Castro was the godfather of non-political politicians

Fidel Castro (right) with Mikhail Gorbachev (Image: RIA.ru)

If I were to sum up 2016 in a post, I'd look no further than the recent passing of Fidel Castro. The former communist Cuban leader died at the slender age of 90 and while this isn't really a surprise to many, considering his age and lifestyle, his movement in my eyes is powerfully reflected in today's politics.

Before I explain why, I have to bear in mind that this has been an extraordinary year where politics has never seen so much potential change in a space of a year since pre-Castro. The series of huge events witnessed across the world have stunned the world. For every story, whether it's the crisis in Syria, to the UK's EU referendum, to Donald Trump's US Presidential election success, people have been split between frustrating despair and angrily joyous. The chances of these emotions calming anytime soon is very slim indeed.

But back to Fidel Castro. While his passing was possibly the least surprising news story of the year, the reactions from many appeared so extreme, it's almost as if he was meant to be immortal. That interpretation is valid - he was the leader of Cuba for nearly half-a-century and had been such a dominant political figure. His relationship with the United States soured from the start pledging the Caribbean nation kept everything in-house. For a country so small, the world was hooked as to what they planned to do under his leadership. His approach was great for their education and health system as the outside influence denied any interference.

Yet, Cuba's closed door policy meant their citizens ultimately had to suffer poverty and consumer injustice as globalisation never reached them. That started when Castro felt that the US, previously their greatest asset, were politically inept and the White House's off-putting foreign policy left him no choice but to sever ties. Of course the US despised that and tried to assassinate him multiple times so the country could reap Cuba's assets once more, but Castro held to his position. Was he a dictator? There were certainly things he did that breached every human right under the sun - imprisoning whoever disagreed with him, citizens feeling they had no choice but to run away from their homeland because they lived in constant fear - these are examples of living under a dictatorship.

But there are a couple of things I need to add before placing a 'dictator' sticker on his shirt. Firstly, he was never challenged, Cuba has been a one-party state for decades - perhaps people were frightened to compete against him in case they were locked behind bars? But, despite many Cubans reportedly leaving for Spain or Miami in the United States, their population continued to rise under Castro, exceeding eleven million today. Secondly, his 'revolution' was believed, and people genuinely wanted a drastic change in the 1950s and therefore felt they too had the power to make history. A cruel dictator he may have been, but he was a man who made a mark in global politics, and inspired many around the world - even if they don't want to admit it today.

Who has he inspired? Fellow socialists, perhaps. He was respected by Russia's leaders like Mikhail Gorbachev and Vladimir Putin, the latter of which isn't one. They have openly supported his policies that the West snigger at. But I'd like to go beyond that and say the likes of US President-elect Donald Trump, or even (I will only mention his name once) Nigel Farage were inspired by Fidel Castro. These four figures I mentioned may not be in the same political wavelength as Castro - completely the opposite, you may argue. Trump in particular paid an unflattering tribute when he discovered the Cuban's passing.

But think about it - Castro wasn't born in a political family, like many traditional leaders seem to be. He went out of his way to study law and even before beginning his revolution admitted he was 'politically illiterate'. He had no influential contacts as such - he did everything from scratch. Donald Trump may have inherited his fortune, yet he didn't inherit a politician's fortune. He became, like Fidel Castro, the anti-politician candidate. And similarly between 1950s and 2016, people in their droves love non-politicians running for political office. Many so-called 'liberals' may not like it, but that's the core reality. Political alignment is irrelevant here - it's the personal profile that's the difference between winning and losing elections. It's a trend happening across Europe, it is something we've seen in the Middle East for the last four or five decades and, arguably, China too.

This trend isn't going to stop. Many Cuban exiles were delighted to see Fidel Castro pass, and I'm sure once Trump (or - cough - Farage) goes, there'll be a similar sentiment, even from those who originally believed in their non-political politician message. The disenchanted public will never be satisfied until their voices are genuinely heard, and the quicker they find someone who they like for the entire duration of that person's term in office, then the world would be a much calmer place. In the meantime, we'll be seeing more Fidel Castros, Marine Le Pens and Donald Trumps attempting to break tradition and oppress their views to angry voters.