# What did Soviet Russia think of Fidel Castro? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 21, 2004, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-soviet-russia-think-of-fidel-castro/270503 "2004-10-21T23:02:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 3\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ninetypercent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/9de0a6/32.png) [@ninetypercent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ninetypercent)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2004, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-soviet-russia-think-of-fidel-castro/270503/1 "2004-10-21T23:02:34Z")
Someone in a thread on [fark.com](http://www.fark.com) said this: > [@](#): > > … > > “Read some of the historical docs after the Soviet collapsed, the Russians all thought Castro was bat-shiat crazy too.” true? ---
**Author:** ![BarnOwl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e95f7d/32.png) [@BarnOwl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BarnOwl)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2004, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-soviet-russia-think-of-fidel-castro/270503/2 "2004-10-22T00:40:08Z")
According to a History Channel documentary which I saw awhile back, the Russians had a midlevel military man (like,say, a Major) stationed in Cuba. It was his finger alone that was on The Button that would launch the Russian rockets aimed at the US. No doubt, this officer was a true blue loyalist in constant contact with the Kremlin, but if he went a little batshit himself, or Fidel made a move for the Button, think of the consequences if those missiles got launched… I’d say the Russians were out to lunch in this situation. ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2004, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-soviet-russia-think-of-fidel-castro/270503/3 "2004-10-22T00:44:09Z")
What did the average Soviet Russian think of Cuba? Whatever they were told. And that’s not a facietious answer, that’s a serious one. What did the average American think of Cuba in the late 1960s?