There I was, on November 29, 2016, at the Plaza de la Revolucion in Havana for the State Funeral of Fidel Castro.
In the dim twilight of a setting sun, the intense voices of a million of mourners shattered the sad sky: “Yo Soy, Fidel!” “Yo Soy, Fidel!”
I was on the stage among State and revolutionary leaders and dignitaries under the imposing statue of the Apostle Jose Marti. From there I felt as if I was engulfed by an avalanche of emotion as I shared the collective grief of the Cuban people for their beloved now deceased Commandante-in-Jefe.
BATTLE HYMN
Yo Soy, Fidel! I am Fidel!
That refrain reminded me of the melancholic and soulful cry of an anguished dove that yearned for the return of a loved one in the song, “Cucurrucucu Paloma”.
But on that solemn day it was for the Cuban people, a battle hymn reminiscent of the pledge by Ernesto Che Guevara, written under the shadows of martyrdom, “wherever death may surprise us, let it be welcome if our battle cry has reached one receptive ear…”
Cuba’s battle cry for justice has reached the grateful ear of all humanity that has condemned the criminal blockade against this tiny Caribbean state.
The chant, “Yo Soy, Fidel!”, was so captivating that Diego Maradona remarked, “I feel Cuban”. The Argentine-born world football icon, who featured alongside American civil rights leader Jesse Jackson and movie-star Danny Glover during the Havana functions, died four years later – on the same date when Fidel died.
Fidel Castro, the maximum leader of the Cuban Revolution and Cuba’s former President died on November 25, 2016. He was cremated the following day but his remains were interred several days later.
State and other national leaders from all continents travelled to the “land of the Palm Tree”. Among them were myself and the then Opposition’s Chief Whip, Gail Teixiera. We were joined by our Ambassador, Halim Majeed, in a show of Guyana’s national solidarity with the Cuban people.
We arrived in Cuba with just minutes to spare before the State Funeral rally. The entire Cuban population, it seemed, were already in the Square. They were waving tiny flags, and shouting slogans which punctuated the speeches of prominent speakers from around the world. In simple green guerrilla fatigue, the last to speak was President Raul Castro, brother and comrade-in-arms of Fidel.
HASTA LA VICTORIA
Today I fondly remember my meeting with Fidel and my presence in Cuba to say farewell to a hero whose revolutionary example has been a loadstar in the protracted but on-going struggle for social change, which he embodied.
Ambassador Majeed and I had both embraced the Cuban Revolution about the same time some 60 years ago. We reminisced past mid-night in songs and poetry. Then, in radiant optimism, we celebrated my birthday.
“Hasta La Victoria, Siempre!”.
Moses V. Nagamootoo
Former Prime Minister and First Vice-President
