COMRADE Fidel Castro’s passing away marks the end of an era. He dominated the political scene in the second half of the 20th century like a colossus striding across all issues of global importance. In the process he never for a moment lost sight of the primary objective of a communist of working towards complete human emancipation and liberty. Though he is physically no more with us, he will continue to remain a source of inspiration for the vast majority of struggling humanity all over the world.

This inspiration arises from the fact that Comrade Fidel Castro showed and practiced by transforming the once backward plantation based almost slave economy into a modern socialist State. The inspiration arises from the fact that this is possible. Cuba under Fidel has achieved undeniably admirable results in the area of human development; the abolition of racism, the emancipation of women, the eradication of illiteracy, drastic reduction in infant mortality rates, higher levels of general knowledge… in questions of education, health, medical research and sports, Cuba has achieved results that many developed nations would envy.

It did this while challenging and overcoming the vilest imperialist economic blockade and embargo. Fidel has had to deal with no fewer than ten US presidents, from Eisenhower to Bush II, he survived over 600 assassination attempts, he led Cuba to successfully overcome the economic warfare unleashed by US imperialism as well as its acts of sabotage to destroy Cuba so well-documented by former CIA agent, Philip Agee.

He remains a source of inspiration for all revolutionaries because he demonstrated through his life and work that a communist revolutionary continuously learns on his feet till he remains alive. Having led a band of guerillas for a social transformation in Cuba against the US puppet regime of hated dictator Batista in 1953 this revolution failed. Fidel was incarcerated by the regime and in his defence of what they wanted to do for Cuba and its people he said his famous lines “Condemn me. It does not matter. History will absolve me.”

Indeed history has absolved him.

On the first of January 1959, six years later, Fidel and his band of revolutionaries including Che Guevara and many others defeated the dictator’s army and ushered in the socialist transformation in Cuba. As a mark of a communist revolutionary, during these six years from the failed revolution of 1953 to the successful one in 1959, Fidel had learnt an important lesson. Revolutions cannot succeed only by bands of guerillas. Revolutions will only succeed when the vast majority of the exploited people support the revolution. During these years, Fidel and his communists went around mobilising, educating and inspiring the Cuban peasants, the worst examples of the inhuman exploitation in Cuban sugarcane plantations on the need for a revolutionary upsurge. This paid dividends as the band of armed communist fighters succeeded in defeating the dictator Batista’s army.

The same day that 32-year old Fidel marched into Havana victorious after defeating Batista's army, Gen. Charles De Gaulle was being installed as the first president of the Fifth Republic in France. Only the monarchs of Britain and Thailand have held their ceremonial office longer than Fidel. He remains the longest serving political leader who steadfastly defended and consolidated socialist Cuba.

Another mark of a communist revolutionary that can be seen in Fidel’s life and work was his constant effort to implement the inviolable Leninist principle that the essence of dialectics lies in the concrete analysis of concrete conditions. The collapse of the Soviet Union was undoubtedly a crippling blow to the Cuban economy and Cuban socialism. Very few in the world had even an iota of confidence that socialist Cuba would survive. The international news magazine Times had even carried Fidel on its cover with the caption “Castro’s Cuba: End of a Dream”.

It is soon after the Soviet collapse that we had the opportunity to visit Cuba along with Comrade Jyoti Basu in a CPI(M) delegation in September 1993. One evening during the visit after Jyoti Basu and I had retired for the day, we received a message around 11.00 pm that the Commandant was waiting to receive us. Surprised at this late hour invitation we nevertheless prepared ourselves to meet Fidel. As we entered his office we saw him poring over various maps and charts of mineral deposits and other economic resources of Cuba. He was in the midst of trying to redraw and reorient the Cuban economy which had till then almost exclusively survived on generous imports from the Soviet Union. This had suddenly stopped. Particularly crippling was the stoppage of fuel imports that brought the Socialist Cuba to a virtual standstill. There was Fidel trying to work out an alternative economic trajectory.

The criminal economic blockade by US imperialism continued to prevent Cuba from gaining through trade with other countries. Cuba had to work out its own ways to ensure economic self-sufficiency. Cuba till then was a single crop economy relying solely on the production of sugarcane. There was Fidel discussing the options of mining what the Cubans called ‘red dust’ or nickel and forging economic bonds with sister Latin American countries bypassing the US blockade and embargo.

Comrade Stalin had once mentioned that the hallmark of a true revolutionary is 99 percent routine work which meant paying attention to the details. This was a characteristic that was clearly visible in Fidel that night. He moved away from his work table to come and sit with us.

In a discussion that lasted well over two hours and covered many issues, including the impact of the collapse of the Soviet Union on Cuba, Fidel suddenly started asking detailed information regarding India on issues like the quantity of steel produced, the amount of arable and irrigated agricultural land, etc. Jyoti Basu had least expected such questions and that too in the early hours of the morning. Fidel, then, turned to me and said, given Jyoti's age, one can pardon him but I had no business not to have this information on my fingertips. Since then, I met Fidel twice on different occasions, always with the latest handbook of statistics in my pocket!

Fidel remains a source of inspiration for all Communists because he was always learning on his feet.  Even after he voluntarily gave up being head of State and delegated authority to junior comrades he would continue to comment on all important developments both international and domestic in Cuba through his “reflections”.

A few years after this experience of ours with Fidel, he had said that "no one would have wagered one cent on the survival of the Cuban revolution", Fidel says that they produced a miracle, "because the revolution always had, has and increasingly will have the support of a nation, an intelligent populace which is increasingly united, educated and combative."

As a true communist revolutionary, Fidel had a wide range of interests. He could converse on an amazing range of issues from latest advances in science and technology to human aesthetics and the relationship of human beings with religion and God. His versatility was such that he remained a magnetic personality all his life. The testimony to his great endeavours is evident from his personal interactions with some of the most creative minds human civilization has ever produced – Ernest Hemingway, Jean-Paul Sartre, Simone de Beauvoir, Pablo Neruda, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Jose Saramago and a host of other intellectuals.

This attribute had also contributed to the pivotal role that Fidel and the Cuban revolution played in galvanising the anti-imperialist popular struggles across the Latin America. The solidarity that Cuba provided saw the emergence of Left leaning democratically elected governments in the countries of central America for the first time in over a century. He championed the establishment of various Latin American fora like the Sau Paulo Forum which brought together Left leaning revolutionaries and democrats on a single forum to oppose US imperialism and its efforts to hegemonise Latin America as its backyard.  From Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez to Bolivia’s Evo Morales, Fidel and the Cuban revolution were a source of inspiration. The spirit of Jose Marti and the liberation of the Latin American countries from imperialist dominance is a recurring eternal theme of the struggle of the peoples of Latin America for their emancipation. It is indeed the most fitting tribute to Comrade Fidel Castro that his ashes will be interred at the very place where Jose Marti’s mortal remains are buried.

India and Cuba under Fidel had a special relationship. To Indian communists and revolutionaries, Fidel Castro and Che Guevara are virtually household names. The imprint that Fidel Castro leaves behind in the transition of humanity from the 20th century to the 21st century is an imprint that even the worst of his critics are forced to concede. While all progressive freedom loving and peace loving democratic people around the world salute Comrade Fidel Castro, the tributes of some of his worst enemies must be recollected. The former French president Mitterrand had once said on why he chose Fidel Castro as one of the three leaders that made the greatest impression on him: because of his ability to inspire the future and his sense of history.

Cuba’s advance in modern medicine is indeed remarkable. Whether it is in the field of vaccination – Cuba was the first to produce the vaccination against hepatitis B – to neurosciences, Cuba excelled and led the world of medicine. It was so remarkable that even the USA chose to send some of their medical experts for training to Cuba. It is the graciousness of Cuba and the remarkable strength of socialism that even at the height of the economic blockade, Cuba would welcome US medical experts to learn from them.

Despite the economic difficulties and the constant battle against US imperialism, Fidel and the Cuban revolutionaries never for a moment lost sight of the essential communist principle of proletarian internationalism. Cuban doctors, teachers and Cuban armed personnel would travel the long distances to Africa and fight with the people seeking liberation whether it is South Africa, Namibia, Zambia, Mozambique or many other countries. Cuban armed volunteers joined the armed combatants in the interests of the fighting people for their liberation. Many African countries today continue to remain indebted for the selfless services of bands of Cuban medical doctors who have treated millions of their people curing many a disease.

Finally, as we bid farewell to the mortal remains of Comrade Fidel Castro, we salute him recognising the fact that his life and work will remain a source of inspiration for many generations of revolutionaries to come. It is necessary to make another point: Comrade Fidel Castro’s life and work resoundingly vindicates that a communist revolutionary is at the same time a fine human being.