The Jintai Art Museum, in the Chinese capital, hosted a ceremony this Thursday (13) in honor of the 100th anniversary of Fidel Castro’s birth. Organized by the Cuban Embassy in China, the event brought together representatives of governments, diplomats, social movements and organizations from different countries in a tribute marked by the defense of sovereignty, internationalism and solidarity between peoples.
“A figure that transcends borders, time, generations and ideologies”, said the Cuban ambassador to China when highlighting the legacy of the leader of the Cuban Revolution. The program combined speeches, testimonials and musical performances, including a performance by “How beautiful Cuba is” hair Spanish-speaking Friends Choir, formed by Chinese.
The speeches during the ceremony recalled different moments in Fidel’s career: the Cuban Revolution, facing pressure from the United States, solidarity with other revolutionary and national liberation processes and the construction of the relationship between Havana and Beijing.
Fidel Castro was born on August 13, 1926 and died in 2016, aged 90. In 1959, he led the Cuban Revolution, which overthrew the dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista.
The revolutionary victory took place in a Latin America marked by the political, economic and military influence of the United States. In Cuba, American companies had a strong presence in the economy and Washington maintained a close relationship with the Batista government.
After the Revolution, the new government carried out agrarian reform, nationalized companies and expanded social policies. The rapprochement with the Soviet Union advanced at the same time as the conflict with the United States increased.
Washington imposed economic sanctions and later an embargo that remains to this day. In 1961, a force of Cuban exiles, trained and supported by the United States, attempted to invade the island via the Bay of Pigs. The operation was defeated by revolutionary forces.
The following year, the Missile Crisis placed Cuba at the center of one of the most dangerous moments of the Cold War. It was in this scenario that Havana began to expand its relations with countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America and to support national liberation movements and revolutionary processes.
During the ceremony in Beijing, the Cuban ambassador to China highlighted this dimension of Fidel’s career: “A figure who transcends borders, time, generations and ideologies. A man whose life was dedicated to Cuba’s independence, social justice, solidarity between peoples, Latin American and Caribbean integration, the Global South, the socialist cause and the defense of a fairer and more equitable international order.”
The diplomat also highlighted the principle of internationalism: “From Fidel we learned to practice our solidarity with facts, not with beautiful words, as well as to be firm in the face of adversity and prudent in the face of triumph.”
Cuba and China
One of the first international decisions of the revolutionary government was to approach the People’s Republic of China.
On September 28, 1960, Cuba established diplomatic relations with China, becoming the first Latin American country to do so. The decision took place in the middle of the Cold War, when Beijing was facing strong diplomatic isolation promoted by the United States and its allies.
More than six decades later, the relationship between the two countries has transformed into a partnership that involves trade, health, biotechnology, agriculture, education and technology. In 2025, China and Cuba completed 65 years of diplomatic relations.
During the tribute, Ma Hui, deputy head of the International Liaison Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, highlighted Fidel’s role in the rapprochement.
“Fidel Castro was one of the founders and main promoters of relations between China and Cuba. Thanks to his strategic vision and commitment, Cuba became the first country in Latin America to establish diplomatic relations with New China.”
Ma Hui also recalled the personal contacts between Fidel and Chinese leaders: “Fidel visited China twice and warmly received, on several occasions, Chinese leaders in Cuba, including Xi Jinping, building a deep friendship and making a historic contribution to the development of Sino-Cuban relations. The Chinese people will never forget him.”
The Chinese leader also highlighted Fidel’s contribution beyond the bilateral relationship, considering it “imperishable for the defense of international justice and equity and for the progress of humanity. History will not forget him.”
The relationship between the two countries was also built by exchanges between societies.
The director of Coro Amigos Hispanohablantes, Yang Mingjiang, followed me Brazil in fact in an exclusive interview about the importance of the tribute.
“It’s a very, very important day. Last year we were also at the Cuban Embassy singing in honor of Mr. Fidel Castro. This year is more important because it marks 100 years since his birth.”
She described Fidel as a beloved figure in Latin America and China: “He is a great gentleman, very loved by all the Latin American people and the Chinese people. A great friend.”
The director associated Fidel’s trajectory with the search for freedom and better living conditions, saying it was “important because he follows a path to give freedom, to give a good life to his people”, and highlighted his resistance in the face of pressure against Cuba: “And faced with the challenges of aggression, invasion, oppression by the Americans, especially, he never surrenders. It is a revolutionary spirit that we have to follow, to praise. That’s why we are here.”
Spanish-Speaking Friends Choir | Credit: Bruno Falci/Brazil de Fato
Cuban internationalism
Cuban foreign policy during the period in which Fidel was at the head of the country went beyond Latin America. Cuba established relations with liberation movements and governments in Africa and Asia, one of the best-known episodes being its participation in the war in Angola.
In 1975, Cuba sent troops to support the Angolan government during the conflict that followed the country’s independence. Cuban participation was also related to the fight against South African apartheid and the Namibian independence process. The episode became one of the main symbols of Cuban internationalism defended by Fidel.
Cuba’s international activities also extended to health. Cuban doctors and professionals began to work in different countries, mainly in regions of Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean.
This policy of solidarity helps explain why internationalism appeared as one of the central themes of the tribute in Beijing.
Fidel, Nicaragua and the Sandinista Revolution
In Central America, the Sandinista Revolution is another important chapter in this story. In 1979, the Sandinista National Liberation Front overthrew the dictatorship of the Somoza family, which had governed Nicaragua for decades with support from the United States.
The new government launched literacy campaigns, social policies and agrarian reform measures. At the same time, he began to face the Contras, armed groups supported by Washington. The war transformed Nicaragua into one of the main disputed areas of the Cold War in Latin America, and Cuba was on the side of the Nicaraguan revolutionary process.
In an exclusive interview with Brazil in factNicaragua’s ambassador to China, Ramiro Cruz, recalled the 1980s: “Cuba was alongside Nicaragua in the 1980s, when American aggression was very great in our territory and against our revolution. The Cuban people and Commander Fidel were present.”
For Cruz, remembering Fidel also means remembering other revolutionary processes, “commemorating the struggles of revolutionary peoples, such as Nicaragua, Cuba and all the peoples of the world”. “That’s why we are very happy to accompany the Cuban Embassy, the Cuban people, in this celebration today.”
Ambassadors from across the Global South came to pay tribute to Fidel Castro | Credit: Bruno Falci/Brasil de Fato
The blockade and Cuban sovereignty
The Cuban Revolution was marked by prolonged confrontation with the United States. The American economic embargo has remained in force for more than six decades and is condemned annually by the United Nations General Assembly. In October 2025, a resolution to end the embargo received 165 votes in favor, seven against and 12 abstentions.
For the Cuban government and solidarity organizations, the blockade is a form of economic pressure that affects the island’s access to resources, fuel, medicine, food and equipment.
The issue of sovereignty appears directly in the way in which those participating in the ceremony present Fidel’s legacy.
During the ceremony, several tributes were paid to Fidel by the Chinese government and people | Credit: Bruno Falci/Brasil de Fato
Fidel’s internationalism and the MST
The Landless Rural Workers Movement (MST) completed 42 years in 2026. The organization emerged in Brazil amid struggles for agrarian reform and democratization and, throughout its trajectory, built relationships with peasant movements and popular organizations in other countries.
In China, the MST maintains a brigade that participates in projects, exchanges and international coordination.
Bárbara Loureiro, coordinator of the MST China Brigade, gave an exclusive interview to Brazil in fact during the tribute to Fidel Castro, relating the centenary to the movement’s 42nd anniversary: “We are here on Fidel’s centenary, remembering that the Landless Movement reaches its 42nd anniversary also as a legacy and collecting this living example of what the Cuban Revolution was and learning and practicing what Fidel’s internationalism teaches us”.
“We know that Fidel’s internationalism is also a living basis for the MST’s practiced internationalism, for us to look at the struggle of others, the struggle of oppressed peoples as our own struggle.”
The brigade also develops cooperation projects and links with Cuba from China: “From here in China, our brigade has also developed a set of projects and links and cooperation with Cuba, in a firm defense of the Cuban Revolution against US attacks and for the sovereign development of the Cuban people”, and concludes by stating that “the brigade continues here practicing this internationalism that we learned from Fidel”.
Source: www.brasildefato.com.br
