SANTA CLARA, Cuba – A rally was held Monday in Santa Clara, Cuba, honoring the memory of Ernesto "Che" Guevara, who was killed in Bolivia 50 years ago in an operation backed by the CIA.
President Raul Castro attended the rally but did not speak. Instead, it was the future of Cuba who took center stage.
The country's first vice president, Miguel Diaz Canel, reminded the crowd that Guevara once said you couldn't trust the imperialists.
"We reaffirm that Cuba will not make concessions when it comes to its sovereignty and independence, and will not negotiate its principles or accept conditions," he said. "Necessary changes in Cuba will only be decided by the Cuban people."
Diaz Canel seemed to be directly responding to President Donald Trump, who last week said the U.S. government will not lift sanctions on Cuba until its people are given full political freedom, adding that the "failed communist ideology that has brought oppression to Cuba has brought nothing but suffering and misery everywhere."
Guevara's daughter, who sells books about her father, reminds people that her father didn't trust Americans.
"And we have to continue that advice," she said.
Guevara's son, who runs motorcycle tours around the island, said the first years of restored U.S.-Cuba relations were good and helped with tourism.
But he admits that the relationship is now more strained.
He said the world is complicated and tourism on the island has slowed, so the Cuban people are suffering.