Cuban Comedy

I've heard Cubans have an interesting, somehwat fatalistic sense of humor. Here are two of several jokes I've heard about Fidel Castro from Cuban citizens on this trip:

Fidel Castro dies and goes to Heaven. When he gets to the pearly gates, St. Peter turns him away, saying, “Sorry buddy, you don’t belong here -- you’re being sent down to Hell. When he arrives in Hell, Fidel realizes he left his suitcase behind in Heaven and asks permission of the Devil to go back to Heaven to retrieve it. The Devil says no but dispatches two small assistants, two little devils, to go to Heaven to get Fidel’s suitcase. When the two little devils get to the pearly gates, it’s lunchtime, St. Peter is not there, and the gates are closed. So they decide to jump over the gates and snatch the suitcase to bring back to Fidel. They do so and make off with the suitcase. God spots them making their getaway and tracks down St. Peter, asking him, “What’s up with that!?” St. Peter answers, “Well, we just sent Fidel to Hell, and it seems like he’s already caused refugees to start fleeing.”

Fidel Castro is lying in his hospital bed gravely ill. His Council of Ministers stand by outside the room. Finally one says, “We better check on him.” So they send in the Minister of Health. After a couple minutes, the Minister of Health returns with a sad look on his face. “Comrades,” he says, “the news is not good.” The other ministers insist he break the news to them. “Well,” says the Health Minister, “I regret to inform you that Presidente Castro has apparently recovered. I saw him getting out of bed and putting on his uniform…”