BY STEPHEN O'BRIEN
NEWCASTLE — The Che Guevara sign, which hangs at the front of Newcastle's new Resistance Centre, was formally switched on on September 22.
Abelardo Cueto Sosa, a member of the International Relations Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba, and Alicia Corredera, from the Cuban Institute for Friendship with the Peoples (ICAP), pulled the switch to the cheers of the small crowd which gathered on the other side of the street.
Located at 472 Hunter Street, in the Civic area, the building has recently been purchased to house the Newcastle office of the Democratic Socialist Party and Resistance. The sign was painted by Chilean artist Vladimir Barcelli.
Cueto and Corredera are accompanying their country's Olympic delegation. Answering questions from the 30 people attending the centre's opening, they spoke of some of the factors which have contributed to the impressive achievements of Cuban athletes and coaches at the Sydney Olympics.
Corredera also updated those present on the successful attempts by the young boy, Elian Gonzalez, to readjust to normal family and school life after his six-month ordeal in Miami.