It was about 1:00 a.m., Saturday night, when my wife woke me up to tell me of the passing of Fidel Castro. As I was still half-sleep, and in lieu of the fact that, in our wishful ways, we, the Cuban-Americans in exile, had killed Castro many times over in the past, the “Cry Wolf” syndrome kicked-in as a ‘defense mechanism’ to spare me the emotional roller coaster, which had made us, time and time again, go from exhilarating highs to lugubrious downs as we realized we were always dealing with grapevine rumors, if only to be incredibly disappointed at the end.

I should, if I may, take this time and remind all you righteous worshipers, all of you who have either shown hesitancy to celebrate this assassin’s death and/or all of you have offered their condolences to the Castro family and Cuban regime, including but not limited to the United States’ Barack Obama, Venezuela’s Nicolas Maduro, Felipe the VI of Spain, Bolivia’s Evo Morales, Ecuador’s Rafael Correa, Mexico’s Enrique Peña Nieto, among others and yes… the Vatican’s Pope Francis, that, the man Fidel Castro, the man whose death you hesitate to celebrate, is the very same man responsible for the deaths of thousands of innocent Cubans. He is the same man whose legacy includes the infamous sinking of the “Remolcador 13 de Marzo” [13th of March Tug-Boat], where 33 Cubans, including women and children Cubans were helplessly slain; the same man responsible for the deaths of an unknown number of innocent men, women and children who perished in the Florida Straits while fleeing in home-made crafts, seeking freedom from the brutal oppression imposed by the departed dictator; the same man who ordered the merciless downing of four planes, piloted by four young men from Brothers to the Rescue, while unarmed, in a mission to help rescue their fellow countrymen that had run astray fleeing from the communist island-nation.

I don’t know about you, and with all due respect to all those out there who harbour such guilt, I honestly thought of this perspective as the epitome of hypocrisy and piousness, if I ever saw one. It was, if you ask me, your quintessential and archetypal double-standard position, afflicting many of us in a world where double-standards and political correctness have become sort of a “way-of-life”.

Amidst all the pomp and pageantry, I could not help but sense some subliminal controversies, which kept propping-up as both local and some national T.V. stations continued giving non-stop, wall-to-wall coverage of the events, including but not limited to broadcasts from within Cuba, which ironically were, in complete contrast to the events taking place in Miami, as the Cuban T.V., showed phantomlike sights with depleted promenades while a nine-day government-mandated mourning period was announced affecting all Cubans on the island. The most recurring controversy I perceived on my news-watching crusade, was the fact that, in the course of the hundreds of interviews conducted by local T.V. interviewers, I could not help but notice how a majority of those interviewed, when asked the question as to how they felt about the death of Fidel Castro, hesitated in their answers, citing their religious principles and precepts which “banned them from rejoicing in the death of another human being”. Matter of fact, it was quite entertaining, to find how most of those who shared this outlook, would find themselves at a loss of words when confronted with the issue, invariably, going into frantic searches for the right answer – frantic searches to find or justify the right reason why they were participants in the celebrations that were taking place in Miami.

Just for the record, I personally could not be happier for the death of this animal. Spare me, if you will, from the flawed religious tirades as to the “merciful” pleas asking us to relinquish our celebrations on the death of another human being. I personally truly hope this S.O.B., rots in hell. Castro’s death and his passing could never stand to redeem all the pain and suffering he caused to humanity; to all those Cuban families whom he divided; to all those who were never reunited again with their fathers, mothers, sons, brothers, sisters and relatives. The monster many of you all hail, mourn or hesitate to rejoice on his death, will go down in history as a despicable, miserable, brutal man, unworthy of having gone from natural causes as opposed to have been brought to justice by some of those whom he victimized throughout his pitiful life. To be very clear, I want to say out loud and without any hesitation that: “I rejoice on Fidel Castro’s death”. I say it knowingly, at the expense of being criticized, censured, or disparaged by many of you righteous worshipers. Frankly, I don’t care. With God as my witness, I know exactly which side I want to be with in this so-called “celebration” controversy, and if am wrong, may God forgive me.

Last, but not least, besides the notable hypocrisy and double-standards exemplified in many of the interviews as mentioned above, there is one other issue, albeit, which I also found was pervasively distorted in the interviews. I refer to the answers given by folks who are asked: “What will happen now to Cuba, now that Fidel Castro has passed away”? I took special interest in the answers given to this captive question, as I found that time, and time again, the answers given sheathed all kinds of fallacies and myths, which I would hate to perpetuate, thus find myself compelled to give you my humble outlook of Cuba’s future, which again, happens to be, for the most part, in direct contrast to the answers given by many in the interviews.

The very first thing I want to point out is we should all be mindful of the fact that Raul Castro, this animal, Fidel’s brother, and successor to the throne is as heinous if not more so than his brother, thus, you can all expect nothing to change, if only, perhaps, for the worse. Let’s call a spade a spade, for many of you who thought the renewed relations with Cuba, promoted by our rat president Barack Obama and first brokered by Pope Francis were going to yield any kind of relaxed freedoms by the Cuban government, note that this thought takes the cake for the greatest fallacy in recent history. The well-rehearsed soap-opera, cherished by many apologists was just that: a soap-opera, where Castro and his sequel, once again, made a fool of all those who believed the relations would lead anywhere, except but for the Cuban government to have yet heightened its wave of oppression against political dissidents, as more of them were beaten and thrown in jail merely for having opposing political views from those shared by the ruling animals.

The next important issue I want to bring to light is I keep hearing how many wishful thinkers romantically talk about the Cuban people, those in the island and those in exile as being one people. About being “united”, they say. Well, let me tell you folks, no we are not. No, we are not one people any more as many wished we were. Courtesy of the now gone Commander in Chief, we are as divided as we could ever be. That pervasive thought I keep hearing that most Cubans living on the island are opposed to the Castro regime and the Revolution. I say hogwash. While it is true that repression will not allow us to judge the true size of a subversive underground universe who now oppose the Revolution, I dare say, there not as many as we would want. There are, still, and to this day, legions of diehard Castro followers. Believe me. Could I see myself united with these people? You bet I could not. Not on your life, I would not. They are one people and we are another. Let’s get that straight. The fact that we both go under the same label or heading of “Cubans”, does not mean a thing when it comes to how much different we are from each other.

Vis-à-vis, while there are also dissidents and a whole new generation of anti-Castro Cubans living on the island, I personally do not believe their numbers are significant enough to make much difference as to the chances of ousting those now in power. While many still believe that a free Cuba is around the corner, especially now with the passing of Fidel Castro, I personally think nothing will change whatsoever. As far as I am concerned, nothing less than war could overthrow the Cuban regime, as we know it. Matter of fact, it would probably take a well-organized army with the proper war assets to wage any kind of war against Castro, for it to succeed, and to wrest from power that which they have enjoyed for more than half a century.

By the same token, if you really think about it, just about the only people who could wage that war, would be the Cuban people themselves, composed, if you will, of: 1) a shrinking exile community - a dying breed of Cubans in exile, some gone, some aging and 2) a highly-disorganized minority of island dissidents. As proud and impressed as I was to have seen many from younger generations of Cubans in Miami come out last Saturday to celebrate the passing of Fidel Castro, as realistic as I am to know and understand that these will never be the Cuban liberators of the future, as it is not their fight at all. No matter which way you look at it, it is not going to happen, which means that, probably, barring some totally unforeseen events, Raul Castro and the Revolution, are there to stay in the foreseeable future. That is, sorry to say, just the way it is.

Last, but not least, some have argued that president-elect Donald Trump could be, in fact, [the] president who just may adopt radical policies against the Cuban dictatorship and support Cubans in their quest for freedom. Whether he will or not, only time tell. For now though, if only relying on a historical reality, we, the remaining Cuban-Americans who first fled the island in the early sixties, do not have, at least not to the best of my knowledge, any justified reasons whatsoever for believing that anyone else, be it Trump, the United States, or anyone else for that matter, except for ourselves, to carry on with our war for freedom. Matter of fact, the magnanimous display of support, condolences and mourning shown from many foreign dignitaries from all over the world, including the Vatican itself, can only serve to reinforce the fact that our world, for the most part, is in a total state of moral decay when many heads-of-state are capable of mourning and praising such a despicable animal as was Fidel Castro. In summary, the future of Cuba, as I see it, even with the passing of Fidel Castro, is likely to remain intact; the same it has been for the past fifty-seven years. The same oppression, the same carnage, the same political prisoners, the same beatings of dissidents and political opponents, the same drownings in the Florida Straits, the same, the same and… more of the same.

Meantime, and just for the record, I myself, shall continue to cherish, relish, enjoy and celebrate…yes, ‘celebrate’ the death and passing of a worthless brute such as was Fidel Castro. I have no doubt in mind whatsoever that he will be welcomed in hell by some of his predecessors, such as Hitler, Bin Laden, Che-Guevara and many others like them, whose only legacy to mankind is the death and bloodshed they left behind. May God save us from these species recurring in history. And, yes, dam all of you who revere their memory.