For the next few days, the Cuban Embassy in Georgetown will have open hours for members of the public to sign a condolence book for Fidel Castro that will be sent to Cuba. The condolence book will be opened until this Sunday.
According to President of the Guyana-Cuba Solidarity Movement (GCSM), Mr Haleem Khan, persons can visit the embassy’s location at 46 High Street, Kingston,Georgetown from 9:00hrs to 18:00hrs.
Cuban Ambassador Mr. Julio Cesar Gonsalez Marchante is encouraging member of public to visit and sign the book since Cuba provided solidarity to Guyana in many ways over the decades.
Guyana enjoyed close relations with Cuba in the 1970s and early 1980s. The two countries established diplomatic ties in 1972, and Cuba agreed to provide medical supplies, doctors, and medical training to Guyana. Late Guyanese President Forbes Burnham flew with Fidel Castro Ruz in Castro’s airplane to the NAM conference in Algiers in 1973. Castro made an official state visit to Guyana in August 1973, and Burnham reciprocated in April 1975, when he was decorated with the José Martí National Order, Cuba’s highest honour.
Castro, who served as Cuba’s president for 42 years, died of natural causes in Cuba last Friday, at the age of 90. Castro led the Cuban Revolution against the government of Fulgencio Batista, which triggered a bitter stand-off between the United States and Cuba that resulted in the US imposing a trade embargo on Cuba. The Cuban Embassy in Georgetown also expressed its profound sadness and regret at Castro’s death.
