Fidel Castro will always remain a legend: CPI (M)

The Communist Party of India (Marxist) CPI (M) on Saturday mourned the demise of Fidel Castro, saying the communist icon revolutionary Cuban leader will always remain a legend.

Speaking to ANI, CPI (M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury said, "Fidel Castro will remain a legend and one of the greatest revolutionary heroes of our times. He steered Cuba from being a very backward country into what it is today. He remains a big revolutionary source of inspiration. I had the fortune of meeting him three-four times, and I have written about it also."

Echoing similar sentiments, CPI (M) polit bureau member Prakash Karat said, "It is definitely an end of era in the history of 20th century, particularly the second half. Castro dominated the world's progressive and revolutionary movements and he was a figure who inspired everyone. All of us were young and that time for us, the revolutionary hero was Fidel Castro."

Cutting across party line, Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi said Castro was a person who evoked many strong reactions.

"He is a figure who represented an era and his achievements in that era of humongous unimaginable adversities have to be saluted," Singhvi said.

Castro, the revolutionary icon, one of the world's best-known and most controversial leaders, who survived countless US assassination attempts and premature obituaries, died late on Friday night after suffering a long battle with illness.

The announcement of Castro's death on Friday was long expected, given the former president's age and health problems, but when it came it was still a shock.