On the evening of December 26, 1993, a special commemorative event was grandly held in the State Guesthouse in Cuba, a socialist country in the Western Hemisphere. It turns out that this day is the 100th birthday of the Communist Party of China and Chairman Mao, the leader of the

On the evening of December 26, 1993, a special commemorative event was grandly held in the State Guesthouse in socialist country Cuba in the Western Hemisphere.

It turns out that this day is the 100th birthday of the Communist Party of China and the leader of the New China Chairman Mao. In order to commemorate the revolutionary who had a huge impact on the world communist movement, the Cuban leaders held a grand rally.

Chairman Mao

As the then Chinese ambassador to Cuba, Xu Yicong was also invited to participate in this important event. Not only that, the Cuban leader also made a request to him in advance, asked the Chinese ambassador to bring a special tape...

Ambassador Xu only knew what Cuba intended after he brought the tape. It turned out that the climax of the entire commemorative event that night was that all participants, including the then supreme leader of Cuba, Fidel Castro, , followed the tape and sang a Chinese song together...

So, what exactly is this Chinese song sung by Cuban leaders? Castro , what is the relationship between me and Chairman Mao?

"Can sell sugar to China"

Time back to February 19, 1959. On this day, Fidel Castro said this: "We should sell sugar to those who need to buy it. If Russians need sugar, we will sell it to them. If China needs sugar, we can sell sugar to China. "

Anyone with a little common sense knows that Cuba is one of the major sugar-producing countries in the world. So, under what circumstances did Castro make this statement?

It turned out that more than a month ago, Castro had just led the rebel army to overthrow Cuba's original Batista regime, and established the first socialist regime in the entire America, and called it the "Cuban Revolutionary Government" . On February 16 of that year, he took office as prime minister of the new government. The Batista regime, which was overthrown by the rebels, was recognized and supported by the United States. But now, seeing a new socialist regime appear in its backyard has made the United States deeply worried.

Therefore, in order to kill the new Cuban regime as soon as possible, the United States decided to take some economic measures. At that time, sugar was an important product exported by Cuba, and the United States threatened to reduce the import of Cuba sugar .

As a revolutionary, Castro will naturally not be easily frightened. So, there was the saying that "can be sold to China".

It is worth noting that since the new Cuban regime was just established, the two countries have not yet formally established diplomatic relations. However, Xinhua News Agency noticed the statement made by the new Cuban prime minister and wrote it into the public manuscript. Although diplomatic relations have not been established yet, the relationship between New China and New Cuba has begun to heat up due to the coexistence of socialist camps. In July of the same year, a delegation of Chinese journalists visited the Cuban capital Havana and received a meeting with Raul Castro .

Rauer is Fidel's younger brother. The brothers went to school together since childhood and later participated in the revolution together. After a arduous struggle, they finally overthrew the former regime and ushered in their own era.

At this time, Raul was appointed commander-in-chief of the Cuban Revolutionary Armed Forces. When meeting with the Chinese delegation, he entrusted the guests to present a copper tank model to Marshal Zhu De. Not only that, Raul also told them: "Mao Zedong is one of the most respected figures among young people in Latin America."

With the development of Sino-Cuba relations, the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries has begun to be put on the agenda. On September 2, 1960, the National Congress of Cuba was held in the Revolution Square in Havana.

Suddenly, Castro asked loudly to the people at the scene: "Is the Cuban people willing to establish diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China ?"

Nearly one million people at the scene responded positively to this question of the revolutionary leader. Therefore, 26 days later, the China-Cutralia issued a communiqué to establish diplomatic relations, confirming that the two countries formally established diplomatic relations. In this way, Cuba became the first country in the Western Hemisphere to establish diplomatic relations with New China.

After the two sides established diplomatic relations, Cuba, an island country that was originally far and mysterious to the Chinese, quickly entered their daily lives. From the song "Beautiful Havana" written by Chinese musicians to the imported Cuban sugar, they have become unforgettable memories for Chinese people at that time.

Cuban sugar

Cuban missile crisis broke out. Chairman Mao strongly supported Cuba

Just a few years after the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Cuba, the Cuban missile crisis that shocked the world occurred, which had a significant and far-reaching impact on the international situation.

After the establishment of the new Cuban regime, the United States adopted a hostile attitude towards it. Not only that, in April 1961, the US CIA created " Bay of Pigs incident " . 1,400 fully armed Cuban exiles landed on the coast of the Bay of Pigs with the support of the US military, trying to launch a raid on the new Cuban regime.

Although the new Cuban regime quelled the attack, leaders such as Castro know that it is difficult to gain a foothold in the complex international situation with their own strength alone. So, they asked the Soviet Union for assistance from the big brother of the socialist camp.

The Soviet Union had already secretly enjoyed establishing a socialist regime in Cuba. Now the other party came to look for it on his own initiative, so naturally it hit it off. Therefore, they not only decided to provide assistance to Cuba, but the two sides of also secretly signed an agreement in June 1962 to deploy the Soviet Union's missile in .

Just as both sides were promoting missile deployment, on October 15 of the same year, a US aircraft took photos of the Soviet Union's medium-range ballistic missile and quickly confirmed a shocking fact - the Soviet Union had deployed 16 to 32 missiles nuclear weapons in Cuba...

Faced with this unexpected situation, US President Kennedy publicly announced the fact that the Soviet Union deployed missiles in Cuba on October 22, also said that this behavior posed an obvious threat to the peace and security of all American countries, and the United States would never let it go.

Therefore, the United States not only ordered a blockade of Cuba, but also intercepted and inspected all ships that could travel to Cuba. Not only that, the United States mobilized its troops to assemble, and the global US military entered a state of nuclear war readiness.

, and the Soviet government is not to be outdone. They issued a statement saying that they will continue to "assist" Cuba with nuclear weapons in accordance with the previous agreement, and firmly refuse the interception of the US warship . Not only that, the Soviet government also said that if the United States dares to launch a war, the Soviet Union will launch the "most fierce counterattack."

Just like that, as both sides were at a strife, the Cuban missile crisis broke out in , and the Third World War was about to break out.

As a member of the socialist camp, when news of the United States blockade of Cuba came out, Chairman Mao issued a solemn statement expressing his firm support for Cuba and opposing the US war provocation.

Chairman Mao

"No matter what kind of storm, the 650 million Chinese people will always stand with the Cuban people, firmly support the Cuban revolution, unite, and fight to the end for the war and aggression policy against US imperialism." The statement said.

However, after the United States said that it would really enter the "quarantine zone" intercepted Soviet ships, The Soviet side suddenly changed its mind in the face of the strong American strength . Two days later, the United States and the Soviet Union officially reached a compromise. The Soviet Union will dismantle all missiles deployed in Cuba, and the United States promises that it will not launch a military attack on Cuba.

And on the same day, " People's Daily " published an article entitled "People around the world to mobilize, support the Cuban people, and crush the American war provocation." Chairman Mao personally revised it many times and once again expressed his support for Cuba.

With Chairman Mao’s support, Castro became more confident in speaking. The Cuban leader proposed "five conditions" to the United States. Cuba agreed to withdraw Soviet missiles and bomber after the other party accepted it.

Not only that, on October 31, the People's Daily published an editorial "Defending the Cuban Revolution" reviewed by Chairman Mao, in which it expressed the principles and positions of the Chinese government.

"The Chinese people are revolutionary comrades who can withstand any serious test. No matter what kind of storm, our 650 million Chinese people will always stand with the Cuban people and fight to the end to defend the Cuban revolution." The editorial reads.

However, Cuba ultimately failed to withstand the pressure from the Soviet Union. On November 20, the Soviet Union withdrew 42 missiles deployed in Cuba and removed all missile bases. Soon, the United States announced the lifting of the maritime blockade on Cuba, and the Cuban missile crisis ended .

Castro gave Chairman Mao a gun but failed to meet him

In fact, before the Cuban missile crisis broke out, Chairman Mao was full of affection for Cuba and Castro. On the evening of April 19, 1961, Chairman Mao met with the Cuban Cultural Delegation at Nanchang . When he finally bid farewell to his Cuban friend, he specifically instructed him to extend his warm greetings to Prime Minister Castro and wished the Cuban people victory in the struggle against the United States.

And Cuban leaders also appreciate China and Chairman Mao on the other side of the world. On October 1, 1960, Xinhua News Agency broadcasted the telecommunications: "Chairman Mao Zedong received a congratulatory message from Cuban Prime Minister Fidel Castro to congratulate the 11th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China." In this congratulatory message, Castro said: "The Chinese people can always hope that we can do our best to further strengthen the close and friendly ties that unite us. Please allow me to express my warmest wishes to you, and I wish the Chinese people and the Chinese government to continue to achieve achievements and progress."

Castro

In March 1961, China held an economic development achievements exhibition in Havana. All Cuban leaders came and left messages to express congratulations.

Fidel wrote: "How can I express my opinions on everything I see? We sincerely congratulate the Chinese people and the great leaders of the Chinese people who guided them to victory. We will also win like them."

His younger brother Raul wrote: "I extend my cordial greetings to the heroic Chinese people and our warmest congratulations to congratulate them on their achievements in the process of their revolution under the firm leadership of the Communist Party and its leader Mao Zedong."

By the spring of 1964, when Chinese first ambassador to Cuba Shen Jian set out to return home, Castro gave him a special gift and entrusted him to Chairman Mao Zedong.

This special gift is a pistol engraved with the name of Spanish Mao Zedong. This is an American M1911A1 pistol, which was seized by the Cuban regime during the Bay of Pigs incident in April 1961.

After receiving this gift, Chairman Mao asked the General Office of the CPC Central Committee to hand it over to the Military Museum of the Chinese People's Revolution. To this day, it is still displayed in the gift hall of Military Museum .

However, although the leaders and revolutionaries of the socialist countries appreciate each other very much, they were not destined to meet until the death of Chairman Mao in 1976.

In Castro's first autobiography, My Life, when talking about Mao Zedong, the legendary Cuban leader said: "I really hope to get to know Mao Zedong, but it became impossible because of the contradictions and differences between China and the Soviet Union at that time." Although we were not able to meet, Castro's evaluation of Chairman Mao was very high: "Among the world's greatest political strategists, among all military leaders from ancient times to the present, you must not miss Mao Zedong."

Castro's autobiography

However, nearly 20 years after Chairman Mao's death, At the end of 1995, Castro visited China for the first time. He not only came to Tiananmen Square , but also visited Chairman Mao’s Memorial Hall and presented wreaths to Chairman Mao’s statue.

, who was on the scene at the time, Chen Jinhua, former vice chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, recalled that Castro "slowly walked towards Chairman Mao's crystal coffin , standing for a long time."

Before that, there were related reports that as early as the 1950s, Castro had carefully read Chairman Mao’s famous work " on protracted war ". Not only that, he also asked the headquarters to print Chairman Mao’s works on guerrilla warfare and people’s war into a booklet and distribute them to the army for the soldiers to learn. And these pamphlets are called "food from China."

So, during this visit to China with Castro, Chen Jinhua specifically asked the other party about this matter. However, Fidel told him that he had never read Chairman Mao’s works when he was fighting guerrilla warfare. Because there is formally printed Spanish Mao Zedong's works, it was after Cuban Revolution victory .

"If I had seen Chairman Mao's works at that time, the victory of the Cuban revolution might have been earlier," , Castro said humorously.

Two years before Castro's first visit to China, on the evening of December 26, 1993, in order to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Chairman Mao's birth, Cuban leaders gathered in the State Guesthouse to hold related commemorative activities.

Xu Yicong, the then Chinese ambassador to Cuba, who was invited to attend at the time, recalled that the Castro brothers all came to the scene in person and delivered a long speech, highly praised Chairman Mao’s influence and contribution to China and Cuba.

Castro was in Chairman Mao Memorial Hall

Not only that, before Xu Yicong set off, Raul also specially asked him to bring the tape of the song " Oriental Red " . This is a folk song Shaanxi North , which appeared in the late stage of the Anti-Japanese War, expressing the people's deep

of Chairman Mao and the Communist Party of China led by the party that day, and the climax of the evening party was that all participants sang "Oriental Red" together. Although the Chinese pronunciation of Fidel and others is not very standard, these Cuban still follow the tune and sang the entire song.