HAVANA, Cuba, CMC- Seven years after the death of Fidel Castro, a new book – ‘I am Fidel,’ paying homage to the revolutionary leader, was launched here this week.
The book is an homage by the young generations to the man whom the Cuban people waved goodbye in November 2016, while four days later—November 30– crowds escorted his mortal remains to rest at Santiago de Cuba Santa Ifigenia cemetery, said the vice-director of the Office of Historic Affairs of the Cuban Presidency, Daily Sanchez as she launched the book at Havana’s Jose Marti Memorial.
Book author and journalist Wilmer Rodriguez extended his gratitude to the gathering participants, particularly Rebel Army Commander Delio Gomez.
Rodriguez recalled that the book follows a historical and literary work started by journalist Luis Baez two decades ago and by other authors who completed 95 stories.
Most of the 95 testimonies were part of the author’s archives, including interviews with people who had met Fidel in Cuba, Venezuela, Nicaragua, and Ecuador.
Castro led Cuba from 1959 to 2008, serving as the prime minister from 1959 to 1976 and president from 1976 to 2008.
Ideologically a Marxist–Leninist and Cuban nationalist, he also served as the first secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba from 1965 until 2011. Under his administration, Cuba became a one-party communist state.
The longest-serving non-royal head of state in the 20th and 21st centuries, Castro died on November 25, 2016, at 90.
and then 