In November 1971, Cuban revolutionary leader Fidel Castro began a historic state visit to Chile, where he toured the length of the country in the midst of a democratic socialist process led by Salvador Allende's Popular Unity coalition.
The two leaders were friends, and Castro even gifted the Chilean president an AK-47 inscribed with his name.
Over the course of the visit, which lasted several weeks, Castro had the opportunity to explore the countryside, from the mines of the north to Tierra del Fuego. Castro recognized that Chile was in the midst of a revolutionary process, albeit one that had taken its own unique path from the Cuban precedent.
The establishment of diplomatic ties between Cuba and Chile was also an important step for the young, revolutionary Caribbean nation then seeking to build international solidarity.