Russia Honors the Memory of Fidel Castro With a Statue

On Tuesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel unvailed a monument in honor of Fidel Castro, the historical leader of the Cuban Revolution.

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"Fidel Castro dedicated his whole life to an unconditional struggle for the triumph of the ideas of good, peace, and justice," Putin said, adding that the Cuban revolutionary "is rightly considered one of the 20th century's most brilliant and charismatics leaders. He is a truly legendary person."

The three-meter-tall bronze statue lies in Fidel Castro Square, located in Moscow's Sokol district, where Putin and Diaz-Canel placed a large bouquet of red roses during a ceremony in which funeral music was played.

Later, at a meeting with Diaz-Canel in the Kremlin, Putin again described the leader of the Cuban Revolution as a brilliant person.

"I remember our meetings in detail," he said, highlighting Fidel's ability to deeply understand the "nuances of events that occurred quite far from Cuba."

The statue represents a young Castro with his traditional open jacket, cartridge belt, beret, and campaign boots. On the stone pedestal on which the statue was placed, the work of the Russian sculptor Alexei Chebanenko, the word "CUBA" can be read.

The initiative to erect a statue in honor of the Cuban leader belongs to the Russian Military Historical Society, which allocated some USD333,000 for it. 

The square has been named after Fidel Castro since 2017, a year after the death of the revolutionary leader on Nov. 25, 2016. Near the square are also streets dedicated to the late presidents Salvador Allende (Chile) and Hugo Chavez (Venezuela).