Cuba passes law prohibiting naming public sites after Fidel Castro

Havana: Cuba's National Assembly on Tuesday approved a law prohibiting the use of Fidel Castro's name to designate public sites or using his image for monuments, according to the wishes of the former president, who died on November 25.

At the session, headed by President Raul Castro, the more than 600 Cuban lawmakers unanimously approved the bill adhering to the desire of the late leader "to avoid any appearance of a personality cult", Efe news agency reported.

The wishes of the Cuban Revolutionary leader, who died in Havana at age 90, were made public by his brother Raul on December 3 during a huge farewell ceremony in Santiago de Cuba, where the next day Fidel's ashes were interred.

According to the law, "as an expression of the will and the political ethics that always accompanied Fidel, it is prohibited to use his name to name institutions, plazas, parks, avenues, streets and other public places, as well as for any kind of decoration, recognition or honorific title". The law also "prevents using his image to erect monuments, busts, statues, commemorative plaques and other similar forms of tribute."

The prohibition also includes the use of Castro's image referring to him "as a brand name for commercial or advertising ends".

However, the law establishes exceptions involving the study and dissemination of the knowledge and work of the former President. On March 20, 1959, less than three months after the triumph of the Cuban Revolution headed by Castro, the new Council of Ministers approved Law No. 174 prohibiting the creation of any monuments, statues or busts to living national personalities.