By Alexander Pellicer Moraga
Shaking Fidel's hand in historic Damascus forever marked my life as a young diplomat and revolutionary.
It was the month of May 2001, and we were already aware of the tour of the Chief of the Revolution through countries in North Africa and the Middle East, where, distressingly for us, Syria was not included.
However, the joy and euphoria were immense when we learned that the Commander had decided to make a lightning visit to the heroic and beautiful Syria. It was a fantastic event to have an experience like that, just three months after arriving in Damascus to begin the study of the Arabic language; I remember that I bought my first suit for the occasion.
Days before his arrival, the Embassy was abuzz with calls, exchange of notes and preparations. I remember that the young people who were studying Arabic, one from ESTI and two from MINREX, improvised a command post in the lobby of the Embassy to answer all calls that arrived at night. Our willingness to cooperate and help in whatever was necessary exceeded our limits.
On the eve of the arrival of the delegation, the Ambassador summoned us to his office and asked us how our English was, we answered that it was good, and he said, well, we need you to help us in the translation work among the support staff of the delegation and their Syrian counterparts.
They gave us specific tasks, one to the hotel, another to the Embassy and they gave me the mission of assisting the colleagues who were in charge of the Commander's security, this gave me the possibility of being part of the team that traveled in the car caravan who accompanied Fidel in the visits and activities he carried out, among them to the military unit where in 1973 Cuban troops were willing to give their lives for the brother Syrian people in their fight against Israel.
The visit to the military unit was particularly emotional; Fidel's emotion and his pride for having placed "a grain of sand" in solidarity with the Syrian people and having fulfilled our internationalist duty was evident. As I remember the Commander left a Cuban flag to be kept next to the heroic flag of Syria.
Other places visited were the Hafez Al Assad National Library where the Cuban leader paid tribute to the Lion of Damascus, and the Umayyad Mosque, one of the most important sites for Muslims in the world, and where a few days before Juan Pablo Segundo had stayed. become the first pope to set foot in a mosque.
The historic visit of 25 hours but of great intensity will always remain in my memory, and I can proudly say until the end of my days that I shook the hand of our undefeated Commander.
Beirut, August 12, 2020