Globe Trot: Thinking through Fidel

CUBA: The longest-ruling communist dictator in the Western Hemisphere, Fidel Castro, 90, was pronounced dead by his brother Raúl late Friday night—and the Miami Herald’s obituary is comprehensive and fact-based.

Leading Cuban-Americans pushed back against a string of positive Castro eulogies. Arguably among the worst, from Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, prompted Sen. Marco Rubio to tweet:

Is this a real statement or a parody? Because if this is a real statement from the PM of Canada it is shameful & embarrassing. https://t.co/lFXeqU7Ws0

— Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) November 26, 2016

Said George Will: “With the end of Fidel Castro’s nasty life Friday, we can hope, if not reasonably expect, to have seen the last of charismatic totalitarians worshiped by political pilgrims from open societies.”

In the wake of Castro’s death, it’s worth revisiting the work—and warnings—of Cuban dissident Armando Valladares.

For extended reading on the Castro era, Essence of Decision is the classic study of the Cuban Missile Crisis, God’s Missiles Over Cuba tells the story of the church behind the “Sugar Cane Curtain,” Seagull One tells the story of the Cuban-Americans shot down in international waters in the midst of the Elian Gonzalez controversy, and Waiting for Snow in Havana is just a great read.

SYRIA: Senior Chief Petty Officer Scott Dayton became the first American killed in combat in Syria, coming under fire in the ongoing offensive to retake Raqqa, headquarters of ISIS.

INDONESIA: Resentment of the small but successful Chinese-Indonesian minority is behind ongoing protests in Jakarta against its Chinese-Indonesian governor, Ahok.

GERMANY: Leading conservative politician Peter Hintze, who led unsuccessful efforts to legalize assisted suicide, has died.

ISRAEL: Wildfires are still out of control near Jerusalem, Haifa, and elsewhere.

BRAZIL: Zika virus no longer poses a global health emergency, the WHO announced on Friday, but with rainy season about to hit at the epicenter of the outbreak, medical workers worry the agency’s downgrade has come too soon.

UNITED STATES: With the final game of the World Chess Championship match getting underway today in New York, and Norwegian Magnus Carlsen and Russian Sergey Karjakin in a dead heat, just watch Karjakin think for 25 minutes: