After surviving approximately 600 assassination attempts, Fidel Castro has been ceased by his old age. “More people have tried to murder the world’s most famous socialist than any other man alive,” boasts the documentary “368 ways to kill Castro.” The 90-year-old escaper of death used to joke with the press that if living through assassination attempts was a sport, he would win the Olympic gold medal. It is true: he survived hurdles of death plots in his way, including rigged dives in the ocean and poisoned milkshakes. After 600 tries though, no one ever thought he would die, let alone die of natural causes.

Looking to the world and its reactions to Castro’s passing, it’s hard to believe that a man who carried 600 assassination attempts would actually cause nations to stop the clock and mourn. Cuba and African nations spent days mourning the infamous Castro, while others, which is more believable, were more relieved than anything.

Believe it or not, Cubans really did develop a love for their leader, and it was a tragedy for Cuba when Castro passed. Also, Algeria and South Africa, two African nations, were sensitive to news of his death because in the 60s, Castro’s government assisted in their own revolutions, helping to bring back the countries’ native governments.

However, as expected, there are people who are not quite as upset about the news: one of these men being an American businessman.

Former CEO of Hilton International Curt Strand’s reaction was something that I could only describe as someone who hears news, takes a sigh of relief, and says, “finally!”

In 1957, Strand made his first hotel deal in Havana, Cuba. He began the negotiation with an American company run by a gentlemen called Meyer Lansky, who today is known as a gangster with the nickname of the “mob’s accountant.” Then, Strand made the difficult decision to give up the deal because of Lansky’s “poor ethics.”

“It became soon apparent to us that we were negotiating with a company whose ethical standards were very low. We soon decided we should abandon them,” Strand said.

The story didn’t end there, though. The Services Union of the Cuban Workers’ Association reached out to Strand for help after hearing the deal fell through, which would mean they would lose 1200 jobs. They wanted to build the hotel with the help of their pension fund and then lease it to Hilton to run. Strand pursued the offer, but at a very slow pace: the Cubans had no regards of timing.

“The Cubans showed little respect for the timing of meetings. A meeting could be set for 10 o’clock in the morning and they would show up at 1 o’clock. Consequently we could not schedule as many meetings,” said Strand. “However I gained great respect for the leader of the negotiating team who was the head of the pension fund, who was an unfortunate early victim of Castro in the near future, but before Castro left the mountains we concluded our deal.”

This deal included the lease of the hotel and a labor contract.

Once the Havana Hilton was set to open, Strand was sent to Berlin to build a hotel. He missed the opening of the Havana Hilton; in fact, he did not see the hotel running until 57 years later. But by that point, there was no Havana Hilton; instead it was the Havana Libre.

“The hotel had a very successful opening, but only weeks after that opening Fidel Castro came out of the mountains. He marched into Havana and he took a great liking to the Havana Hilton; in fact he wanted to stay there,” Strand said.

Castro, to show his socialist convictions, asked to stay in the kitchen of the hotel. A cot was put up for him and he stayed there for three weeks. He then left, but he kept the hotel with him, the Havana Libre.

Cuba was not a friend of many of its neighbors, like the U.S. Castro’s administration nationalized every foreign company in the country. Strand’s company, Hilton, was only one of many to have been dissatisfied with Castro. Hilton’s empire was just a small fraction of the billion dollars lost by foreigners.

“Did Castro achieve what his people expected? As an enemy of the US, a very close neighbor, they had to except the economic measures and boycotts taken by his close and wealthy neighbor. Cuba is still a very poor country although our current government has loosened restrictions and Fidel’s successor his brother, Raul, loosened the strings considerably,” Strand said. “There are however two areas in which the Cubans excelled: healthcare and education.”