Heaven or hell for Castro?

Republican Presidential hopefuls outdid each other in their response to a debate question on the potential death of Cuban revolutionary icon Fidel Castro, hailing his demise.

In the run-up to the January 31 Florida primary, Republican rivals are desperate to woo the important Latino voting bloc, which includes an influential Cuban immigrant community, many of whom fled Castro’s regime.

Asked his reaction should Castro die and a wave of Cubans seek refuge in the United States, Mitt Romney said: “Well, first of all, you would thank heavens that Fidel Castro has returned to his maker and will be sent to another land.”

His main rival for the Republican Presidential nomination, former House speaker Newt Gingrich, disagreed on Castro’s final resting place, earning applause from the audience for going one better.

“First of all, I guess the only thing I would suggest is that I don’t think Fidel is going to meet his maker. I think he’s going to go to the other place.”

The 85-year-old Castro, who fell ill in 2006, has turned over power to his brother Raul, who has launched reforms aimed at opening the economy to small-scale private enterprise while paring public sector employment.

The US embargo on Cuba dates back to 1960 – just after Fidel Castro staged his revolution – and remains in force with the United States banning most trade and most travel to the Caribbean island.

In 2009, President Obama reversed some restrictions on immediate family travel and allowed Cuban Americans to send remittances to relatives. Some direct flights are also allowed. Mr Obama has said he will always be ready to change policy towards Cuba but needs evidence from the communist state that it is prepared to reform.

Mr Romney used the recent death of a hunger-striking Cuban dissident, 31-year-old Wilmar Villar, to attack administration policy towards Cuba, which lies just 145 kilometres off the southern tip of Florida.

“This President has taken a very dangerous course with regards to Cuba, saying we’re going to relax relations, we’re going to open up travel to Cuba,” the former Massachusetts governor said.

“This is the wrong time for that, with this kind of heroics going on.

“We want to stand with the people of Cuba who want freedom. We want to move that effort forward, not by giving in and saying we lost, but by saying we will fight for democracy.”