The list of western leaders not attending the Cuban leader’s send-off is looking more notable than those who will. But his is not the only ceremony to spark controversy …

Obama and Theresa May have swerved it. Justin Trudeau and Boris Johnson will be no-shows and Jeremy Corbyn is sending Emily Thornberry. All in all, the list of western leaders who won’t be attending Fidel Castro’s funeral is looking more notable than those who will.

As with the tributes that poured in after the death of one of the world’s longest serving leaders, politicians across the world are split between praising Castro for his revolutionary zeal and excoriating his human rights record. François Hollande is sending Ségolène Royal, but Greek prime minister Alexis Tsipras will be there, as will Gerry Adams, South African President Jacob Zuma and Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro. Putin, is apparently busy working on his end-of-year statement for Russian lawmakers – the diplomatic equivalent of washing his hair. But Castro is far from the only world statesman to have a tricky guest list at his funeral …

Hugo Chávez

Facebook Twitter Pinterest The late Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez. Photograph: Juan Barreto/EPA

The Cuban leader’s most ardent supporter had a funeral that was no less controversial. Despite often railing against the US, Obama chose to send a delegation – while actor Sean Penn and civil rights activist Jesse Jackson attended in a private capacity. Iran’s former leader Mahmoud Ahmadinejad won the prize for most enthusiastic attendee – landing himself in hot water with conservative clerics in the Islamic Republic for his overly effusive eulogy in which he suggested Chavez would return “alongside Jesus Christ” on resurrection day, and for being pictured clasping the hands of Chávez’s grieving mother.

Shimon Peres

Facebook Twitter Pinterest The late Israeli prime minister Shimon Peres. Photograph: Menahem Kahana/AFP/Getty Images

World leaders heaped praise on the three-time Israeli leader ahead of his funeral last year, with two American presidents – Obama and Bill Clinton – as well as Prince Charles and leaders of France, Mexico, Germany and Canada, among the attendees. But, perhaps unsurprisingly, Arab states were less keen on attending.

President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi, despite being a close Israeli ally, did not attend – nor did Peres’ friend, Jordan’s King Abdullah. Morocco’s king, Mohammed VI, sent his personal adviser André Azulai, who is Jewish. Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan also gave it a miss, offering a deputy foreign minister to represent Turkey at the funeral. Perhaps most surprisingly, the Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas attended – shaking hands with the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and sparking anger among some politicians.

Josip Broz Tito

Facebook Twitter Pinterest The late president of Yugoslavia Josip Broz Tito. Photograph: AP

He may have been called a “benevolent dictator” but Tito, who ruled Communist-era Yugoslavia for 35 years, had no problem getting world leaders to his send-off. Four kings, 31 presidents, six princes, 22 prime ministers and 47 ministers of foreign affairs from countries on both sides of the cold war came along. One hundred and twenty-eight countries sent political delegations to the funeral in 1980; James Callaghan, Yasser Arafat, Colonel Gaddafi, the Duke of Edinburgh, Nicolae Ceaușescu, Erich Honecker were all there. In fact, controversially, only five countries stayed away – including Pinochet’s Chile and apartheid-era South Africa.

Ferdinand Marcos

Facebook Twitter Pinterest The late Philippines president Ferdinand Marcos. Photograph: HO/Reuters

For controversial funerals in 2016, however, it will be hard to beat the Philippines dictator. Although he died back in 1993, Marcos has been kept in a refrigerated crypt, until this month, when he was finally buried.

Marcos ruled from 1965 until 1986, when he was overthrown by a popular revolt, and his martial law, from 1972 to 1981, is said to have caused the deaths of 3,240 people, imprisonment of 70,000 and torture of 34,000, according to Amnesty International.

Yet despite public outrage, the supreme court ruled the former leader could be interred in a heroes’ cemetery – and this month he was secretly buried with a 21-gun salute. Now campaigners have launched legal action to exhume his body.