“Castro is dead!” said U.S. President-elect Donald Trump in a tweet on Nov. 25. Many Cubans and foreigners celebrated Fidel Castro’s death, while many others are still mourning. Some people consider him an assassin, others a hero. Some still consider him a great man that made human mistakes. However, if we want to understand him, we need to understand Cuba first.

The Republic of Cuba was founded on May 20, 1902, after five years of U.S. military occupation. However, the Cuban Constitution had an amendment that granted the United States control of the island politically, militarily and economically. Therefore, for the next 57 years, the Cuban Republic was yet again in chaos — corruption, illiteracy, poverty and crime were everyday words. This period was characterized by presidents who lasted 38 hours and were forced to flee the country due to various reasons, including popular opposition, outrageous corruption scandals and U.S. American influence. The last President of that era — now referred to as the New Colonial period in Cuban history textbooks — was Fulgencio Batista. Batista was from the same hometown as Fidel, and he had been part of the Cuban government three times before 1959 — first as Chief of the Army, then as a democratically-elected President and finally, realizing that he wouldn’t be elected in the upcoming elections, through a coup d’etat. The coup lead to a ruthless seven-year-long dictatorship and to the rise of Fidel Castro as a popular leader. After six years of trying to topple the government and a four-year-long war, the Revolucionarios defeated Batista’s forces on Jan. 1, 1959.

That moment was an inflection point in the history of Cuba, Latin America and the entire world. It wasn’t, however, the victory of communism over capitalism — at least not yet. Although Fidel, his brother Raul and several other faces of the Revolution were sympathetic to the kind of communism that was being practiced in the Soviet Union, the movement that overthrew Batista, commonly known as M-26-7, was simply a fight for social equality and justice in a corrupt country. It wasn’t until Apr. 16, 1961 that, in a public speech, Fidel announced the socialist nature of the Cuban Revolution, introducing Cuba to Marxism-Leninism. Then, he was Prime Minister. Fidel was elected President in 1976, and he stepped down only in 2006 — making him the longest non-monarch to rule a country. El Comandante en Jefe — the Commander-in-chief — died on Nov. 25 at the age of 90.

The world has received Fidel’s death with mixed feelings. Leaders from all around the world have expressed their feelings about the passing away of one of the most controversial figures of the 20th century. Many socialists and leftists are mourning his death as the loss of the last revolutionary, the figure that survived more than 600 alleged assassination attempts and couldn’t be defeated by any of the ten U.S. presidents he outlived. However, many others see him as one of the cruelest and most ruthless dictators of all time, comparing him to Hitler in many cases and accusing him of almost every kind of violation of human rights. Sadly, they are not completely wrong. Cuban opinion, both on and off of the island, is also highly polarized.

The opinions expressed by the official Cuban media should be analyzed very thoroughly. It is true that many feel a deep sorrow for the loss. But even if those interviewed by the Cuban media felt differently about Fidel, they would refrain from expressing that out of an instinct toward self-conservation. In Cuba, we are raised with the idea that you are free to speak against the government or the country’s situation everywhere except in public. Therefore, after passing through a process of censorship, most articles and coverage in the Cuban media would only show the most suitable opinions, which leaves out the feelings of a significant portion of the Cuban population.

At the same time, however, not every Cuban outside of Cuba — especially those living in the United States — is a political refugee, although that is the status with which they entered the country. Thus, not all Cuban expats are against the regime, and videos of Cubans celebrating in Miami do not demonstrate the feelings of all Cubans that live outside of Cuba. Not all of us emigrated because of disagreements with the government — some of us emigrated because we were looking for better opportunities, as any other third world country’s population would. In fact, many of us plan to come back — not when Castro steps down or dies, but whenever we think we have the right economic and personal circumstances to do so. But it is safe to say that most Cubans have mixed feelings about Fidel and all that he represented.

We do not agree with oppression or submitting to oppression. We also do not agree with an unjust country, where the rich get richer every day and the poor, poorer. We do not agree with a country where there are people starving, where the children have to work to feed their families, where the unwell die because they lack the resources to receive proper — or, in fact, any — medical care, where we have to fear for our safety and the safety of our relatives and friends, because there might be a stray bullet that kills them. We do fear, we do have constraints and we do have problems. We may not be completely free, but we have inherited a country in better shape than many others around the world. Someday, we might discover crimes committed by Fidel’s regime — crimes that we are unaware of because of the high level of government secrecy. If that day comes, history will not absolve, but condemn Fidel. But as of today, I mourn the death of one of the most important leaders of our time — the man that, many times wrongly, tried to guide my country onto brighter paths, that stood against and defeated the biggest power in the world, that inspired a whole country to stand with him for what he believed was the right thing to do. I agree to carry the burden of all his stains. As Che Guevara wrote in the last letter he sent to Fidel: “Hasta la Victoria Siempre, Comandante.” Until victory always, commander.