Mary Dejevsky marks the death of Fidel Castro with the declaration that “The era of the socialist experiment is over” (26 November).How utterly predictable.

While I don’t accept that Castro’s Cuba – whatever its virtues or failures – was socialist, I salute Castro as someone who was looking for an alternative to capitalism. And Castro had an answer for capitalism’s apologist: “They talk about the failure of socialism but where is the success of capitalism in Africa, Asia and Latin America?”

With the on-going economic crisis which began in 2009 you can add Europe and North America to Castro’s list of continents where capitalism has failed.

With the effects of catastrophic climate change already beginning to assert itself, and re-emergent fascist movements growing across Europe and the US, the choice for humanity is still the one Rosa Luxemburg recognised in 1915 – either a transition to socialism or regression into barbarism.

Sasha Simic

London

While many of us admire the Cuban revolution and the changes it brought by overthrowing the US-backed brutal dictator, Batista, and the wonderful health and education systems, I'm sure not many Cubans wanted to replace one dictator with another – his brother.

Castro died at a time when many leftists still support brutal dictators like Assad. It is time for a democratic left that stands for the people instead of idolising individuals.

Mohammed Samaana

Belfast

It should not go unnoticed how some people on the left who are now heaping praise on Fidel Castro for his support of national independence movements in Africa are the same people who turn a blind eye to the very same thing for the British people, independence from the EU, in a word, Brexit. Hypocrisy or just ignorance?

Fawzi Ibrahim

London

The wrong advice

So the referendum result was the “advice” of the people not the “will” of the people. Perhaps the expert on experts, Mr Gove, should be asked whether any advice he has received has ever been wrong. Or is it because the electorate are not experts that he accepts the referendum so readily.

Michael Aston

London

My son has lived and worked in Europe all his working life. Firstly, he worked in in Germany and then transferred to Luxembourg. His partner is German, he has three children and considers himself a European. They are very much a European family and never contemplate moving back to the UK. He is also British and proud of being so. Nowadays, he is a worried and so is his family. A sad situation.

Sheilah Elvins