Cuban ambassador visits Mt St Benedict…

Memories of Castro’s visit 66 years ago

By Kaelanne Jordan

mediarelations.camsel@catholictt.org

The monks of Mount St Benedict welcomed His Excellency Gustavo Daniel Véliz Olivares, the Ambassador of the Republic of Cuba, for his first official visit to the monastery, Tuesday, June 3.

“It was a very moving moment for us here at Mount St Benedict and we were very happy to receive him…he was very excited”, said Abbot John Pereira OSB.

The Ambassador’s presence stirred memories of a momentous occasion in the monastery’s history—the visit of Dr Fidel Castro in 1959, shortly after the Cuban Revolution.

Abbot Pereira recounted: “He was greeted very warmly by the monks, by the Prior Don Hugh. And with Fidel Castro he was accompanied by Ernesto Che Guevara, an Argentinian Marxist revolutionary, and several members of the new Cuba regime.”

He said that Dr Castro had been on his way to Rio de Janeiro, and as he was about to leave the Piarco International Airport, “he looked up into the hills, he beheld the majestic sight of the monastery in the distance and immediately demanded that he be taken there before leaving our shores.”

Abbot Pereira stated that the hills reminded Dr Castro of the hills from which he orchestrated his armed revolt against the authoritarian government of Cuban President Fulgencio Batista.

He commented that Dr Castro had been educated at Havana’s Jesuit-run Belén College, and he belonged to the Catholic University Student’s Movement as a youth while studying law in Havana University. “He said that at that time that Cuba is beginning a new era in which the Christian spirit will prevail.”

The 2025 visit followed in the footsteps of that landmark occasion.

“He (Ambassador Olivares) said he came to the monastery because of its historical importance to the nation of Trinidad and Tobago and also to connect with that initial visit of Dr Fidel Castro,” Abbot Pereira said.

The Ambassador was presented two books on the history of the monastic community at Mount St Benedict including Longing to Belong.

Abbot Pereira said that the ambassador addressed the monks stating that there have been lots of “misconceptions” about Cuba over the years. He shared that Cuba is the only Socialist nation in the world that has never cut ties with the Vatican.

“There is a Cuban embassy in the Vatican and the Vatican has an embassy in Cuba,” Abbot Pereira said.

“He said Cuba was visited by the last and most recent three popes: Pope Francis, Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict, so he told us there is a cordial relationship between the Church and the government in Cuba and that he wants to sustain that.”

The visit ended on a hopeful note for future collaboration. “He was very happy with his visit and his team and he’s also speaking to us about organising an event on the Mount to mark the 100th birthday of Dr Fidel Castro and the 10th anniversary of his death… So this will be discussed at a later date.”

“So there’s been a lot of positives coming out of the visit and we hope to continue our relationship with the ambassador and with the Cuban government,” Abbot Pereira said.

As part of the tour, the ambassador visited the monastery’s library and archives. “On his visit to the monastery, His Excellency was also taken with his team to our monastic library, and he was even impressed there. He even saw books there about the life and thoughts of Dr Fidel Castro and Che Guevara.”