Finian McGrath says human rights abuses in Cuba were ‘exaggerated’

Independent Alliance Minister Finian McGrath has described the death of Fidel Castro as a “very sad day” and claimed many of the human rights abuses spoken of were “exaggerated”.

Mr McGrath, who travelled to Cuba during the Castro regime, said Castro oversaw many positive developments.

He said President Michael D Higgins was “correct” in his sympathetic comments in a statement issued in the wake of Castro’s passing at the age of 90. Mr McGrath added that the President was merely reflecting the view of a large amount of Irish people.

Mr Higgins has been accused of “airbrushing” over the tyrannical dictatorship of Fidel Castro in a statement marking his death at the weekend.

There has been an angry response to President Higgins after he described Castro as a “giant among global leaders whose view was not only one of freedom for his people but for all of the oppressed and excluded peoples on the planet”.

Last night, a spokesman for President Higgins issued a statement to the Irish Examiner.

“The President’s statement clearly referred to the price paid for social and economic development in terms of civil society and the criticisms it brought. This obviously and unambiguously included the Human Rights organisations and activists who have always had the support of the President,” the statement said.

“Any suggestion that the President neglected Human Rights concerns is both unsustainable and unwarranted. The President has discussed Human Rights concerns with representatives of the Government of Cuba on every occasion he has had meetings, in Cuba, Ireland, and elsewhere.”

Mr McGrath said he wanted to issue his “sincerest sympathies to the Cuban people”.

It was a very sad day, he said, adding that he totally respected the position taken by President Higgins and supported it fully.

“Castro’s legacy in Cuba is positive one,” he said.

He continued that in his view, having visited Cuba, some comments made yesterday about the extent of human rights abuse have been greatly exaggerated.

He said Castro was the product of a vicious revolution in 1947 and while Castro had his flaws like everyone else, his impact on Cuba was largely positive. He accused “history revisionists” of trying to re-write the story of Castro’s Cuba.

Mr McGrath said on RTÉ Radio that major progress in human rights in the past 20 years.

“Of course there were times where people were not people treated in the proper way,” he said.

Human rights groups like Amnesty International said from their view, Castro was guilty of significant human rights abuses.

Colm O’Gorman, head of Amnesty International in Ireland, stopped short of directing the President directly but said the abuses under Castro were clear.

Fianna Fáil’s foreign affairs spokesman Darragh O’Brien also described Castro as a “political giant” but said the President’s message lacked balance. He said Castro had ruled unelected over a one-party state where there was no opposition.