Photo: Radio Cadena Agramonte
This August 13, Cubans and Venezuelans paid tribute to the Comandante en Jefe’s exceptional career, as well as to another extraordinary fighter: Hugo Chávez
Miranda, Venezuela.– In every corner of this sister nation where a brigade of Cuban collaborators is based, providing solidarity, the 91st anniversary of the birth of Comandante en Jefe Fidel Castro was remembered August 13.
In the municipality of Guaicaipuro, Miranda state, a special tribute was paid, beginning at the foot of the statue of The Liberator Simón Bolívar, where, together with representatives of the mayor’s office, Cuban health and sports collaborators and members of the Cuban Missions Office, gathered.
Later, in a small theater located just meters from the imposing image of Bolívar, beautiful verses were dedicated to the leader of the Cuban Revolution. Speaking on behalf of the mayor’s office, the master of ceremonies spoke of Fidel as a student, socialist, educator, who continues to inspire us to struggle for the most just causes.
Various audiovisual materials depicted the gratitude of the Venezuelan people for the solidarity of Cuba. The key idea, “We are Fidel, we are Chávez,” was repeated over and over by the hosts.
During the event, which offered an opportunity to recognize those who have stood out as internationalists, the head of the Cuban missions in Venezuela, Víctor Gaute López, spoke of the joy of celebrating a date like August 13: “It is good to remember what it means for us to have shared this period in the history of humanity with two giants: our Comandante en Jefe Fidel Castro and Comandante Supremo Hugo Chávez.”
In a remembrance of Fidel’s life – from his early years among his family who were not unmoved by the suffering of others, where he developed his sensitivity and sense of justice, until more recent times of great struggle – Gaute stressed the importance of the values that stem from one’s family, and how it is necessary to care for these, to ensure, among other premises, the development of virtuous human beings.
The Comandante en Jefe, Gaute reflected, bequeathed us a lesson that we must multiply: in the days of the Moncada assault, he spoke, one by one, with each young person wherever he was, and convinced them to join the struggle. “Every day we should ask ourselves how to do the same thing: to speak one by one, with as many people as necessary, to summon them to the battles we have to wage today,” he added.
Meanwhile, Gaute thanked Venezuelans “infinitely for their hospitality, their affection, their love, for the dedication with which this people allows us to work. We feel very at home, and we feel very committed, because as our Army General Raúl said, in any circumstance we will be on the side of the people and the Bolivarian government.”
If anything made our Comandante en Jefe very happy, it was being so close to the Comandante Supremo Hugo Chávez, he continued. “It was a relationship in which they communicated almost with just a glance. There was no need for words to be said in order for them to act in the same direction, to seek to help each other; not in the individual sense, because they were two human beings who were well above the needs of the individual human being, completed dedicated to serving the peoples, but in function of the peoples for whom they were ready to fight, and also win the battle.”
Speaking to the young Cuban collaborators, Gaute commented on the pride they inspire through their efforts. Regarding the process underway within these brigades to select candidates to the next World Festival of Youth and Students to be held in Russia, Gaute explained that four youths will be chosen to represent the island at the important event.
Noting that to be nominated is of great merit, the head of the Cuban missions in Venezuela stressed that those who go to Festival “will highlight the role of Cuban youth from the point of view of solidarity, in the struggle to defend this people alongside the Bolivarian government, providing the greatest amount of happiness possible.”
Alina Perera Robbio, Granma
August 16, 2017
