A Memoir about Shams-e Al-e Ahmad’s Trip to Cuba
Mahmood Fazeli
Translated by: Mohammad Karimi
In 1985 I had an official trip to Nicaragua in Central America. The dictator of this country had been fallen down some time after the Islamic Revolution in Iran in 1979. This country was considered as a New Leftist pattern for the Latin Americans. During the trip a group of Islamic Consultative Assembly and I had a meeting with Daniel Ortega (the president then and now) who was elected by Sandinistas Revolutionaries.
I visited Shams-e Al-e Ahmad for the first time there; he was calm, dignified and slim and had a low voice. I could hardly hear him. Getting old was clear in his face.
The heavy program of the mission for the trip; several meetings and sessions with officials of that revolutionary country, whom most of them had fought and being imprisoned for long time, did not let me to have more dialogues with Shams.
Shams after a long residence in Managua, the capital, went out toward Havana, Cuba. He had planned this trip quite personally. The matter which is published in some websites that say he was going there to participate in the Cuban Communist Party Congress is baseless. Some even have claimed the he has had visited Fidel Castro, the Cuban leader. Iranian Ambassador at that time there, believes that there has been no such a visit with Castro and emphasizes Shams’s trip was quite personal. His memoirs about this few months trip to these two countries later were published in two volumes.
His membership in the Cuban-Iranian Friendship Association undoubtedly is not unrelated to his trip to Havana to get more familiar with this country. He established this association along with some others in 2002. However, he could not take part in the monthly meetings of this association because of his sickness. This association issued a condolence announcement and called him “Noble and loving Human and Teacher”.
The ones who have seen him during his residence in Havana say that Shams observed the Cuban developments closely. Shams was coming from Nicaragua, one of the poorest Central American countries, to Havana and undoubtedly observed the apparent differences between the two countries. Fundamental measures such as uprooting illiteracy and heath care system development had brought moral credit for Cubans among many political experts and observers. But lack of democracy was the main problem with the Cuban political system during the forty years of Castro’s Revolutionary government as the last Cold War survivor.
Number of Visits: 4036








The latest
- Indecent police officer
- Significance and Function of Oral History in Documenting Organizational Knowledge and History – 1
- Memoirs of Ali Bigleri, Iranian Prisoner Released from Camp Ashraf
- Excerpts from Memoirs of Abdullah Salehi
- SABAH (108)
- The 333rd Night of Memory – 3
- The Narrative of Resistance
- Memorial of Mr. Seyed Mostafa Khomeini
Most visited
- The 333rd Night of Memory – 3
- The Narrative of Resistance
- A Review of the Book "Ismail Nazr-Aftab"
- Significance and Function of Oral History in Documenting Organizational Knowledge and History – 1
- SABAH (107)
- Memorial of Mr. Seyed Mostafa Khomeini
- Excerpts from Memoirs of Abdullah Salehi
- Memoirs of Ali Bigleri, Iranian Prisoner Released from Camp Ashraf
An Overview of the Book of “The Lost Passage”
Memories of the sapper narrators of 14th Imam Hossein DivisionSome feathers scattered and floated between barbed wires on a brown background in a dazzling and special mixture, evoke the concept and purpose which is emphasized in book cover of “The Lost Passage”. At the back of the book that there are separated pieces of barbed wire on the same brown background sporadically contain an excerpt from the text of the book, part of which we read: ...
A Look at the Book “Operational Physicians-2”
Biography, Memories and Viewpoints of Dr. Mohammad Ali Attari, Professor and Specialist in Anesthesiology and Intensive Care Medicine and PainIn the book “Field Physicians 2”, after acknowledgement, we first come to a short text written by Dr. Mohammad Ali Attari, and on the next page to a photograph, as it is stated under the photo, taken with Professor Majid Samii in the operating room (Germany, Hannover). After that the content, the editor introduction, and then “Biography at a Glance” which is a six-page summary of the book text, are presented.
Iranian Oral History beyond Borders – 2
Dr. Abolfazl Hasanabadi, Dr. Morteza Rasouli Pour, and Dr. Abolhasani participated in the fourth meeting out of the series of meetings on oral history in Iran held online on Saturday 11th of Dey 1400 (January 1, 2022) hosted by Mrs. Mosafa. In the meeting set up in the History Hallway of the Clubhouse, they talked about “Iran’s Oral History beyond Borders”. In continuation of the meeting, the host asked ...Ironman
We were supposed to experience a hot summer day at seven oclock in the afternoon. I got to his house in ten minutes to seven, but I knew that working with the militant had special rules. One of them is punctuality. I went up and down the alley several times to meet this Ironman at his house. When I saw him from afar at military conferences, his sense of toughness was evident in demeanor.
