The late leftist leader Fidel Castro\u2019s dying wish was that his name and image not succumb to a cult following or blind idolatry in Cuba, but it remains to be seen if the country can respect that request.<\/p>\n
In a final, mass tribute to the leader of the Cuban revolution, President Raul Castro announced that his brother and predecessor had demanded that no streets or public buildings be named after him following his death on November 25. Furthermore, Fidel Castro wanted no statues, busts or other effigies of himself to be erected in the future.<\/p>\n
The president added that in an effort to respect Fidel\u2019s final bidding, Cuban lawmakers would soon draft and pass legislation to seal it as the law of the land.<\/p>\n
The declaration came as a shock to many in and outside Cuba, especially because Fidel Castro already enjoys a cult-like following in many parts of the world. In Africa he is seen as a key player in the continent\u2019s anti-colonial and anti-apartheid movements. In Latin America, he is often simply referred to as Fidel \u2013 his first name enough to invoke a towering figure who proudly defied Washington for decades and outlived 10 US presidents.<\/p>\n
His stated refusal to become a cult figure also seems to fly in the face of the many billboards of Castro that have sprouted across Cuba since his death, and the round-the-clock coverage he received on state television radio as the country observed nine days of national mourning.<\/p>\n
Long tradition<\/p>\n
In fact, from the early days of the Cuban revolution, which toppled dictator Fulgencio Batista in 1959, Fidel Castro regularly expressed disdain for the cult status that the Soviet Union bestowed on leaders such as Lenin and Joseph Stalin.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe considered it to be one of the errors of his Soviet allies, and it\u2019s a position that gained importance for Castro as the years went by. In the end, it became his dying wish,\u201d said Juan Valdes Paz, a Cuban sociologist and a member of the National Federation of Cuban Writers and Intellectuals.<\/p>\n
According to Valdes Paz, a cult of personality grew around Fidel Castro despite the leader\u2019s intentions and for reasons particular to the country.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere was already a long tradition of honouring the leaders of Cuba\u2019s independence, like [Jose] Marti,\u201d the scholar said in reference to the Cuban intellectual who died fighting for independence from Spain in 1895. \u201cIt was part of school textbooks, and constantly evoked in political speeches. Neither Castro nor the revolution invented that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Castro and the revolutionary government that came to power in 1959 sustained that tradition and then extended it to its own fallen heroes, including guerrilla fighters Ernesto \u201cChe\u201d Guevara and Camilo Cienfuegos.<\/p>\n
Valdes Paz said that while the government encouraged, and to some extent exploited, the cult of those heroes, a lot of it came spontaneously from the Cuban people. Castro has enjoyed wide support among Cubans, standing out for his strong leadership and influence across the region.<\/p>\n
A new face on Plaza de la Revolucion?<\/p>\n
Yet a new, government-sanctioned devotion to Fidel already seems to be materialising. In Havana\u2019s iconic Plaza de la Revolucion, a large picture of the revolutionary leader has been draped for days over the Jose Marti National Library.<\/p>\n
The nearby defence ministry, by far the largest building on the square, seems like perfect real estate for Fidel Castro\u2019s face. Huge outlines of Guevara and Cienfuegos\u2019s expressions already adorn other buildings in the Plaza, and it only seems fitting that El Comandante should complete a kind of holy trinity of the Cuban revolution there.<\/p>\n
Valdes Paz said it would not be out of the question for Fidel Castro\u2019s face to appear on the defence ministry, but the forthcoming law should prevent such a move in the near future. \u201cIt seems like that decision has been deferred for now. It will be up to the next generation to figure it out,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Others doubt the government truly intends to respect the famous final wish. A bookseller who asked not to be identified, said that Raul Castro and other officials were already hard at work to exploit Fidel\u2019s image in the effort to stifle dissent on the communist-run island and block meaningful reforms.<\/p>\n
He pointed to a large poster with a sleek design of Fidel Castro\u2019s silhouette, hanging in the entrance of a local library, as a way to promote the cult of personality. The bookseller said that like the poster the campaign would come in subtle \u2013 more insidious \u2013 ways.<\/p>\n
Be like Che<\/p>\n
There is another reason to doubt people will respect Fidel\u2019s post-mortem request.<\/p>\n
Che Guevara\u2019s face is everywhere in Cuba, and as tourism skyrockets on the Caribbean island, it appears increasingly present on souvenir merchandise. Che\u2019s face helps sell everything, from cloth bags to refrigerator magnets.<\/p>\n
Is it possible that Fidel Castro\u2019s image will be used to similarly help sell products, to bring some added revenue to Cubans who are in desperate need of it?<\/p>\n
Raul, a young man who also sells books and movie posters in Old Havana, admits items with Fidel Castro\u2019s picture have become more popular in the wake of his death, especially among tourists eager to take home mementos from their visit to Cuba.<\/p>\n
He was nevertheless sceptical that Fidel\u2019s image will turn into a trendy logo the way Che\u2019s face has become for many. \u201cWe\u2019ll see in a year or two. It\u2019s still too early to say,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
(France24)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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