Cuba on Thursday inaugurated a center to preserve the writings of its revolutionary hero Fidel Castro as part of commemorations marking the fifth anniversary of his death.
The Fidel Castro Ruz center in Havana is the first and only Cuban building to carry his name.
A law passed a month after his death in 2016 prohibits the naming of institutions, squares, parks, roads or other public places after the former president and Communist Party leader.
Also banned, in accordance with Castro’s wishes, is the erection of monuments, busts, statues or plaques in his name or image — though this has not prevented the proliferation of murals and placards in honor of the late leader on the streets of Havana.
The only exception to the rule are institutions created solely for “the study and dissemination of his thinkings and work.”
A national hero for most Cubans, but a villain to the West, Castro fell ill in 2006 and handed power to his brother and fellow revolutionary fighter Raul.
Castro led the revolution that ousted dictator Fulgencio Batista in 1959 and is credited with creating Cuba’s social welfare system, which provides healthcare and education for all.
President Miguel Diaz-Canel, who took over from Raul Castro in 2018, tweeted on Thursday that Fidel Castro’s office at the seat of government, the Palace of the Revolution, “is as he left it on his last day there.”
“I try to imagine him in the midst of the hard battles of so many challenging years. It inspires me, it excites me. And I’m still fighting,” the president said.
