But what did Pinochet leave the Chileans?
A thriving country, a democracy that has worked.
The Mosquito indians suffered under the Sandinistas much worse, and thanks to American leadership, the Sandinstas were replaced by a civil society that has had real elections multiple times. The Samoza dynasty was terrible, but it did not infect other Latin American countries.
Castro will leave behind a devestated economy, a people who not easily rise to the challenges of democratic rule, and his death list is orders of magnitude longer than Pinochet's.
Pinochet retired in an orderly fashion. Castro will die and likely leave what he has ruled with: chaos.
Mexico, too far from God, too close to the USA, is an interesting comparison. By 2nd world standards it runs pretty well, but the ownership of PEMEX corrupts the political process by allowing the government to avoid making tough decisions about budget responsibility.
Has Mexico ever done crimes against its people on the level of Castro's Cuba? I don't think so. But maybe.
But for his 45 year tyranny, no country has been consistently misruled and oppressed like Cuba.
In a few years, however, we may very well find that Chavez in Venezuela beats out Castro.
Ed