The acting president of Venezuela, Delcy Rodríguez, took advantage of the centenary of the birth of the dictator Fidel Castro to pay tribute this Thursday with a message posted on her X account, in which she described him as “an integral leader who has served as a reference for the free peoples of the world.”
In his post, Rodríguez stated that Castro "is among the leaders who transcend time and remain in collective memory" and emphasized "his strong commitment to dignity, social justice, sovereignty, and internationalist solidarity."
The message occurs in the context of the centenary of the Cuban dictator's birth, born on August 13, 1926, in Birán, Holguín, and passed away in November 2016 after nearly five decades in power.
The Cuban regime turned the date into a major political event, declaring 2026 as the "Year of the Centenary of Commander in Chief Fidel Castro Ruz" and organizing a program of tributes that extends from August 2025 to December of that year.
The main event was the I International Colloquium "Fidel: Legacy and Future," held from August 10 to 13 at the Palace of Conventions in Havana, with more than 1,500 delegates from 63 countries.
The closing ceremony took place at the Karl Marx Theatre, where Raúl Castro made a public appearance again —who had not been seen in public since last May— dressed in olive green uniform and received with a standing ovation.
Alongside Raúl were President Miguel Díaz-Canel, leaders of the Communist Party of Cuba, and relatives of the dictator, including Dalia Soto del Valle.
Díaz-Canel also turned to social media to join the tributes: "Fidel Lives! Anyone who doubts it should look at today's world through his legacy", he wrote.
Rodríguez's tribute falls within a Chavista tradition of celebrating the Cuban leader as an ideological reference for Latin American socialism, which the acting president has upheld since assuming office after Nicolás Maduro was captured by U.S. forces in January of this year.
Other leaders and international figures also sent messages. Vladimir Putin referred to him as a "symbol of freedom, justice, and patriotism"; Brazilian President Lula da Silva thanked him for his "encouragement and wisdom"; and Xi Jinping emphasized his role in strengthening Cuba-China relations.
Nicaragua, for its part, installed a 20-meter sculpture of Fidel Castro as part of the celebrations, with events taking place in Minsk, Rome, Hanoi, Santo Domingo, and Moscow.
All of this occurs while the country sinks into an economic crisis with prolonged blackouts and shortages of food and medicine, a reality that the regime omits in its celebrations and which contrasts starkly with the propaganda surrounding the centenary.
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