Most 8-year-old boys idolize athletes and musicians but one young lad in Cuba has a unique idol: retired leader of Cuba, Fidel Castro. The young boy, Marlon Mendez, dresses up like Castro, 88, and has decorated his bedroom walls with photographs of the former leader.
Mendez recently got an opportunity of a lifetime after he was invited by Castro to visit him in his Havana home on Aug. 16. The young boy visited Castro with his family, dressed in attire inspired by the former leader. "I felt a lot of emotion upon seeing Fidel," Marlon Mendez said to Reuters on Monday from his home near Havana. "The whole family hugged him. It was my dream to meet Fidel, and I did it. ... My mother was shaking."
This opportunity was presented to Mendez after he was featured on local Cuban television a day before Castro's 88th birthday earlier this month. The young boy took pictures with Castro and even showed reporters a hand-written note from Cuba's former leader, which refers to the young boy as "my great friend Marlon Mendez."
According to Maria Elvira Hernandez, the boy's grandmother, the family discussed agriculture and Venezuela with Castro. "Eight-eight years are 88 years. But a lot of 88-year-olds would like to be like him," Hernandez said to Reuters. "We want Fidel around for a lot longer."
The international opinion on Fidel Castro is murky, at best. Some vehemently oppose the Cuban revolutionary, who led the Cuban revolution in 1959, while other love the dictator. Castro passed the reigns to his brother, Raul Castro, in 2008.
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