We hear all kinds of rumors about Fidel Castro's health.  I recall a recent one that had the old man connected to an oxygen machine in the basement of a secret government building.  There was another rumor that Castro had died.

Castro is alive but very sick.  God only knows how much longer Fidel Castro will be around.

We do know his disastrous legacy, as Walter Russell Mead wrote this weekend:

"More than half a century of building socialism; billions of dollars in aid, first from the Soviet Union and later Venezuela; decades of repression in the name of socialist idealism.

Yet Cuba is still such a mess that tens of thousands are risking their lives to get out.

The NYT reports that skyrocketing numbers of Cubans are attempting to flee their country in unsafe, homemade boats headed for the United States."

Castro gave us Mariel in 1980, when 100,000 Cubans crossed the Florida Straits to reach Florida.   We may see another round of thousands of Cubans rushing to the ocean to escape the island's misery, as Professor Mead reports:

"On the whole, the Coast Guard has reported sighting 3,722 Cubans fleeing their home country for America in 2013, which is twice the number of would-be immigrants intercepted in 2012."

That's 3722 rejections of the socialist paradise in Cuba. 

There is no paradise in Cuba.   Frankly, it was never a paradise.  It was always a dictatorship run by a couple of brothers who've made personal fortunes while preaching the wonders of socialism.

P. S. You can hear CANTO TALK here & follow me on Twitter @ scantojr.