However cosy the film is, Castro's still a repressive dictator at the end of the day

Cuba's less than satisfactory record on human rights cannot be denied and many improvements must be made.

However, Andrew, perhaps Castro has had to employ draconian tactics to keep his island together because the 'democratically-elected' US Government has, for the last 50 years, been trying to illegally overthrow his socialist regime.

Remember that Cuba has literacy and health rates comparable or even better than many Western countries - this was not the case before Castro came to power.

And please bear in mind, from the luxury of your Western 'democracy', that dictatorships come in all shapes, sizes and flavors, amigo.

Castro IS repressive and he IS a dictator. You can give numerous excuses, and I'm aware of most of them - some of which might justify some clampdowns but far from all. I'm fully aware of the US's terrorist 'Operation Mongoose', of the various assassination attempts, of the planned 'Operation Northwoods' aimed at faking a terrorist campaign against US citizens and blaming Cuba in a bid to sell an all out war to the public. And that the previous US backed dictatorship was particularly brutal. However none of this fully justifies all of the oppression in Cuba, not to an extent that we should be supporting Castro. You may argue, how would the US respond if attacked, surely it too would clamp down? And it has, following September 11th the government has introduced or proposed numerous unconstitutional and dangerous programs - the Patriot Act 1+2, Operation TIPS, Total Information Awareness, the list of Republican plans for limiting freedom are endless. Equally Britain has proposed suspending the human rights act when emergencies occur, banning assemblies etc. However I support none of them. So why support Castro when he does the same? Little of his repression is necessary. How is the abuse and mild torture in Cuban prisons helping anything? And before you say it, yes Guantanemo Bay is equally bad, my point being that neither should be praised. There is indeed high literacy rates, yet it's a criminal offence to write to the government. How is crushing non-violent dissent justified?

Even the Cuban government occasionally lets slip its true motives, as opposed to always using the 'threat' to justify anything. From Human Rights Watch:

"In an extraordinary June 1998 statement, Cuban Justice Minister Roberto Díaz Sotolongo justified Cuba's restrictions on dissent by explaining that, as Spain had instituted laws to protect the monarch from criticism, Cuba was justified in protecting Fidel Castro from criticism, since he served a similar function as Cuba's "king." "

Just as Bush manipulates the terrorist threat to serve his own purposes, Castro employs the counter-revolutionary charge to limit any dissent, however positive or non-violent it may be.
Of course, this is not to say, there is no threat. The US would much prefer a more compliant regime, human rights being irrelevent to them, as 'Operation Northwoods' demonstrated, where they seriously considered sinking ships of fleeing Cuban refugees in an attempt to blame Cuba. The US sanctions aren't only damaging to Cubans, but they also provide Castro with another excuse.

Cuba has done some good over the years, dispatching medical workers all over the globe, aiding fights against dictatorships etc, but none of this is enough to justify widespread repression and a denial of basic human rights, and freedom.

We went to Cuba a couple of years ago and met an elderly lady - stalwart of the revolution, who had recently tried to set up an association to examine why there were virtually no woman in senior positions in the media and cultural sector. A chat-shop of committed revolutionaries who were worried that 50% of the population was underrepresented. She was informed that the matter was being handled perfectly well thankyou by the wife of Raul Castro (the Great Man's broither) and that she should stop creating trouble. When she protested, she was locked up and her office smashed to bits.

We also met HIV positive people who were kept confined to sanatoriums under pain of imprisonment.

The health care and education are impressive, but the rest of it is disgusting.