President Obama and Vice President Biden will not attend the funeral of communist dictator Fidel Castro, though it’s still possible Secretary of State Kerry will attend. From Politico:
In an effort to halt a series of questions about the potential attendance of various individual government officials, Earnest would confirm only that the president and vice president would not travel to Cuba for the funeral service. He pointedly refused to rule out that Secretary of State John Kerry would attend, but would not confirm his attendance, either.
Over the weekend, Newt Gingrich tweeted his opposition to sending any major administration figure to the funeral:
Under no circumstance should President Obama or VP Biden or Secstate Kerry go to Cuba for Castro's funeral. He was a tyrant.
— Newt Gingrich (@newtgingrich) November 26, 2016
The outpouring of praise for Fidel Castro is tragic.he was a relentless dictator who imprisoned thousands, killed and tortured many Cubans.
— Newt Gingrich (@newtgingrich) November 26, 2016
Also not planning to attend the funeral is Canadian PM Justin Trudeau. From the BBC:
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will not attend Fidel Castro’s funeral in Cuba.
Canada will be represented instead by Governor General David Johnston at a memorial service on Tuesday.
Mr Trudeau’s decision comes after his initial statement on Castro’s death was mocked.
That’s putting it mildly. Trudeau’s statement read in part, “While a controversial figure, both Mr. Castro’s supporters and detractors recognized his tremendous dedication and love for the Cuban people who had a deep and lasting affection for ‘el Comandante’.” On Twitter the hashtag #TrudeauEulogies took off with mock statements praising everyone from Pol Pot to Jeffrey Dahmer.
However, Fidel did get some love from Black Lives Matter. The group posted a statement on Medium praising the communist revolutionary for, among other things, protecting “Mama Assata Shakur,” a fugitive who is on the FBI’s most wanted list.
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