Fidel Castro Has a Statue in South Africa

Statue of Fidel Castro in South Africa during the unveiling. (Prensa Latina)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Havana, 26 October 2017 — Oliver Tambo, one of the most important leaders of the anti-apartheid movement in South Africa, has a new partner. The sculpture of the leader in the province of Free State is next to a bronze statue of Fidel Castro that was unveiled this week.

The ceremony was attended by the first minister of the province, Ace Magashule, and the commercial advisor of the Cuban Embassy in South Africa, Pedro Arteaga.

The full-body figure represents the deceased Cuban leader making his characteristic military salute. He is dressed in a uniform and holds a Cuban flag in his hand.

Several South Africans who “studied in Cuba” were present at the ceremony along with “cooperators” from the Island who provide services in the Free State. At the end of last year, 424 Cuban health professionals were working in South Africa under a cooperation program that began in 1996.

The placement of the sculpture in South Africa contrasts with the prohibition established since the end of 2016 for the use of the name or image of Castro in public spaces or monuments in Cuba.

The decision, adopted in the Cuban National Assembly, was presented as part of the former president’s will to “avoid any manifestation of personality worship.”

Last August an eight-foot high monument, made of limestone and with the image of Castro accompanied by the words “Victory is perseverance,” was unveiled in Crimea.