Bringing Fidel Castro Back From the Dead in Havana / Juan Juan Almeida

Mausoleum with the ashes of Fidel Castro, in Santa Ifigenia Cemetery in Santa Clara. (cc)

Juan Juan Almeida — On November 25th, the day on which we commemorate another anniversary of the death of Fidel Castro, a museum in his memory opened in Havana.

Located on Paseo Avenue between 11th and 13th Streets in El Vedado, Havana, the historic gallery shows pictures, gifts, photos, belongings, and other junk the ex-dictator Fidel Castro used in his life; ignoring the last wish of the dead comandante.

It’s worth remembering that on January 3rd, 2016, General Raul Castro publicly announced to the National Assembly that, to show respect for the express wish of his brother, the recently passed-away leader of the Cuban communists, his name would not be used, or any statues or busts put up in any public site, in his memory.

It’s also worth mentioning that — according to sources close to the dead commander-in- chief’s descendants — that the objects exhibited in such an overblown way, were not donated by his family, but sold.

At a cost of over $700m, the museum opened November 25th, and, among the strangest displays in this kind of church where the image worshipped is of the only saint wearing an olive green uniform and spurs, is a little audiovisual showing for the first time, among other things, the favourite cooking recipes of the legendary ex-comandante who moved from living in “Punto Cero” to pushing up the stones in the Santa Ifigenia necropolis of the history of the city of Santiago de Cuba.

Translated by GH