aired Sunday. During the interview, he told Anderson Cooper: ‘We’re very opposed to the authoritarian nature of Cuba but you know, it’s unfair to simply say everything is bad. You know? ‘When Fidel Castro came into office, you know what he did? He had a massive literacy program. Is that a bad thing? Even though Fidel Castro did it?’ Sanders had said of dictator Castro in 1985: ‘He educated their kids, gave them health care, totally transformed the society, you know?’ A Democratic congresswoman from Florida said Monday that Sen. Bernie Sanders’ partial defense of Fidel Castro’s Cuban revolution was “absolutely unacceptable.” “As the first South American immigrant member of Congress who proudly represents thousands of Cuban Americans, I find Senator Bernie Sanders’ comments on Castro’s Cuba absolutely unacceptable,” Rep. Debbie Mucarsel-Powell wrote in a pair of tweets. “The Castro regime murdered and jailed dissidents, and caused unspeakable harm to too many South Florida families. To this day, it remains an authoritarian regime that oppresses its people, subverts the free press, and stifles a free society,” she added. “I’m hoping that in the future, Senator Sanders will take time to speak to some of my constituents before he decides to sing the praises of a murderous tyrant like Fidel Castro,” Rep. Donna Shalala, D-Fla., whose district in Miami has a large population of Cuban-born residents who escaped the communist regime, wrote on Twitter Sunday. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., a Cuban American whose parents immigrated to the U.S. from Cuba before Castro took over, lashed out at Sanders on Twitter on Sunday night. “Likely Dem nominee praised the supposed ‘achievements’ Castro regime. And he’s wrong about why people didn’t overthrow Castro. It’s not because ‘he educated their kids, gave them health care.’ It‘s because his opponents were jailed, murdered or exiled.” (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)
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