Source:  Algeria Press Service

ALGIERS- An exhibition of photographs and archives shedding light on the life and career of the leader of the Cuban Revolution Fidel Castro opened Thursday in Algiers.

Organized by the National Archives, the exhibition, devoted to the memory of Fidel Castro, who died on 25 November 2016, includes photos, newspaper cuttings and official correspondences exchanged between Algiers and Havana.

The exhibition comprises photos on Fidel Castro’s official visits to Algeria and meetings with foreign leaders and Algerian Presidents namely Houari Boumediene, Ahmed Ben Bella, Chadli Bendjedid and Abdelaziz Bouteflika.

The visitors will also be able to see newspaper cuttings and photos of Fidel Castro’s official visit to Algeria in 1972 where he returned, one year later, on the occasion of the Non-Aligned Movement Conference held in Algiers.

Other photos showing the Cuban leader receiving Algerian presidents in Cuba, including Ahmed Ben Bella (1962), Houari Boumediene (1974), Chadli Ben Djedid (1985) and the recent visit of Prime Minister Abdelmalek Sellal (2016) are also part of this exhibition.

This exhibition also includes the written speech of President Bouteflika on the occasion of Fidel Castro’s visit to Algeria in 2001.

Attending the inauguration, Director General of the National Archives Abdelmadjid Chikhi said that the exhibition is meant to be “a tribute to a great man who managed to lead his people according to the principles of the Algerian Revolution.”

See also:  Fidel Castro’s death: President Bouteflika declares 8 days of national mourning

November 26 2016

ALGIERS- President of the Republic Abdelaziz Bouteflika on Saturday has declared eight days of national mourning as from Sunday following the death of Cuba’s former president Fidel Castro, said the Presidency of the Republic in a statement.

In a statement issued by the presidency, Bouteflika said Castro’s “death is a great loss for the Algerian people,” and declared a national mourning period that is to start on Sunday.

The Algerian president also sent his condolences to his Cuban counterpart Raul Castro, in which he said that he has lost a friend that has accompanied him for half a century.

I lose personally, a friend

“With his passing, I lose personally, a friend and companion of more than half a century. This is also a great loss for the people of Algeria who have a special relationship with El Comandante, made of respect, admiration and mutual affection,” Bouteflika said.

Algeria and Cuba established diplomatic relations right after Algerian independence in 1962, and the Caribbean island state supported the North African nation’s reconstruction efforts, especially in the medical field.

Fidel Castro visited Algeria in 1972 and 1976 where he was welcomed with great pomp and ceremony. Castro’s last official visit to Algeria was in May 2001.

Castro died on Friday at the age of 90 in Havana.

“The commander-in-chief of the Cuban revolution died at 22:29 hours this evening,” President Raul Castro announced on national television just after midnight Friday local time.

Living by the slogan “socialism or death”, he kept the faith to the end, even as the Cold War came and went.

His rule endured numerous assassination attempts and the disastrous US-backed Bay of Pigs invasion attempt in 1961.

“If I am considered a myth, the United States deserves the credit,” he said in 1988.