Hundreds of Venezuelans express condolences over Castro's death

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Hundreds of Venezuelans have come to the Cuban Embassy in this capital on Monday to sign the book of condolences opened by the diplomatic delegation after the death of Cuban revolutionary leader Fidel Castro, EFE learned.

Starting at 9 am, the Cuban Embassy was welcoming people who stopped by to sign the registry to express their condolences in the wake of Castro’s death last Friday at age 90.

The embassy will be open every day until Dec. 4 from 9 am to 6 pm.

«Fidel will be joined to the Bolivarian Revolution forever. During these years he devoted part of his vital energy to defending it and to the victory of its ideas,» Cuba’s envoy to Venezuela, Rogelio Polanco, told reporters after the book was set out for the public.

Polanco expressed gratitude for the expressions of solidarity that have come in from all over the world and, above all, from the Venezuelan people and government, especially from President Nicolas Maduro.

«The best tribute that can be offered is the continuity of the struggle to which he devoted his life,» the ambassador emphasized.

Hundreds of people had stopped by the embassy by midday to sign the book, some of them carrying Cuban flags, photos of Castro, flowers and other mementoes or symbols of the Cuban and Venezuelan revolutionary processes.

«Today, we’re here reaffirming our commitment to the Cuban Revolution … We’re sending a message to the world today: Fidel has died physically but his thinking and his ideals will remain alive forever,» Jose Gregorio Gutierrez, a member of an organization adhering to the ideals of late Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez, a Castro protege, told EFE after signing the registry.

Caracas resident Neli Ramirez said that she came to the embassy to «pay tribute to an historical icon,» adding that Venezuelans are «sad» at the news of Castro’s demise and calling him the «teacher of teachers.»

Meanwhile, Mari Sarmiento, moved to tears, said that she was feeling a «very great sadness,» adding that «we’ve lost the greatest (man) in the world, the greatest that Latin America has … we’ll continue his legacy.»

The Venezuelan government on Saturday decreed three days of national mourning «to honor the memory and the eternal legacy» of the former Cuban leader.

Meanwhile, the official program prepared by the Cuban government to pay tribute to Castro got under way on Monday in Havana with the public display of his ashes on the Plaza of the Revolution, where Cubans may go to say their final farewells to the man who led the communist island from 1959-2006.

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