On a rare sight for people in Cuba, former Cuban President Fidel Castro showed itself in public since nearly a year to visit a middle school on Thursday and gave a motivational speech to the students. Castro, who is 89 years old, doesn’t like to make public appearances, considering the last one was in July 2015.
The former president’s visit to a middle school in Cuba could’ve come in response to the U.S. President Barack Obama exceptional visit to the island late last month. Yet Castro was set to give an energetic pep talk to schoolchildren, going over personal topics for him, as well as he highlighted the vision of Vilma Espin.
Fidel Castro’s brother married Vilma Espin several years ag0 and was described as a revolutionary figure during the former president’s visit to the school. Remarkably for Espin, she’s described as one of the most significant factors during the revolution against dictator Fulgencio Batista alongside her husband Raul. Fidel Castro claimed that Espin would be proud to see how far have the Castro brothers brought the revolution to Cuba.
Espin, the late wife of Fidel Castro’s brother passed away and the former president went out to public on the eve of what would have been Espin’s 86th birthday. Castro said the type of schools like the one he visited on Thursday are getting close to “a kind of dream,” as he addressed the students.
The elephant in the room
Even though the former leader of Cuba only discussed topics about revolutionary figures, the elephant in the room was the visit from Obama earlier in March. After the United States President Barack Obama visited Cuba for the first time for an American President since almost 50 years, Fidel Castro released a heated statement towards the U.S.
In the lengthy declaration, Fidel stated many of the aggression from the United States towards Cuba in the past in an attempt to remind Cubans that Americans are not considered friends in the island. Ironically enough, Obama was seen as Fidel’s brother Raul, the current president of Cuba, received him at the airport.
It’s worth mentioning that not only Barack and Raul held a press conference on which the relationship between the U.S. and Cuba seemed to be tightened, but also enjoyed a friendly baseball game. The Tampa Bay Rays played against Cuba’s national team when the U.S. President visited Cuba, where both leaders were seen sharing a few laughs and enjoying the game along with their families.
Source: The Washington Post