Tens of thousands of Cubans turned
out on Sunday to pay tribute to Ernesto “Che” Guevara, the Argentine-born Marxist revolutionary and guerrilla leader, on the 50th anniversary of his death.
An estimated 70,000 people thronged the streets outside a mausoleum in this town 300 kilometers (186 miles) east of the capital Havana which houses the remains of Guevara and of some of his former comrades.
President Raul Castro, dressed in his general’s uniform, was among those attending the ceremony in Santa Clara, which was the site of a December 1958 battle that finally sent Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista into exile.
Raul Castro fought alongside Guevara during the Cuban revolution led by his brother Fidel Castro.
The 39-year-old Guevara was captured and executed by a CIA-trained unit of the Bolivian army on October 9, 1967.