Radio Cadena Agramonte emisiora de Camagüey
Santiago de Chile, Sep 25.- Unpublished images of the visit of the historical leader of the Cuban Revolution, Fidel Castro, to the Esmeralda School Ship in 1971 were revealed today in Chile by the family that kept them for more than half a century.
The Navy ship was anchored in the port of Havana between 22 and 26 February that year and Fidel was received on 23 by more than 300 sailors on board, with whom he talked and took several photographs.
"It has been a great honour for our people to have the visit of the Esmeralda School Ship," the Cuban leader wrote in a large dedication.
The almost 20 snapshots were saved during the 17 years of the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet (1973-1990) by the relatives of the communist militant and deputy for Valparaíso Manuel Cantero Prado (1925-2010).
This September, when the coup is 51 years old, Cantero’s nephew, Jaime Vergara, released the images.
Built in Spain, at the shipyards of Cadiz, the Esmeralda School Ship was delivered to the Chilean government on June 15, 1954 and during its years of navigation numerous courses were given for midshipmen, sailors, cadets and cabin boys.
He visited more than 300 ports around the world and was visited by dignitaries, diplomats and military leaders.
After the attack against the government of Salvador Allende, the dictatorship turned the ship into a detention and torture center in the port of Valparaíso, where more than a hundred people were taken, among them the Chilean-English priest Miguel Woodward, subsequently disappeared. (Text and photo: PL)
