Cuba honours Che Guevara

Press, 30 December 1988, Page 8

Cuba honours Che Guevara

NZPA-Reuter Santa Clara, Cuba

Cuba paid tribute to the leading revolutionary hero, Ernesto "Che” Guevara, yesterday as the dedication of a monument to his memory began week-long celebrations of the thirtieth anniversary of the revolution.

Thousands of people watched a military parade on a new plaza in the central provincial city of Santa Clara, scene in the

last days of December 1958 of a decisive battle won by rebels commanded by the Argentineborn Guevara. After Che’s men raided an armoured train, Santa Clara was captured on December 30, dealing the final blow to the dictator Fulgencio Batista, who fled into exile just after midnight on New Year’s Eve.

The inauguration ceremonies, presided over by the Defence Minister and

Cuba’s No. 2 leader, Raul Castro, took place in the shadow of a seven-metre high bronze statue of Che towering above a monumental slab underneath which a library and a museum have been built.

Atop a 10-metre high column, the statue of Che, clad in his traditional combat fatigue and holding a rifle, has its back to the city and looks toward South America. The sculptor, Jose De-

larra, said this was to stress the Latin American vocation of Guevara who at age 39 was killed in 1967 in Bolivia trying to spread his revolutionary ideals.

The celebrations of the thirtieth anniversary will continue until January 4 with their high point expected on Sunday evening in the eastern city of Santiago de Cuba with a speech by President Fidel Castro.