The 13-meter-high monument will be erected in the middle of a forest of pink ‘arbolatas’ created by co-president Rosario Murillo.
14ymedio, Madrid, August 11, 2026 / The Nicaraguan government announced on Tuesday that it will install a sculpture in homage to the late Fidel Castro Ruz (1926-2016), on the occasion of the centenary of his birth, this coming August 13.
The monument consists of an enormous full-body image of the former president in metal, surrounded by a forest of trees, also metallic and pink in color, which the locals disparagingly call “arbolatas” or “chayopalos,” alluding to the country’s co-president, Rosario ” Chayo ” Murillo, Daniel Ortega’s wife and the inspiration behind what are officially called “trees of life.” The sculpture will be installed in an amusement park next to the Ministry of Finance and Public Credit headquarters, and across from the National Assembly.
Rosario Murillo announced through official media that it is being installed “with great honor and pride, on Avenida de Bolívar a Chávez, honoring the leader of the American and Caribbean revolution, Commander Fidel Castro Ruz, who was with us, who visited Nicaragua and who inspired the revolutionary struggles.”
Murillo added that the unveiling of the sculpture is part of other tributes to Fidel Castro in Nicaragua, which will include activities in universities and in different municipalities.
The monument consists of a huge, full-body image of the former president in metal, 13 meters high, surrounded by a forest of trees, also metallic and pink in color.
On the other side of the planet, and with the motive of marking the same centenary, the Central Committee of the Red Cross of Vietnam, in coordination with the Cuban Embassy in Hanoi, held a ceremony on August 11 to present 100 billion Vietnamese dongs. The large sum is due to the sharp devaluation of the Vietnamese currency: one dollar is currently worth about 26,000 dongs. Nevertheless, it is a significant amount: approximately 3.82 million dollars.
The sum was raised through the Humanitarian Month 2026 campaign to support the Cuban people, according to official media.
During the ceremony the president of the Central Committee of the Red Cross of Vietnam, Do Thi Thu Thao, recalled Fidel Castro’s visit to the liberated zone of Quang Tri province in 1973 and his words: “For Vietnam, Cuba is prepared to shed even its own blood.”
Thao acknowledged that the people of the Island have continued to face many difficulties in their daily lives during recent years and wanted to emphasize that the aid constitutes not only material support, but also “the gratitude of the Vietnamese people towards the Cuban people.”
Thao acknowledged that the people of the Island have continued to face many difficulties in their daily lives during recent years
The Cuban ambassador to Vietnam, Rogelio Polanco Fuentes, who was present at the ceremony, expressed his gratitude for the gesture and noted that the aid comes at a time when the island is facing numerous difficulties, and will therefore help to alleviate the impacts on Cubans’ lives.
Polanco also recalled the program launched in 2025 by the Central Committee of the Red Cross of Vietnam and the Vietnam Fatherland Front, which closed with more than 23.3 million dollars raised to “support the Cuban people”.
The Cuban ambassador presented the Central Committee of the Red Cross of Vietnam with a work entitled Fidel Castro Ruz – Cuba in the heart of the Vietnamese people , composed of more than 6,600 small photographs.
These were not the only international gestures to honor the former Cuban leader on his centenary. The Mexico City government decided to erect statues of Fidel Castro and Che Guevara, similar to others that had been removed from the Cuauhtémoc district for having been installed “irregularly” and “without official permits.”
This is actually an ideological disagreement between the leaders of Mexico City. The Cuauhtémoc borough mayor is a liberal, while the city’s mayor supports the Cuban regime and is aligned with the country’s president, Claudia Sheinbaum.
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