The ashes of the late President Fidel Castro Ruz will be transferred to the National Capitol, given the little impact that the funerary monument has had in Santiago de Cuba and its almost zero attraction for tourists, he told CyberCuba, Colonel Cándida Gil Blanco; member of the state commission in charge of the funeral transfer.
"Comrade Raúl guided us to prepare a proposal based on a multiplicity of historical and symbolic factors and we proposed the Capitol because the commander in chief spent most of his life in Havana, and what better place than the great symbol of the nation to keep his remains," he noted.
The proposal, which will be officially announced soon, seeks to "create a Fidel space in Havana; taking advantage of the existence of a center dedicated to the study of his illustrious thought", on Paseo Street, in Vedado.
The stone, as Fidel Castro's tomb in Santiago de Cuba is popularly known, was a secret order from Raúl Castro -with acendrada funeral passion- and supervised by the commander of the revolution Juan Almeida Bosque and the army general Ramón Espinosa Martín; between 2010 and 2016.
He Capitol It is one of the most visited tourist centers in Havana, and is considered the capital's greatest architectural icon and one of the ten most relevant palaces in the world; according to the criteria of some experts.
The commission in charge of transferring Fidel Castro's remains to Havana consulted with his widow, who supported her, taking into account that she will be able to visit the tomb of her only husband and father of her five children more frequently; although Dalia Soto del Valle is considering the option of moving to her native Trinidad, in Sancti Spíritus, where she wants to take part of the ashes of the late ruler.
"A definitive decision has not yet been made about allowing comrade Dalia to preserve a part of her husband's remains because he is not an ordinary man, but the greatest Cuban in the 20th century," said Colonel Gil. White.
"Perhaps the stone was not the best option to house the ashes of our maximum leader; but Santiago de Cuba has not responded to the advantages of having a first-class historical and revolutionary element and there have already been complaints in Havana and Pinar del Río for the transfer to Santiago," added the colonel, who refused to specify whether the Crypt of the Unknown Mambí will house Castro's remains.
In 2016, the state funeral was held in the Plaza de la Revolución, but the funeral procession did not include Pinar del Río, homeland of the grandparents and mother of the deceased president, who rests in Santiago de Cuba, where he has received annual tributes. from his brother Raul, President Miguel Díaz-Canel and other party and government leaders and military leaders.
The Hall of the Lost Steps, the statue of the Republic, the Crypt of the Unknown Mambi, the brilliant that marks kilometer Zero of Cuban roads, and its dome, now gilded by contributions of Russian gold, are the most significant elements of the emblematic Havana building.
The Capitol of Havana, in imitation of that of Washington and with elements of the Pantheon of Paris and the Cathedral of Saint Paul, in London, was inaugurated on May 20, 1929, during the mandate of President Gerardo Machado Morales, to house the Chamber of Representatives and the Senate of the Republic of Cuba.
When Fidel Castro took power, he dissolved both chambers and the building deteriorated, although first it was the headquarters of the Academy of Sciences and then of the Ministry of Science, Technology and Environment and, in recent years, the then historian of Havana, Eusebio Leal promoted its capital restoration.
Since 2015, it has been the headquarters of the Council of State and the National Assembly, which cannot hold its plenary sessions because it has 605 deputies, who will be reduced to 450 in the next legislature, when they will not fit in the Capitol either.
CyberCuba He has not been able to confirm this information with the offices of Raúl Castro and Miguel Díaz-Canel because their answering machines go off, warning that they are closed to the public for the celebration of April Fools' Day.
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