BLAST FROM THE PAST

​Dr. Fidel Castro paid a visit to Mount St Benedict soon after the Cuban Revolution in 1959. Here he is being greeted by the prior, Dom Hugh van der Sanden. He was accompanied by Ernesto "Che" Guevara, an Argentine Marxist revolutionary, and several members of the new Cuban Regime. Dr. Castro was on his way to Rio de Janeiro. As he was about to leave 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 Trinidad. The hills in the distance reminded him of the hills from which he orchestrated his armed revolt against the authoritarian government of Cuban President Fulgencio Batista. He was warmly greeted by the monks, including Brother Bruno and the prior, who took him for an extensive visit of the monastery.
Dr. Castro who was educated at Havana's Jesuit-run Belen College and who belonged to the Catholic University Students movement while studying law in Havana University, said that Cuba is beginning a new era in which the Christian spirit will prevail. ( Credit Archives from Mount St. Benedict). (Source: Virtual Museum of TT , May 9, 2022)