The Globe seems to think that praising dictators is acceptable when they rule powerful countries such as China but unacceptable when the "dictators" rule relatively powerless states. There are some other omission/inaccuracies in your editorial. First, you fail to mention that pre-Castro Cuba  was  a dictatorship, one which was happy to turn the beautiful island nation into a playground for mafiosi and other profiteers. Secondly, you gloss over the gains made under Castro with respect to universal education and health care. Costa Rica is strong in these areas, but how many other Latin American countries? Finally, you say that the rest of the region moved away from repression--tell that to the democrats and socialists who were imprisoned or killed by Pinochet and others. Your editorial suffers from lack of balance as do Trudeau's comments. I would rather have a statesman honor a dead dictator than support living ones, as was done by Nixon (Pinochet) and now by Trump (Putin).