In July 1997 the remains of Che Guevara and his compañeros killed in combat were discovered in Bolivia and returned to Cuba. Fidel Castro gave the following memorial speech in Santa Clara, Cuba:
With profound emotion we experience one of those moments that will never again be repeated.
We are not here to say farewell to Che and his heroic compañeros. We are here to welcome them.
I see Che and his men as reinforcements, as a movement of invincible combatants, which on this occasion not only includes Cubans, but also Latin Americans who came to fight with us and write new pages of history and glory.
I also see Che as a moral giant who grows with each passing day, whose image, strength, and influence have multiplied throughout the earth.
How can he fit beneath a memorial stone?
How can he fit into this square?
How can he fit into our beloved, but small, island?
Only in the world that he dreamed of, which he lived and fought for, is there enough space for him.
The greater the injustice, the greater the exploitation, the greater the inequality, the greater the unemployment, the greater the poverty, hunger, and misery that prevail in human society, the greater his figure will be.
The values he defended will appear more elevated in the face of growing imperialist power, hegemony, domination, and interventionism that deny the most sacred rights of humanity, particularly the rights of the weak, underdeveloped, and poor peoples in what were for centuries colonies of the West and sources of slave labor.
His profound humanism will always stand in stark contrast to growing abuse, egotism, alienation, discrimination against indigenous peoples, ethnic minorities, women, and immigrants. It will stand against child labor and the sexual commodification of hundreds of thousands of children. It will stand against ignorance, disease, unemployment, and insecurity.
His example as an upright, revolutionary, and principled man will be ever more outstanding, as long as corrupt politicians, demagogues, and hypocrites exist everywhere.
Admiration for his personal bravery and revolutionary integrity will grow as long as the numbers of cowards, opportunists, and traitors on earth increase. While others flinch from their duty, the greater will be the respect for his iron will. The more people lacking integrity, the greater his sense of honor and dignity; the more skeptics there are, the greater his faith in humanity; the more pessimists there are, the greater his optimism; the more fear there is, the greater his daring; the more idlers there are who waste the products of the labor of others in luxury and leisure, the greater his austerity and his spirit of work and study.
Che was a true communist and is today an example and a paradigm of the revolutionary and the communist.
Che was a teacher who forged men and women like himself. Consistent with his actions, he never failed to do what he preached, or demand of himself what he demanded of others.
Whenever a volunteer was required for a difficult mission, he was the first in line, both in war and in peace. His great dreams depended on his willingness to give his life generously. Nothing was impossible for him, and he was capable of making the impossible possible.
The invasion from the Sierra Maestra through vast and unprotected plains and the capture of the city of Santa Clara with just a few men are among those feats that show his amazing capabilities.
His ideas on revolution in his own country and in the rest of Latin America, in spite of enormous difficulties, were possible. Had he made them a reality, perhaps today the world might be different. Vietnam proved it could fight against the interventionist forces of imperialism and defeat them. The Sandinistas triumphed against one of the most powerful puppet governments of the United States. The Salvadoran revolutionaries were just about to win victory. In Southern Africa, apartheid was defeated in spite of the state possessing nuclear weapons. China, thanks to the heroic struggle of its workers and peasant farmers, is today one of the most promising countries in the world. Hong Kong was returned after 150 years of an occupation established through the Opium Wars.
Not all historical eras or circumstances require the same methods and the same tactics. But nothing can stop the march of history; its objective laws are immutable. Che based himself on these social laws and had an absolute faith in humanity. Very often revolutionaries and those seeking profound social change do not have the privilege of seeing their dreams realized as quickly as they had hoped or desired, but sooner or later they are victorious.
A combatant may die, but not their ideas. What was a man from the US government doing up there where Che was wounded and taken prisoner? How could they believe that by killing Che he would cease to exist as a combatant? Now, he is not in La Higuera; instead he is everywhere, wherever there is a just cause to defend. Those who wanted to kill him, to make him disappear, were not able to understand that he would leave an indelible footprint in history and that his luminous prophet’s gaze would transform him into a symbol for all the earth’s poor in their millions upon millions. Young people, children, the elderly, men and women who have learned about him, honest people throughout the world, regardless of their social background, admire him.
Che is taking up and winning more battles than ever.
Thank you, Che, for your history, your life, and your example!
Thank you for coming to fortify us in this difficult battle we are engaged in today to save the ideas you fought so hard for, to save the revolution, our country, and the achievements of socialism, where some of the great dreams you cherished have come true!
To carry forward this heroic achievement, to defeat the imperialists’ plans against Cuba, to resist the blockade, to achieve victory, we count on you.
As you can see, this land is your land, these people are your people, and this revolution is your revolution. We continue to fly the socialist banner with honor and pride.
Welcome, heroic compañeros of the reinforcement! The trenches of ideas and justice that you defend together with our people will never be conquered by the enemy! And together we will continue to fight for a better world!
¡Hasta la victoria siempre! [Ever onward to victory!]