On the eve of November 25, a group of journalists from Las Tunas met at the Casa de la Prensa to “talk about Fidel.” It was not one of those meetings that involve hierarchies and nostalgia; it was just a dialogue between colleagues from different generations who, at some point, were close to him.

Las Tunas, Cuba.- Some brought photos; others confessed to having unpublished ones in very ancient scrolls; funny anecdotes from the first meeting slipped out; the coverage in which the Tesla recorder played a trick on them; and even the first time they heard his name, as children and without having an exact idea of how relevant his imprint would be on the lives of each of them.

Fidel was in Las Tunas around 20 times, officially, and some of the journalists from the territory who accompanied him on the visits spoke of his bony hands, the impeccable olive green of his clothes, and the imposing and gentle figure that was capable of encompassing everything… even if you were at a safe distance from his gesture.

Peñita confessed that he even photographed him a few centimeters away; Adalys spoke of the memorable day when he met with the press and told them: “Let's conspire,” perched on a table; and Eugenio remembered the meeting in which the greeting was a direct question, asked head-on, at the top of his lungs.

István, for his part, claimed to be far from the idea of omnipotence in which many hold him: “Fidel knew that it was possible but not because he was enlightened, but because he was informed about everything. He believed that everything was possible with work and effort. And it is not good to idealize or remember him with sadness.”

From the meeting, among the many ideas that made their way, what remained was to unite the dispersed experience; delve into the collective memory, and take steps to weave the footprint of man in these streets. That is a concrete way to pay tribute to his actions and also to the children of Las Tunas who drank directly from his sap.