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Fidel Castro was to some a fearless leader. Many world leaders have tried to separate Cuba from the Caribbean but as of recently, Cuba is being recognized as part of the Caribbean.

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The death of Fidel Castro prompted both sorrow and celebration around the world yesterday as sympathisers mourned his passing, while critics applauded his demise.

Castro died of natural causes in Cuba last Friday night at the age of 90.

And depending on where you stand, Castro can either be viewed as a renowned revolutionary or a deadly dictator.

Castro's brother, Cuban President Raul Castro, announced his death in a televised statement.

"I say to the people of Cuba, with profound pain I come here to inform our people, our friends of America and the world, that today, 25 November, 2016, at 10.29 pm, died the chief commander of the Cuban revolution, Fidel Castro Ruz," Castro (R) said.

Castro served as Cuba's president for 42 years before being succeeded by his younger brother.

In 1959 Castro led the Cuban Revolution against the government of Fulgencio Batista, which triggered a bitter stand-off between the United States and Cuba that resulted in the US imposing a trade embargo on Cuba.

For decades Castro defied the US and is also said to have survived numerous assassination attempts. Castro's supporters believe he gave Cuba back to the people while his critics view him as a dictator.

Castro last visited this country in 1995 when he attended a conference of the Association of Caribbean States, which was held at the Hilton Hotel.

Patrick Manning, who died on July 2, was prime minister when Castro came here.

Castro's visit started on August 17 and lasted three days.

Speaking to the Sunday Guardian yesterday, former prime minister Basdeo Panday, who met Castro on several occasions described him as "probably the greatest revolutionary of the 20th century.

"I have met him on a few occasions and I have always found him to be charming, intelligent, courteous and brilliant. I think he was probably the greatest revolutionary of the 20th century. He was courageous, he believed in what he wanted to do and he had the courage to do it, and few men are like that in the world," Panday said.

"I have always regarded Cuba as a member of the Caribbean family and so has he, but the superpowers divided the Caribbean away from Cuba and I am very happy that he lived to see an end to that kind of division and that Cuba is once more part of the Caribbean," Panday said.

In 2014 US President Barack Obama announced that Cuba and the US would restore diplomatic relations.

While some hailed Castro as a hero, Miami's Cuban exiles took to the streets yesterday to celebrate his death.

Photographs and videos of people who fled Cuba to escape Castro's rule showing them banging pots and pans and waving the Cuban flag were broadcast yesterday.
'Fidel was a dictator, freedom fighter'
Minister of State in the Ministry of Education Lovell Francis, who was a history lecturer at the University of the West Indies before he entered politics, said, "As a person who taught history, Caribbean history and Latin American history, I understand the significance of the life of Fidel Castro. If you ask me whether I would have liked to live in Cuba during his tenure, probably not. But from an academic sense, if you ask me if he was an important historical figure, an important quote, unquote freedom fighter I would have to say yes.

"People forget that the Cuba that Fidel Castro grew up in was an American colony, with all of the negative connotations of being a colony, meaning that your property is owned by elsewhere, your economy was run from elsewhere and Fidel Castro was a young lawyer who was basically trying to fight for the rights of the citizenry of his island against an imperialist American power that was not concerned with listening to him," he said.

Francis said Castro fought for freedom and this had "dire consequences," but that does not "totally undermine his stature as one of the most important 20th century figures of the world."

"As a person who fought for freedom, whether you want to balance that against the fact that he was a dictator, how you view that depends on you, but it does not take away from the fact that he was a freedom fighter, he fought for the freedom of his people against an imperialist, colonialist power and how you view him has to do with your political view but for me despite that fact that he might be a dictator I still view him as a Caribbean leader," Francis said.

Castro's funeral is carded for next Sunday.

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The death of Fidel Castro prompted both sorrow and celebration around the world yesterday as sympathisers mourned his passing, while critics applauded his demise. Castro died of natural causes in Cuba last Friday night at the age of 90. And depending on where you stand, Castro can either be viewed as a renowned revolutionary or a deadly dictator.

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The Churchill-Roosevelt Highway is the major East-West highway in Trinidad and Tobago. It runs for 24km from Barataria in the West to Wallerfield in the East. where it ends in the former US Army Base on Fort Road. It crosses the north-south Uriah Butler Highway at Valsayn.
Constructed during World War 2 to connect the US Army base with Port of Spain, the highway was named for the two wartime leaders, Winston Churchill and Franklin D. Roosevelt. This highway is used everyday by thousands of people everyday.

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The Churchill Roosevelt Highway (CRH) is named after former British PM Sir Winston Churchill and former US President Franklin Delanor Roosevelt who were instrumental in the construction of the road since it was due to their signing of the Bases Agreement that the US came to Trinidad, and the problem of road communications for the US bases led to the decision to build a military two lane paved road that became the CRH. The road was to run from the US base in Wallerfield, called Fort Read and the Morvant junction of the Eastern Main Road.

The 15 mile road (as it was then) was opened in 1942 and was exclusively for the use of the military with a few exceptions. Strict patrols were installed to find and deter violators. On October 4, 1949, the road was opened to all civilian traffic, and was by then a four lane highway. The highway was later extended from Morvant junction straight to Port of Spain.

Churchill Roosevelt Hwy becomes the Beetham Highway in the vicinity of Boundary Rd San Juan and runs up to South Quay in POS, where it becomes Wrightson Rd.

As highways go, currently the CRH is not much of a highway since it does not allow uninterrupted traffic flow from the inception point to the end, but the construction of the traffic Interchange at the junction of the Uriah Butler Highway has considerably eased the flow of traffic, though not significantly enough to make traversing the CRH as efficient as it was in its early days. The problem is somewhat exacerbated by a continuous influx of passenger vehicles and the lack of any kind of traffic alleviation strategies such as a car pool lane or strategic traffic diversions during peak hours.

Source: http://trinidadianftw.tumblr.com/post/20327413687/churchill-roosevelt-highway-trinidad-1964-when

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The Churchill Roosevelt Highway (CRH) is named after former British PM Sir Winston Churchill and former US President Franklin Delanor Roosevelt who were instrumental in the construction of the road since it was due to their signing of the Bases Agreement that the US came to Trinidad, and the problem of road communications for the US bases led to the decision to build a military two lane paved road that became the CRH.

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I have always been deeply interested in the Caribbean since i have lived my entire life here. In starting this course I expected to intensify my understanding of the Caribbean and to reinforce what I already knew. I must say that indeed I have elevated myself intellectually when it comes to the Caribbean especially after reading Beyond Massa. It is not often such insight into the dynamic nature of the plantation society is revealed. Added to this, by understanding the Caribbean history, I can now analyse current events in the Caribbean from a cultural or societal perspective and give reasons for the way things are today because of the historical events of our ancestors.

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Although our European colonizers tried hard to separate the the proletariat class along racist and creedist  lines the people were able for the most part to see beyond these differences. Now there are just laws which everyone, despite their demographic and racial qualities, must obey. Through this and the intellect of the citizens we find Trinidad and Tobago to be a Rainbow Nation where many races with different lifestyles living together under one government. As a consequence of this, every single citizen is offered a fair chance at governance and education among man other things.
Pictured below is the Primer Minister of Trinidad and Tobago, Dr. Keith Rowley, with students of different races at University of the West Indies.

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In Trinidad there is the annual festival of Ram Leela celebrated all over the nation. This festival is of particular importance to the Hindu community since it signifies the protagonist's (Ram) victory over the antagonist (Raawan). Among the many festivals celebrated Ram Leela underlines the demographic diversity within the Trinidadian society and further showcases the diversity with the Trinidadian culture. To elucidate, while the whole of the Trinbagonian population is not Hindu, the Hindu community still continues to celebrate Ram Leela which was brought by the indentured laborers and have been celebrated for hundreds of years in India.

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On observing our own society it becomes overt to the observer that women are faced with a particular and unique hardship when it comes to their struggle for power. In many cases throughout history we find women to be subjugated and victimized for challenging men in the procurement of power. But just like in the book Beyond Massa we learn that women adapted to their situation and rose to elevated positions in society we learn that women today do just the same. Take for example Portia Simpson - Miller who served as the Jamiacan Prime Minister from March 2006 to September 2007 and again from January 2012 to March 2016 and Kamla Persad - Bissessar who served as Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago from May 2010 to September 2015. So just like the women in history, with the added pressure from a male dominated society, the women today rise to the challenge and break the proverbial glass ceiling to seize power.

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Prime Minister of Jamaica from March 2006 to September 2007 and again from January 2012 to March 2016

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Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago from 26 May 2010 to 9 September 2015

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Kamla Persad-Bissessar was born in Siparia in southern Trinidad to Raj and Rita Persad, both of Indian descent. She has three sisters. She was born into a Hindu Brahmin family. Her ancestors emigrated from India to Trinidad under the Indian indenture system. Her great-grandfather Ram Lakhan Mishra was from Bhelupur, India.

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The Spiritual Baptist (or Shouter Baptist) faith is a syncretic religion that combines elements of traditional African religion with Christianity. Despite the African influences, Spiritual Baptists consider themselves to be Christians.
The Baptist faith was brought to Trinidad by the Merikins, former American slaves who were recruited by the British to fight, as the Corps of Colonial Marines, against the Americans during the War of 1812. After the end of the war, these ex-slaves were settled in Trinidad, to the east of the Mission of Savannah Grande (now known as Princes Town) in six villages, since then called the Company Villages. (adapted from Wikipedia)