Castro pays homage to Che Guevara on 40th anniversary of his death

(8 Oct 2007) 1. Wide of Che Guevara monument at Revolution Square, Santa Clara 2. Wide interior monument tombs 3. Close-up eternal flame 4. Close-up Che's tomb 5. Medium of relatives placing flowers on tombs 6. Close-up Aleida Guevara (Che's daughter) placing flower on father's tomb 7. Close-up Che's tomb with daughter's flower 8. SOUNDBITE: (Spanish) Aleida Guevara, daughter of Che Guevara: "I want to recall the commitment we all have for a stronger society, today Latin America begins to wake up and the dreams of all of them together are becoming a reality. We must be more present and firm than ever; that is the best homage to our parents, to our loved ones." 9. Medium of eternal flame 10. Medium Raul Castro arriving at Revolution Square and greeting Guevara family 11. Wide of Honour Guard rifle salute 12. Acting president Raul Castro, Ramiro Valdes, Guillermo Garcia saluting (left to right) 13. Wide of monument and dancers 14. Medium of dancers 15. Wide same 16. Close-up of school children in audience 17. Raul Castro, Ramiro Valdes, Guillermo Garcia watching stage (left to right) 18. Wide of crowd and sign (Spanish) "We want you to be like Che" 19. SOUNDBITE: (Spanish) Ramiro Valdes, Comandante of the Revolution and Minister of Communications: "Ten years ago we had not suffered the hard hit of Fidel's illness, our guide, the boss who at the same time could tend to a myriad of enormous tasks. He is today recovering and is playing an irreplaceable role of orientation with his thoughts and experience." 20. Tilt up Che monument 21. Wide of Revolution Square 22. Medium shot flags with Che picture 23. Medium Raul Castro and Ramiro Valdes place flowers at base of monument 24. Cutaway Che monument 25. Aleida March, Che's widow, and Aleida Guevara place flowers 25. SOUNDBITE: (Spanish) Jose Luis Quintanilla, 10-year-old schoolboy: "He was a very brave man, he fought in the Sierra next to Fidel, he came on the Granma yacht and today is the 40th anniversary of his death." 26. School children in line with flowers in hand STORYLINE Fidel Castro paid homage to Ernesto "Che" Guevara as an "exceptional combatant" in a written missive as many of the Argentine guerrilla's former comrades and relatives gathered in central Cuba on Monday for a ceremony marking the 40th anniversary of his capture and subsequent execution. But Castro, who has not been seen in public since undergoing intestinal surgery and ceding power to his brother Raul more than 14 months ago, did not attend the low-key, hour-long ceremony in Santa Clara, one of several such tributes to the guerrilla leader being held around the Americas. Still, the ailing leader's presence was felt as a government presenter read his message to several thousand people gathered before the towering bronze statue built in Santa Clara in Guevara's likeness. A previously made recording of Castro reading a historic letter Guevara wrote to him four decades ago was also broadcast over loudspeakers. "I halt in my daily combat to bow my head, with respect and gratitude, to the exceptional combatant who fell on the 8th of October 40 years ago," Castro wrote in the essay, which was also published Monday in the Communist Party daily newspaper Granma. "I give him thanks for what he tried to do, and for what he could not do in his country of birth because he was like a flower yanked prematurely from its stem." The iconic image of Guevara with a scraggly beard and a beret is still embraced by many in Cuba and the rest of Latin America, where he inspired guerrilla movements in the 1970s and 1980s. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter:   / ap_archive   Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​ Instagram:   / apnews   You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...