BY MARTÍN KOPPEL
HAVANA - For three days, a seemingly endless river of
people flowed into the Plaza of the Revolution here, as tens
of thousands of workers and other Cubans came to pay their
last respects to Ernesto Che Guevara and his fellow
combatants, who fell in battle 30 years ago in Bolivia at the
hands of the U.S.-backed Bolivian military.
Throngs of workers, high school students, soldiers, entire families, a scattering of international visitors from around the Americas, people of all ages and walks of life filed through the José Martí monument, past the honor guard and the seven caskets, each draped with the flag of their country. The six fighters whose remains were recently taken to Cuba along with those of Guevara are Alberto Fernández Montes de Oca, Orlando Pantoja, René Martínez Tamayo, and Carlos Coello of Cuba; Simeón Cuba of Bolivia; and Juan Pablo Chang-Navarro of Peru.
The outpouring has been a solemn reaffirmation by working people in this country of the internationalist working-class course of the Cuban revolution and its leadership. There has also been an element of celebration, as one Havana worker, Blanca Santacruz, put it, of "our Che - the Che the imperialists could not kill because his ideas are in millions of Cubans and people all over the world."
Santacruz was one of the hundreds of workers who had volunteered after work to serve as monitors guiding the snaking line of people. They contributed to the general air of quiet discipline. The line was so long that most people had to wait several hours to get to the monument.
"Why are we here? Because of what Che represents: his ideas about the importance of work," remarked José Jacomillo, 30, a construction worker who came with 500 co- workers from the March 13 Contingent of volunteer construction workers. "And Che's internationalism, because he is a reminder of the international missions Cubans have been part of, and that if we had to do it again, we would do it again."
Among the first in line was a group of University of Havana students who have formed a study group to read and discuss Che's works. The group calls itself "Vive" (He lives). Maidy Bayona Hernández, 18, one of its members, said, "Imperialism now is trying to present Che as a harmless figure, a saint, San Ernesto de La Higuera. But he is a son of our revolution and that is what we're saying here."
"Look at all the people here in the Plaza," said Juan José Iglesias, a worker from a paint factory who came with dozens of co-workers. "I'm not surprised at the large turnout. It shows how strong the revolution is, and how strong Che's ideas are."
The remains of the seven revolutionaries lay in state for three days in Havana. On October 14, a military caravan took them to Santa Clara, passing through Matanzas and other cities and towns on the way, as tens of thousands of people lined the streets for miles. On October 17, a solemn ceremony will be held in Santa Clara to lay the combatants' remains to rest at the Ernesto Che Guevara monument there.
Guevara commanded the forces that liberated Santa Clara on January 1, 1959 - the last major battle of the revolutionary war that brought down the U.S.-backed Batista dictatorship. The people of Santa Clara consider Che a native son.