On October 14, 1997, the remains of Guevara and six other companions were transferred to Santa Clara, capital of the Villa Clara province in the center of the country.

The ossuaries of the Argentine-Cuban commander were deposited in the Caturla room of the José Martí provincial library, where thousands of people paraded past until October 17, when they were transferred to the Che Guevara memorial in the morning.

Che’s coffin had arrived in Cuba from Bolivia on July 12, 1997, after his remains were found on the Vallegrande airstrip.

For his part, the Venezuelan president, Hugo Rafael Chávez, held his Aló Presidente program in this city eighteen years ago today, witnesses recalled at the Ernesto Che Guevara memorial, the site of his speech.

At this historic site, the late Venezuelan president laid a wreath at the niche of Commander Guevara, to whom he dedicated the 298th edition of his program.

For more than five hours, Hugo Chávez talked about various topics, and spoke live by telephone with the then president of Cuba and supreme leader of the Cuban Revolution, Fidel Castro.

This event was widely covered by newspapers, television stations, radio stations and press agencies in various countries and had a wide international impact, arousing great interest in various media outlets around the world. Upon his arrival in Santa Clara, accompanied by the Commander of the Revolution Ramiro Valdés, Chávez toured the main arteries of the city, where hundreds of people cheered the presence of the man whom Fidel Castro defined as Cuba’s best friend.

ef/ro/jfd