A New Book Defending Fidel’s Legacy and the Palestinian Resistance

By Yaimi Ravelo on October 1, 2025, in Havana

Presentation of  the new book “Fidel and the Palestinian and Arab Cause” at Casa de las Américas.

“…Stripped of their lands, expelled from their own homeland, scattered throughout the world, persecuted and murdered, the heroic Palestinians are an impressive example of self-sacrifice and patriotism, and are the living symbol of the greatest crime of our time…”

Fidel was speaking for the future when he uttered these words in a speech to inaugurate the Sixth Summit Conference of the Non-Aligned Movement on September 3, 1979. They are quoted in the new book “Fidel and the Palestinian and Arab Cause,” presented this Tuesday at Casa de las Américas. Forty-six years after that emblematic speech, the crimes of Israeli Zionism remain the most atrocious of our time.

“Fidel and the Palestinian and Arab Cause” is a necessary work in the context of the war of extermination waged since October 2023 by the genocidal state of “Israel” against Palestine and its people.

Its author, Raúl Rodríguez Ramos, a former Cuban diplomat, describes with profound clarity and historical commitment the conflict in the Middle East, which did not begin in 2023. His chapters also reflect the dignified stance of Cuban diplomacy toward the Palestinian cause and the struggles of the Arab peoples, even before the triumph of the Revolution.

The book pays tribute to Fidel’s humanist thinking.

“It highlights the exceptional role of Cuban leader Commander-in-Chief Fidel Castro Ruz in his unconditional support for Arab causes, especially Palestine,” emphasized Wafica Ibrahim, director of Al Mayadeen in Spanish, during the book presentation, accompanied by its author and Abel Prieto Jiménez, president of Casa de las Américas.

“Fidel and the Palestinian and Arab Cause” addresses a critical, difficult, and complex period in the history of Lebanon, Palestine, and the Middle East. It was a period of struggle that the author experienced and witnessed firsthand, observing its dynamics in the exercise of his diplomatic functions as chargé d’affaires of the Cuban Embassy at that time, alongside his wife and companion Silvia.

“It reaffirms Cuba’s firm support, since the triumph of the Socialist Revolution, for the just causes of the Arab world, vindicating the inalienable right of the Palestinian people to establish their independent state in their ancestral territories,” said Wafica, author of the prologue.

“It is well known that Cuba was a pioneer in recognizing the State of Palestine, which led to the opening of a Palestinian Embassy in Havana, in addition to granting thousands of scholarships to young Palestinians, Lebanese, Sahrawis, among other Arab countries and the world in general,” recalled the prominent Lebanese journalist and friend of the Cuban people.

In this context of unwavering solidarity, the author highlights the exceptional role of the Cuban leader, our Commander-in-Chief, in his unconditional support for Arab causes, especially the Palestinian cause.

“Cuba began to support the Palestinian cause after the triumph of the Cuban Revolution, and was the only Latin American nation to condemn the Israeli aggression on the morning of June 5, 1967.”

“Cuba was the only nation that does not need to break diplomatic relations with ‘Israel’ in the current context. Fidel did so in September 1973,” emphasized Wafica Ibrahim, recognizing that this action of breaking with the Zionist entity is unique in the history of Cuban diplomacy.

The recently presented book, in addition to preserving Fidel’s thoughts on the Palestinian cause and brief historical reviews of the emergence of the conflict in the Middle East, features a series of first-person accounts that help to understand the fascist and imperialist nature of the Zionist occupation since the creation of the genocidal state of “Israel.”

Thanks to the author’s diplomatic duties in Lebanon from 1982 to 1985, the narrative transports readers thousands of miles away, allowing them to breathe between the lines the heroic battles fought by the Palestinian and Lebanese resistance; the risks and difficulties faced by Cuban diplomatic personnel and their families in Beirut, in one of the bloodiest wars in the region at that time.

Cuban diplomat Raúl Rodríguez Ramos paid tribute to Jacinto Vázquez de la Garza, who was Cuba’s ambassador to Lebanon during the author’s diplomatic mission. The renowned Cuban ambassador to the Middle East is the protagonist in this book of numerous acts of courage and bravery, a predominant quality in Cuban diplomacy.

The presentation of the book “Fidel and the Palestinian and Arab Cause” was attended by Majed Abu Al Hawa, Chargé d’Affaires of the Palestinian Embassy in Cuba; Armando Vergara, Director of North Africa and the Middle East at the Cuban Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Minrex); Lis Cuesta Peraza, National Director of Events at the Cuban Ministry of Culture; Graciela Ramírez Cruz, General Coordinator of the International Committee for Peace, Justice and Dignity for the Peoples, a prominent defender of the Palestinian cause and head of the Cuban correspondent office of Resumen Latinoamericano.

The meeting included the participation of Cuban ambassadors and former ambassadors to countries in Africa and the Middle East, as well as friends and defenders of the Palestinian cause. “Fidel and the Palestinian and Arab Cause” is part of the “Fidel Castro Centennial Collection” and was edited and printed in the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela by the El Perro y la Rana Publishing Foundation in collaboration with Casa de las Américas.

Abel Prieto Jiménez, president of the Casa, thanked Raúl Cazal for his work in Venezuela to increase the print run of this work for the upcoming Havana Book Fair.

“This book is the best proof that the Comandante left victorious and will continue to be our guide forever, despite the tireless attempts of his enemies to obscure his greatness and distort his ideology. Fidel’s legacy has had a profound impact not only on the consciousness of the Cuban people, but on all of humanity, because of his ability to transform what seemed impossible and unthinkable into something achievable, making it a reality not through stubborn imposition, but through critical thinking, constant work, and absolute enthusiasm in the face of any challenge.

“I heard it said very directly by our President Miguel Díaz-Canel, remembering and evoking Fidel and the lessons he has left us,” said Wafica Ibrahim.

Cuba was among the first thirteen founding nations of the United Nations to recognize the State of Palestine before 1959. With a deeply anti-colonialist character, it denounced the Israeli occupation and affirmed the right of the Palestinian people to defend their sovereignty and independence. Cuba remains firm in its principles, on the side of justice and truth, on the side of the history of the peoples.

Source: Cuba en Resumen