HUGO CHAVEZ INTERNATIONAL FOUNDATION
FOR PEACE, FRIENDSHIP AND SOLIDARITY.
13th August, 2024
Freetown, Sierra Leone. West Africa.
EVERLASTING BIRTHDAY WISHES TO
COMMANDANT FIDEL ALEJANDRO CASTRO RUZ
Today is 13th August, 2024 and it’s the birthday of the late Cuban Revolutionary leader, El-commandante Fidel Castro Ruz. On this day, the Fidel Castro Home for Elders (FICHOE) joins millions of working people and their mass movements around the world to celebrate the birthday of the Cuban leader; a great and unforgettable revolutionary icon who stood against all odds to save his country and country-men and women from the stranglehold of imperialism. We celebrate this remarkable day because Castro left behind a legacy that inspires many people around the world.
Dr. Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz was born in Cuba on 13th August, 1926. He died in Havana on 25th November, 2016 at the age of 90. He would have been ninety-eight (98) years old today. This day provides an opportunity for the Fidel Castro Home for Elders and its parent body, the Hugo Chavez International Foundation for Peace, Friendship and Solidarity (HCIF-PFS) to celebrate the legacy of a revolutionary icon.
The corporate media has done a lot to mislead the international public about the life of Fidel Castro, since his death in 2016. We want to differ from corporate media and the masters it represents, that Castro was a charismatic, focused, just and revolutionary hero respected in every corner of the world. Since his passing away, our hearts have drawn inspiration and courage from his example and symbolism.
Fidel is an idea, not just a human being. The idea in Fidel lives in our hearts and marrow. Having so inspired many generations, the Cuban revolutionary leader lives forever. Commandant Fidel Castro was in every sense a great man. He spent his entire life working for his people and his great nation. He died satisfied that he had done his best for his country. He was a dedicated and committed revolutionary leader of all time. Fidel's life on this planet was a success story, and the proof of it is what he has left behind as a legacy, for us to preserve.
With our unflinching solidarity with Cuba, the Fidel Castro Home for Elders (FICHOE) wants to make it crystal clear that every celebration of Fidel’s birthday is our way of expressing satisfaction with the glistering heritage that the Cuban leader bequeathed us. It is also a way of reminding ourselves that we possess a great heritage, and that we can achieve whatever we set our hearts and minds upon to achieve.
For Cuba to survive sixty-two (62) years, in the face of a constant, hostile and counter-progressive campaign waged by the United States politicians involving military attacks, sabotage, assassination attempts and a wicked, unjust and brutal economic blockade, is a world historic achievement, chalked by Fidel Castro. The Cuban leader himself had survived at least six hundred (600) assassination attempts that were planned and clinically executed by US political leaders and war machines.
Dividends of Dr. Castro’s leadership are visible in all continents of the world, and these have been recorded down for historians to write home about. For instance, Cuba has achieved social, political, economic and environmental emancipation and freed itself from any foreign manipulation and control.
When Africa for instance, was turned into a battleground for ideological supremacy between the West and East super power blocks, Cuba took a different position by extending friendship to the liberation Movements on the continent. Cuba’s involvement in Africa, even in the aftermath of the death of Fidel, goes beyond the ideological war between right and left to a real helping hand: committing its sons and daughters (soldiers), doctors and teachers when the African continent still wallows in misery, instability, degradation and dehumanization.
It is no longer news that Cuba’s commitment to Africa has continued in the post-liberation era. The Caribbean nation is committed to providing professional training to doctors and deploying its own medical personnel to save lives in Africa. When Ebola ravaged Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea from 2014 to 2016, Cuba led international aid efforts when some powerful countries pretended to be busy in other parts of the world that needed urgent action. The same can be said also that, during the August 2017 mudslide in Freetown, Sierra Leone, Cuba swiftly intervened to prevent outbreak of diseases and other painful incidents. This humanitarian gesture was extended also to Africa during the Covid 19 (Corona) pandemic. This was possible, thanks to the wise and visionary leadership of Fidel Castro.
Africa forever owes an unforgettable debt to honour even after death a man who sacrificed so much of the wealth of his country to fight for the liberation of the African continent from colonialism and against the obnoxious system known as apartheid. To say that Africa and Cuba shared a very special relationship is obvious. This is evidence from the active assistance Cuba gave to help the fight against the obnoxious apartheid enclave in Southern Africa, and particularly the liberation of South Africa, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Mozambique, and Angola.
Fidel Castro is physically no longer with us, but he left a powerful and enviable legacy for good people around the world to emulate. The Fidel Castro Home for Elders (FICHOE), is the symbol of the legacy of the late Cuban leader, and which believes that: “History will absolve Dr. Castro”. The Fidel Castro Home for Elders is a specialized department of the Hugo Chavez International Foundation for Peace, Friendship and Solidarity (HCIF-PFS).
We pray that the soul of Fidel will continue to rest in eternal peace!
Happy Birthday the great revolutionary Leader of the twentieth century and up!
Sender:
Ambassador Brima Kamara
Senior Programme Coordinator
The Fidel Castro Home for Elders (FICHOE)
Embacuba Sierra Leona