Mijaín Lopez: The Cuban hero of the Paris Olympics who loves Fidel Castro

By Nikos Mottas

The hero of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games isn't Tom Cruise, Armand Duplantis or Novak Djokovic. The hero is Cuban and his name is Mijaín Lopez.  

The son of Leonor and Bartolo, went beyond all possible limits. If any human work comes close to perfection, it is the one he has just closed here, with his fifth consecutive gold medal in Greco-Roman wrestling. Wrestling has remained, with Mijaín, in the golden paradise of the five rings since 1992, when Héctor Milián won the gold medal in Barcelona. Since then, he has never failed to reach the top of the podium in any edition.

KKE and the Communist Party of Cuba reaffirm strong fraternal relations during Koutsoumbas' visit in Havana

The Communist Party of Cuba (PCC) and the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) reaffirmed their strong, fraternal relations during a meeting in Havana, within the framework of the visit paid by KKE General Secretary Dimitris Koutsoumbas on the island. 

More specifically, as Granma reported,  the member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Party, Roberto Morales Ojeda, received on Saturday 13/7 Koutsoumbas and the delegation accompanying him.

Seven years without Comandante Fidel Castro

Today, 25 November, marks the 7th anniversary since the death of Comandante en Jefe, Fidel Castro Ruz.

🇨🇺 Seven years without #Fidel, the communist leader who embodied the revolutionary consciousness of a whole nation. His name will live on through the centuries, reminding the world's oppressed that they can break the shackles of exploitation #FidelPorSiempre! — Nikos Mottas pic.twitter.com/LeYaxChx4e

— In Defense of Communism © (@id_communism) November 25, 2023

Harry Belafonte on Cuba and Fidel Castro

Harry Belafonte, the renowned African-American singer, actor and civil rights activist who died yesterday aged 96, was a friend of socialist Cuba and enjoyed a close relationship with Comandante Fidel Castro. Some interesting aspects of this long-time relationship are described in his autobiography titled "My Song: A Memoir by Harry Belafonte", pages 356-366:

"I disagreed with almost every tenet of U.S. foreign policy, from the Cold War freeze on any relations with Iron Curtain countries, to Vietnam and its aftermath, to the backing of right-wing tyrants through Africa and Latin America. But I felt a special frustration with America's stance toward an island close to home: not Grenada, but Cuba. 

Fidel Castro's interview with Barbara Walters, 1977

On May 1977, the legendary leader of Socialist Cuba, Comandante en Jefe Fidel Castro, gave an interview to ABC's reporter Barbara Walters (1929-2022). It was Fidel's first interview to U.S. television since the triumph of the Cuban Revolution. Below you can read the full transcript of the interview, accompanied by a video: 

When will your country and my country have normal relations?

Fidel Castro statue to be unveiled in Moscow

A bronze statue dedicated to the legendary leader of the Cuban Revolution Comandante Fidel Castro is scheduled to be unveiled on Tuesday 22 November in Moscow. 

The statue, created by sculptor Alexei Chabanenko depicts Castro in his military uniform standing on a stone with the inscription "CUBA". 

The memorial will be positioned on "Fidel Castro square", near Novopeschanaya street, in northwestern Moscow and the ceremony will be attended by Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel who is currently on an official visit in Russia. 

Fidel Castro — NATO’s Genocidal Role

In October 2011, Comandante en Jefe Fidel Castro Ruz wrote an article, divided in four parts, under the title "NATO's Genocidal Role". In his article, the emblematic Cuban leader reflects on the role of the North Atlantic imperialist alliance on the occasion of the then NATO military intervention in Libya. 

Read Fidel Castro's full article below:

NATO's Genocidal Role

63rd Anniversary of the Triumph of the Cuban Revolution

By Nikos Mottas

The Cuban Revolution inspired and continues to inspire the workers-people's struggles in all over the world, proving the vitality of the Marxist-Leninist worldview and the significance of proletarian internationalism. Figures such as Fidel Castro, Che Guevara, Camilo Cienfuegos, Vilma Espin, Fran Pais and others became eternal symbols of the revolutionary working class movement throughout the world.

Under the leadership of Comandante en Jefe Fidel Castro Ruz and with the decisive contribution of the Soviet Union and other socialist states, Cuba achieved a number of extraordinary – unprecedented in Latin America - achievements in sectors such as Health, Education, Womens' Rights, Culture, Sports, etc. 

Cuba: "Fidel Castro Ruz" Center inaugurated in Havana

On Thursday November 25, precisely five years after the physical departure of the Comandante en Jefe of the Cuban Revolution, the Fidel Castro Ruz Center was inaugurated on a night described by Army General Raul Castro Ruz as the most moving performance he had ever seen.

“I am still excited and, I confess one thing, I have cried like everyone here,” said Army General Raul Castro Ruz to the children of the La Colmenita theatre group who, on the evening of November 25, precisely five years after the physical departure of Cuba’s Comandante en Jefe, had the great responsibility of inaugurating the Fidel Castro Ruz Center.

Fidel Castro — Why we don’t need more than one party

Excerpts from speech delivered by Comandante en Jefe Fidel Castro, July 26, 1988: 

There is one very essential idea, and that is never to forget where we are situated, which is not in the Black Sea, but in the Caribbean, not 90 miles from Odessa, but 90 miles from Miami, with a border on our own land, in an occupied part of our territory, with imperialism. Our people are in charge in our country; and our Party is responsible for its policy, its line, its defense.

62nd anniversary of the Cuban Revolution - Somos Continuidad!

By Nikos Mottas.

Sixty-two years ago, on January 1, 1959, the rebel forces of the 26th of July Movement, led by revolutionary leader Fidel Castro, seized the capital Havana, forcing dictator Batista to flee. Hence started a long and tumultuous journey of rebuilding a nation based on the principles of socialism.

The Cuban Revolution, the first socialist revolution in the Americas, was one of the 20th century's most significant events. It became - and continues being - a reference point for the workers-people's movement in Latin America and the whole world.

Diego Maradona, the Anti-imperialist

Diego Armando Maradona, one of the greatest athletes of the 20th century and for many people the best football player of all times, died on Wednesday 25 of November at the age of 60.

Born in 1960 in Lanús, Buenos Aires, Diego was the fifth child of a poor, working class family. His father was a factory worker and the early years of young Diego were marked by extreme poverty. Over the decades, alongside his extraordinary career in football, Maradona proved to be a defender of the less privileged, a vocal supporter of Cuba and Latin American left-wing movements and an outspoken critic of U.S. imperialism. 

Nobel Peace Prize 2021 to Cuban doctors: Joint statement by Greek and Turkish friends of Cuba

While the bourgeois classes of Turkey and Greece, alongside their imperialist "allies" U.S-NATO-EU, have turned East Mediterranean into a region of continuous conflict for the interests of their monopolies, the friends and supporters of Cuba in both sides of the Aegean Sea send a message of solidarity and co-operation. 

In a joint statement, on the occasion of Fidel Castro's 94th birth anniversary on August 13th, the Greek Team for the Nobel Peace Prize to Cuban Doctors and the Jose Marti Cuba-Turkey Friendship Association point out that the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize must be awarded to the "Henry Reeve" Medical Brigade for its long-time internationalist activity as well as during its significant contribution to the fight against the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. 

Fidel Castro: "Doctors, not bombs"

During this difficult situation of COVID-19 pandemic, with Cuba being once again a champion of internationalist solidarity, we remember the words of an extraordinary revolutionary, an exemplary communist, leader and man, Comandante Fidel Castro Ruz. 

Excerpts from Fidel’s 2003 speech given at the Law School of the University of Buenos Aires: 

"Since I am an optimist, I think this world can be saved, in spite of the mistakes made, in spite of the immense, hegemonic powers that have been created, because I believe ideas prevail over force...

Remembering Fidel Castro: "The use of nuclear weapons would mean the end of humanity"

Today, when the United States' imperialist aggression against Iran has escalated tensions in the Middle East thus increasing the dangers of a generalized conflict, the words of Fidel Castro Ruz have extaordinarily relevance.

In a message back in 2010, the unforgettable leader of the Cuban Revolution, Comandante en jefe Fidel Castro, was warning us about the grave dangers of a nuclear war:

D. Koutsoumbas: "Solidarity to the heroic people of Cuba who fight to defend their homeland"

Three years have passed since the death of Fidel Castro on November 25, 2016. On this occasion, the memory and political legacy of the historic leader of the Cuban Revolution was honored on Saturday afternoon, during an event organized by "New Star cinema" in Athens, Greece.

Speeches about the life and polical activity of Fidel were delivered by the Ambassador of Cuba in Greece Zelmys Maria Dominguez Cortina and the Professor of Contemporary History at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki Giorgos Margaritis. 

Two years without Fidel: Cuban people and leadership paid tribute to Comandante

In an event organized at the famous stairway of the University of Havana on Saturday 24 November, thousands of Cubans of every age, mainly young students, paid tribute to Comandante en Jeffe Fidel Castro Ruz, on the second anniversary of his physical dissapearance. 

Alongside with the President of the Councils of State and Ministers Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez -as well as other leaders of the Party, the State, the Government, the Union of Young Communists, the formative organisms, the student organizations and the youth movements- hundreds of thousands of university students gathered in order to ratify the path laid out by the undisputed leader of the Cuban Revolution.

Cuba's new Constitution ratifies the leading role of the Communist Party as the nation's organized vanguard

Τhe draft of the new Constitution ratifies the leading role of Cuba's Communist Party as a fundamental pillar of unity and of the political, economic and social order.

In its article 5, the document submitted from August 13 to November 15 to a popular consultation establishes that 'The Communist Party of Cuba, unique, based on Marti's ideas, loyalist and Marxist-Leninist, organized vanguard of the Cuban nation, based on its democratic character and permanent link with the people, is the highest leading force of society and the State'.

Remembering Fidel Castro Ruz - Quotes on Capitalism

On the occasion of the 92nd birth anniversary of Comandante en Jefe Fidel Castro Ruz, we remember some of his wise and always interesting quotes on Capitalism, during speeches and interviews between 1989 and 1993: 

"The worker in a socialist system knows why he is working. He is not working just for himself. He is working for his fatherland, society, all the people, his children, the people he most loves, his parents and grandparents, if they are still living. He is working so that his grandparents can also receive medical attention, or have a place to go if they cannot be left alone or if there is no one to tend to them. He is working so that his grandparents can receive a pension so that no one is forgotten. In socialism, a man worksfor himself, his family, and many other things. He is not the worker from the capitalist system. The worker in the capitalist system has no other alternative but to work for money. How can a man be treated like that in socialism?"

Cuba: 65 years since the attack on Moncada Barracks in Santiago

Today is the 65th anniversary of the attack of the July 26th Movement, led by Fidel Castro, against the Moncada and Carlos Manuel de Céspedes Garrions in Santiago de Cuba. Click on  the link to read the historic defense speech "La Historia Me Absolvera" of Fidel during his trial on October 1953.

The following article is an interesting chronicle of the events, published in Cuba's leading newspaper, Granma. 

On July 26, 1953, the assault on the Moncada Garrison in Santiago opened a new stage in Cuba’s national liberation struggle, which concluded with the triumph of the Revolution January 1, 1959.