The First International Colloquium “Fidel: Legacy and Future” is underway in Havana, bringing together around 1,500 participants from across the world in the run-up to the centenary of the birth of Fidel Castro Ruz on August 13.
The four-day gathering, held from August 10 to 13 at Havana’s Convention Palace, is devoted not simply to commemorating the historic leader of the Cuban Revolution, but to examining the continuing relevance of his revolutionary thought and action in the struggles against imperialism, exploitation and capitalist barbarism.
The Colloquium was convened by the Fidel Castro Ruz Center, together with Cuban academic and cultural institutions, as an international forum for historians, researchers, political activists, intellectuals, students and solidarity movements. Its discussions cover Fidel’s political, social, internationalist and human legacy, his influence on national liberation movements and the Global South, as well as his contribution to struggles for peace, sovereignty and against imperialism.
Opening the event, Miguel Díaz-Canel, First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba and President of the Republic, welcomed international delegations that had travelled to the island at a particularly difficult moment for the Cuban people. He stressed that participation in the gathering itself constitutes an act of militant solidarity in conditions of an intensified U.S. blockade and mounting imperialist pressure against socialist Cuba.
Díaz-Canel underlined that Fidel’s legacy cannot be reduced to ceremonial remembrance or anniversary tributes. Cuba, he stressed, is confronting one of the most difficult periods faced by the Revolution, while Washington continues its policy of economic strangulation, extraterritorial sanctions and political pressure. In this context, studying Fidel means drawing lessons for the defence and continuation of the socialist project, rather than treating his thought as a historical relic.
Opening the event, Miguel Díaz-Canel, First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba and President of the Republic, welcomed international delegations that had travelled to the island at a particularly difficult moment for the Cuban people. He stressed that participation in the gathering itself constitutes an act of militant solidarity in conditions of an intensified U.S. blockade and mounting imperialist pressure against socialist Cuba.
Díaz-Canel underlined that Fidel’s legacy cannot be reduced to ceremonial remembrance or anniversary tributes. Cuba, he stressed, is confronting one of the most difficult periods faced by the Revolution, while Washington continues its policy of economic strangulation, extraterritorial sanctions and political pressure. In this context, studying Fidel means drawing lessons for the defence and continuation of the socialist project, rather than treating his thought as a historical relic.
Significant participation by the KKE
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| Photo: 902.gr |
The Communist Party of Greece (KKE) is taking an active part in the Colloquium with a delegation whose members will intervene in several of its major thematic sessions, addressing key questions of revolutionary strategy, proletarian internationalism, anti-imperialism and the experience of socialist construction.
Giorgos Marinos, member of the Political Bureau of the KKE Central Committee, will speak on “Fidel’s revolutionary legacy and internationalist solidarity”, examining the international dimension of Fidel’s political heritage. Aris Evangelidis, member of the KKE Central Committee and its International Relations Section, will address “Fidel, the Cuban Revolution and the so-called ‘peaceful road’”, focusing on a question that has historically divided revolutionary and reformist strategies within the workers’ movement.
KKE MEP Lefteris Nikolaou-Alavanos, member of the Party’s International Relations Section, will speak on Fidel’s role in organizing the struggle of the Cuban people to defend the Revolution against U.S. imperialism, while Elisseos Vagenas, member of the KKE Central Committee and head of its International Relations Section, will examine Fidel’s position toward “perestroika” and the counterrevolution in the USSR.
Members of the Communist Youth of Greece (KNE) who are currently in Cuba as part of an international solidarity brigade are also attending the Colloquium and have met with the KKE delegation on the sidelines of its proceedings.
Taking place only days after the 24th International Meeting of Communist and Workers’ Parties in Havana, the Colloquium gives added political weight to the centenary commemorations. It places Fidel where he belongs: not in a museum of the past, but in the living history of revolutionary struggle.
Giorgos Marinos, member of the Political Bureau of the KKE Central Committee, will speak on “Fidel’s revolutionary legacy and internationalist solidarity”, examining the international dimension of Fidel’s political heritage. Aris Evangelidis, member of the KKE Central Committee and its International Relations Section, will address “Fidel, the Cuban Revolution and the so-called ‘peaceful road’”, focusing on a question that has historically divided revolutionary and reformist strategies within the workers’ movement.
KKE MEP Lefteris Nikolaou-Alavanos, member of the Party’s International Relations Section, will speak on Fidel’s role in organizing the struggle of the Cuban people to defend the Revolution against U.S. imperialism, while Elisseos Vagenas, member of the KKE Central Committee and head of its International Relations Section, will examine Fidel’s position toward “perestroika” and the counterrevolution in the USSR.
Members of the Communist Youth of Greece (KNE) who are currently in Cuba as part of an international solidarity brigade are also attending the Colloquium and have met with the KKE delegation on the sidelines of its proceedings.
Taking place only days after the 24th International Meeting of Communist and Workers’ Parties in Havana, the Colloquium gives added political weight to the centenary commemorations. It places Fidel where he belongs: not in a museum of the past, but in the living history of revolutionary struggle.
