Managua, Nicaragua - Participants to the 23rd Sao Paulo Forum, bringing together leftist and progressive forces from the region in Managua, Nicaragua, paid tribute to the historic leader of the Cuban Revolution Fidel Castro, Heroic Guerilla Ernesto Che Guevara, and Venezuelan comrade Hugo Chávez.

Over 300 delegates from 33 countries watched a video featuring fragments of Fidel’s most famous speeches and images of his meeting with other regional leaders such as Chávez, Daniel Ortega, Evo Morales and Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

Che’s daughter, Aleida Guevara, recalled how at six years of age she was taken out of class to receive the news that her father had been killed. She also noted how Fidel tried to help her and her siblings deal with the news, making them promise not to cry.

“When a man dies on his own terms we should not cry for him,” stated the Heroic Guerilla’s daughter.  
Finally, tribute was paid to Bolivarian comrade Hugo Chávez. Participants watched a short documentary charting the evolution of the Bolivarian Revolution led by Chávez, from the announcement of the temporary failure of the civil-military uprising, through his death in 2013.

“Chávez lives, the struggle continues” chanted the auditorium in rejection of right-wing aggression being waged in Venezuela, where elections to select a Constituent Assembly will be held, July 30.