Who could have a fortune like that but an absolute ruler, a totalitarian dictator like Fidel Castro himself?

The bearded beast is today worth $900 million, thanks to high commodity prices and some help from his little Venezuelan friend.

Cubans go hungry, making less than a dollar a day, and freeze ice for lunch so that the meal tastes more like “food.” The obesity epidemic is nonexistent in Cuba and it’s not because of any accomplishment of Castrodom, let alone too many rabbit salads.

It’s due to starvation living conditions.

Castro, meanwhile, traipses around billionaire-style, isolated, alone, Gatsby-like, in a fleet of black limousines, and lives on multiple secluded estates that are his alone.

As Orwell noted: Some pigs are more equal than others.

Read it here or in the original at Forbes here.

Forbes writes:

Comandante since 1959. We estimate his fortune based on his economic power over a web of state-owned companies including El Palacio de Convenciones, a convention center near Havana; Cimex, retail conglomerate; and Medicuba, which sells vaccines and other pharmaceuticals produced in Cuba. Former Cuban officials living in U.S. assert that he has long skimmed profits. Castro insists his net worth is zero.

Hat tip: George at Babalu blog (and be sure to click on his link to see the picture he’s got up! Eeeeuw!)

Damien Penny at Daimnation! has more interesting thoughts here.

Hat tip: Pajamas Media