Castro survives his reign

I was surprised. I thought he'd stay in power until he keeled over. Does this mean he has won over the US basically? He outsmarted all their attempts at his life and attempts to sabotage his government, although it's questionable how good the government there actually is...

well, it's not surprising at all
since cuba ceased to be a threat for US at least 100 year ago there was no reason to kill him
having a communist shithole at your doorstep is actually a blessing
if someone slings marxist dialectics your way you point to cuba and ask "so you wanna live like THAT?"