A large number of representatives of left-wing movements from various countries attended the first international colloquium “Fidel: Legacy and Future,” despite the fact that right-wing parties are winning elections in many countries across the Latin American region.
August 13 marked the 100th anniversary of the birth of the great Cuban revolutionary Fidel Castro. In Cuba, the main celebrations took place in his native village of Birán in the province of Holguín. A caravan in honor of the legacy of Fidel Castro arrived in Birán, having started from the Moncada Barracks complex in Santiago de Cuba, the place where the revolutionary uprising began in 1953. The caravan’s route then symbolically connected the key points of the Comandante’s revolutionary biography with his homeland.
In Birán, where Fidel Castro was born on August 13, 1926, the main event of the celebration took place. The centenary is being celebrated at the state level as the Year of the Centenary of the Commander-in-Chief.
Russia also marked this date, as Fidel Castro was a friend of the USSR and later Russia.
In Moscow, on the square named after Fidel Castro, a commemorative event was held, attended by Russian diplomats, public figures, and representatives of Cuba. Soecifically, Russian Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergey Ryabkov, Cuban Ambassador to Moscow Enrique Orta González, Executive Director of the Russian Military Historical Society Vitaly Martynyuk, President of the Russian Society of Friendship with Cuba Aleksey Lavrov, and leader of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation Gennady Zyuganov.
The commemorative event in Moscow began with a minute of silence at the bronze monument, unveiled in 2022 by the presidents of Russia and Cuba, Vladimir Putin and Miguel Díaz-Canel. Flowers were laid at the foot of the monument.
Cuban Ambassador to Russia Enrique Orta González said that the leader of the Cuban Revolution “awakened in the Cuban people a special love for the Russian people. He became the creator of unbreakable fraternal relations.”
González said that Castro made ten visits to the USSR and invariably expressed admiration for the Russian people, to whom he attributed a deep striving for peace, generosity, and human nobility.
He emphasized that Castro, being the chief architect of Havana’s foreign policy, secured for Cuba “a place in the world far more significant than its size and capabilities.”
“He gave us a voice that was heard because it was worthy,” the Cuban diplomat summed up.
Russian Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergey Ryabkov stated that Fidel Castro was a staunch supporter of the formation of a new polycentric world order and foresaw many of the processes of political and social development taking place in the modern world.
“Castro will forever remain one of the brightest symbols of his era, a figure of truly global scale,” noted Ryabkov.
According to him, the Comandante led others and foresaw much of what is happening on the path to liberation from imperialist chains, and he is a recognized moral and ethical guide in the cause of defending the principles of justice and equality.
Ryabkov noted that thanks to Castro’s selfless life example, the peoples of many countries gained independence and chose an independent vector of development. “His name is inextricably linked with the key directions of political and social development in the world in the second half of the 20th century and the first decades of the 21st century,” added the diplomat.
Chairman of the State Duma Vyacheslav Volodin, in his greeting, called the Comandante “a symbol of freedom, independence, and justice.”
Chairwoman of the Russian Federation Council Valentina Matviyenko, in a address to the President of the National Assembly of People’s Power of Cuba, Esteban Lazo Hernández, wrote that “Comrade Castro is one of the brightest symbols of the 20th century, a legendary heroic figure, an outstanding political and public figure who devoted his entire life to the struggle for the freedom and independence of his homeland.”
Castro was always a faithful friend of the Soviet Union and Russia and became an integral part of the common history of the countries, she noted.
She also recalled that today Cuba is fighting against illegitimate external sanctions but continues Castro’s work. And the resilience, courage, and unbending will of the Cubans evoke feelings of admiration and solidarity.
“The long-term aggressive anti-Cuban policy pursued by the United States of America is in flagrant contradiction with the universally recognized principles and norms of international law and the provisions of the UN Charter, and leads to the violation of the rights and freedoms of the country’s citizens,” Matviyenko emphasized.
Special Representative of Russia’s President for International Cultural Cooperation Mikhail Shvydkoy, speaking on August 12 at a press conference at the Russian Embassy in Havana, said that “the figure of Fidel Castro, his ideas, image, and the meaning he brought to life, in my opinion, enjoy unquestionable authority in Cuba.”
“Some may like or dislike the modern reality, but what Fidel did, transforming the poorest country into a state of social equality, still deserves great respect today,” said Shvydkoy.
He added that although today Cuba is different from the country it was in the 1960s–1970s–1980s, and is now going through a most difficult period, a lack of electricity, water, food shortages, and many criticize this situation, “But the name of Fidel Castro, who is called the historical leader of Cuba, and his ideas, are certainly alive, above all because the demand for social justice is alive.”
“And this point is very important, as the demand for social justice is alive throughout the world,” Shvydkoy emphasized, adding that “the ideas of socialism and communism, although wonderful, are, unfortunately, very difficult to implement in practice.”
The special representative of the Russian president noted that in Cuba, an extensive program was prepared for the celebration of the 100th anniversary of Castro’s birth, an important part of which was the first international colloquium “Fidel: Legacy and Future.” He also noted the presence at this colloquium of a large number of representatives of left-wing movements from various countries. In his opinion, this is surprising, as there is currently a tendency that “in many countries of the Latin American region, right-wing parties are winning.”
Russia also participated in the 34th Havana International Book Fair, which opened on August 10, where Russia was the guest of honor.
The centenary of Fidel Castro was widely commemorated in Murmansk, which became the first Soviet city visited by the Cuban leader in 1963. Residents and guests of the city were able to take part in the immersive audio tour “Guest from the Island of Freedom,” see a photo exhibition with archival images from those years, and also watch the short film “Viva Fidel!”
The audio performance, based on a script by local historian Dmitry Yermolaev, features iconic locations from the Cuban leader’s visit, recordings of Castro’s speech at a rally on Murmansk’s station square, as well as video footage of Northern Fleet sailors presenting him with a peaked cap and a sailor cap.
Also, a photo exhibition with works by Yuri Shumilkin, who captured Castro’s arrival in the Arctic in 1963, opened at the Murmansk Local History Museum. A screening of the short film “Viva Fidel!”, shot in Murmansk in the autumn of 2025, also took place.
Fidel Castro’s visit to the USSR began with Murmansk on April 27, 1963. The Cuban leader flew to the Arctic on a Tu-114 aircraft, under conditions of strict secrecy, where he saw snow for the first time and went skiing. His stay in the Soviet Union lasted 40 days. He visited many cities. This visit became an important demonstration of allied relations between the countries after the Cuban Missile Crisis.
In Simferopol, a photo exhibition opened on Pushkin Street, featuring more than 50 photographs of Fidel Castro from different years of his life. And an interactive thematic quiz was held at the House of Youth.
Chairwoman of the Crimean regional branch of the Russian Society of Friendship with Cuba, Irina Kiviko, said that Fidel Castro and Ernesto Che Guevara sent young Cubans to study in the USSR, and many of them studied in Crimea.
In August 2017, a monument to Fidel Castro was unveiled in the village of Olenivka in the Black Sea region, and in 2023, an alley of Russian-Cuban friendship was laid at the Artek International Children’s Center.
“The Cuban people, in their struggle against US imperialism, have endured an economic siege for over 60 years and show an example of resilience, courage, and struggle,” Kiviko noted.
The capital of the Urals also marked Fidel Castro’s anniversary, recalling that it too has a connection to the legendary revolutionary, as he once visited Sverdlovsk on May 13, 1963, as part of a major tour of the USSR. Hundreds of thousands of people came out to greet him. A new road to Koltsovo Airport, popularly dubbed the “Fidel road,” was built for his arrival in Sverdlovsk. He visited the city center and Uralmash.
In Russia, a documentary film “Time of the Comandante” dedicated to the the centenary of Castro’s birth was made about the life and revolutionary path of Fidel Castro.
Fidel Castro served as Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Republic from 1959 to 2008 and died in 2016 at the age of 90, having survived more than 600 assassination attempts. And throughout his life, he was guided by one main idea. He said, “Life without ideas is worth nothing. There is no greater happiness than fighting for them.”
Source: Rossa Primavera News Agency
