Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner

Ernsto Che Guevara and Fidel Castro at a state dinner in Havana, Cuba, June 1959. Photo: OAH.

Socialism is young and has made errors. Ernesto Che Guevara

The Courage to Stand Alone

Greek Prime Minister Alexīs Tsipras was the only European leader to attend Fidel Castro’s final farewell at Plaza de la Revolución in Havana, Cuba on November 30, 2016. In his passionate speech to the crowd, Tsipras praised Fidel as an “international symbol of struggle and resistance whose example inspired popular struggle across the world for independence, freedom, justice, and dignity”. Photos: ethnos.gr.

Mucho corazón al bailar

The legendary Cuban prima ballerina assoluta Alicia Alonso in “Swan Lake”. Photo: culturajoven.es.

Alicia, who is 95 years old, continues to rule and direct the Ballet Nacional de Cuba even though she is nearly blind and has trouble walking. Her partners always have to be in the exact place she expect them to be, and she uses lights in different parts of the stage to guide herself. Photo: culturajoven.es.

What’s the secret? “Mucho corazón al bailar”. Photo: balletcuba.cult.cu.

The Importance of Not Being Arcovazzi

Cuba, 1959: Alicia Alonso and Fidel Castro joyfully marveling at the cave paintings. Photo: Raúl Corrales Fornos

44th President of the United States Barack Obama greeting Cuba’s prima ballerina assoluta Alicia Alonso at Gran Teatro de La Habana named after her in Havana, Cuba on March 22, 2016. Photo: theobamadiary.com.

From the Sky to the Earth

Havana, Cuba: A boy releases a pigeon from a balcony along the famous Malecón esplanade as daily life resumes in the city following nine days of mourning after the death of Fidel Castro. Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images.

The Importance of Not Being Arcovazzi

Santiago de Cuba, Cuba: Schoolboys wait by the side of the road to catch a glimpse of the remains of former Cuban president Fidel Castro as they pass by on their four-day journey across the country. Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images.

Un señor muy viejo con unas alas enormes

• Danuta Kean, Fidel Castro worked on Gabriel García Márquez’s manuscripts, The Guardian, December 6, 2016

Editorial meeting: Fidel Castro talking to Gabriel García Márquez in Havana in 2007. Photo: AFP/Getty Images.

Ashes and Petals

• Jonathan Watts, Three generations of Cubans united by gratitude to Fidel Castro, The Guardian, December 4, 2016

A military vehicle transports the ashes of Cuba’s leader Fidel Castro, starting in Havana and ending in Santiago. Photo: Carlos Garcia Rawlins/Reuters.

People wave Cuban flags and take photos as they watch the motorcade transporting Fidel’s remains drive past in Havana. Photo: Dario Lopez-Mills/AP.

People participate in a massive rally on Revolution Square for Fidel Castro on 29 November. Photo: Pedro Pardo/AFP/Getty Images.

After Before

Fidel Castro and Muhammad Ali in Havana, Cuba, March 1996. Photo: Hazel Hankin/Esquire.

Don’t feel sorry for me. Muhammad Ali

The Importance of Not Being Arcovazzi

“El Pibe de Oro” Diego Armando Maradona, joint FIFA Player of the 20th Century with Pelé, arrived today at José Martí International Airport in Havana, Cuba to attend the funeral of his “friend and confidant” Fidel Castro. “I feel Cuban”, Maradona said.

Fidel Castro and Maradona
Photo: bdnews24.com

Not in Vain

Alicia Alonso, “Swan Lake”, 1955

In 2000, Comandante en Jefe Fidel Castro presented Alicia Alonso, prima ballerina assoluta and director general of the National Ballet of Cuba, with the José Martí Order, the highest distinction awarded by the Council of State of the Republic of Cuba. Photo courtesy of the National Ballet of Cuba.

The Importance of Not Being Arcovazzi

From old comrades to musicians and doctors, thousands turned out to commemorate the revolutionary leader who transformed their country. [Read more].

• Jonathan Watts, “I’m here because of Fidel”: Cubans gather to pay last respects to Castro, The Guardian, Monday 28, 2016

Cubans wait to pay their last respects to Fidel Castro in Havana on Monday. Photo: Ronaldo Schemidt/AFP/Getty Images.

Cuban student Lisandra Esquivel shows her arm on which she has written “Yo soy Fidel” (I am Fidel). Photo: Sven Creutzmann/Mambo Photo/Getty Images.

A student cries during a gathering in Havana, Cuba. Photo: STR/AFP/Getty Images.

Cubans gather to commemorate Castro at Havana University. Photo: Alejandro Ernesto/EPA.

The Importance of Not Being Arcovazzi

Cuba’s literacy rate is at 100% and life expectancy parallels first world nations, despite limited funding and supplies. [Read more].

• Sam Jones, Castro’s legacy and the envy of many nations: social care in Cuba, The Guardian, November 27, 2016

Fidel Castro, Igor Zakharovich Bondarevsky, and Robert James Fischer in Havana, Cuba, 1966. Photo: torre64.com.

Un día después del sábado

Bogotá, Colombia: People hold flowers in front of a portrait of Fidel Castro. Photo: Guillermo Legaria/AFP/Getty Images.

Red carpet

Fidel Castro outside the Statler Hotel on a visit to New York, United States. Photo: Dan Farrell/New York Daily News via Getty Images.

Las ideas no se matan

Cuban leader Fidel Castro has died at the age of 90, state television in the country has announced. Castro was known as one of the most iconic revolutionary leaders in recent history after he led a communist guerrilla army to replace Fulgencio Batista’s corrupt dictatorship, and went on to survive countless CIA-backed attempts on his life. The government has declared nine days of national mourning. “During the mourning period, all public events and activities will cease, the national flag will fly at half mast on public buildings and at military facilities and television and radio will broadcast informative, patriotic and historical programmes”.

Fidel Castro and Che Guevara, January 1959. Photo: Roberto Salas.

Adoring members of the Bolshoi Ballet, including prima ballerina Maya Mikhailovna Plisetskaya (left) surround Fidel. Photo © Alamy.

11th World Chess Champion Robert James “Bobby” Fischer with Fidel in Havana, Cuba, 1966. Photo: cubadebate.cu.

Once in a Lifetime

Havana, Cuba: A dog walks past a painting depicting Cuba’s former President Fidel Castro, who made a rare public appearance at the Karl Marx Theatre to mark his 90th birthday (on August 13). Photo: Enrique de la Osa/Reuters.

Havana, 1966. Robert James “Bobby” Fischer (standing from left) coming to the rescue of Mexican Master Filiberto Terrazas in his second game against Fidel. Photo: Jesús G. Bayolo, “Fidel y el Ajedrez”/cubadebate.cu.

Not to Be Forgotten

• Rory Carroll, Fidel Castro bids farewell to Cuba’s Communist party congress, The Guardian, April 19, 2016

“I’ll be 90 years old soon”, Fidel Castro told the Communist party in a valedictory speech at the closure of its 7th congress at the Palacio de las Convenciones in Havana, Cuba, on Tuesday. “Soon I’ll be like all the others”. Photo: Omara García Mederos/EPA. “The time will come for all of us, but the ideas of the Cuban communists will remain as proof on this planet that if they are worked at with fervour and dignity, they can produce the material and cultural goods that human beings need, and we need to fight without truce to obtain them”. [Read more].

Fidel Castro & Ernesto Che Guevara

House by the side of the road

In the most relaxed event of the U.S. president’s historic visit, it really was the taking part that mattered as Cuba’s national team took on the Tampa Bay Rays After an awkward three days of politics, it was baseball that finally brought Cuba and the United States out from half a century of cold war deep freeze on Tuesday, as Barack Obama’s historic visit concluded with a frenzied, but friendly, sporting clash. They have been playing baseball in Cuba since 1864, but there can have been few more eagerly anticipated games than that between the Cuban national team and the U.S. Major League Baseball side the Tampa Bay Rays. [Read more].

• Dan Roberts, Obama embraces Cuba’s pastime with a spot of baseball diplomacy, The Guardian, March 22, 2016

Barack Obama and his family react to the baseball game alongside the Cuban president, Raúl Castro. Photo: Jonathan Ernst/Reuters.

Las ideas no se matan

Raúl Castro tries to lifts up Barack Obama’s arm in a solidarity gesture at the Palace of the Revolution in Havana, Cuba. Photo: Ramon Espinosa/AP.