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...

When I think about Communism in this day and age it seems really ridiculous, like the whole poilitical ideology needs to grow up.

Can anyone name a single country that has been improved by an extreme left government? Or at least has benefits that outweight the huge costs the people and country have paid over time?