On January 27, 2022, Argentine Ambassador to China Niu Wangdao revealed in an exclusive interview with the Global Times reporter that Argentine President Alberto Fernandez is about to come to China to attend the Beijing Winter Olympics, and during his stay in China, he has a special itinerary - to visit chairman Mao's memorial hall. Niu Wangdao said that there are two main reasons why President Fernandez visited chairman Mao's memorial hall:
First, Mao Zedong was a very, very important leader for both Argentina and the world. Second, President Fernandez himself is also the chairman of the Argentine Peronist party, the Justice Party, which has a "very important historical connection" with the Chinese Communist Party, and President Perón himself has maintained friendship and correspondence with Chairman Mao Zedong. ”
On the morning of February 5, 2022, Argentine President Alberto Fernández, accompanied by staff, visited chairman Mao's memorial hall, presented flowers to chairman Mao, bowed, and took photos with chairman Mao's portrait. The message on the message book of the Chairman Mao Memorial Hall by the president who came to Beijing for the Winter Olympics was:
Highest respect and admiration to the founders of China!
This visit to China is Fernandez's first visit to China since he was elected president of Argentina in 2019, and it also coincides with the important moment of the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Argentina.
Coincidentally, many foreign leaders and celebrities who visited China also visited chairman Mao's memorial hall:
During his visit to China in 1995, Feld Castro paid homage to Chairman Mao's Memorial Hall, and dressed in military uniform, he solemnly saluted chairman Mao's statue. Fidel Castro said: If Chairman Mao's books had been read earlier, the victory of the Cuban revolution would have been ahead of schedule. Castro also offered to go to the Monument to the People's Heroes to lay a wreath of flowers.
In 2005, Raúl Castro paid deep respects to his remains at the Chairman Mao Memorial Hall and wrote a sentence in the guestbook of the Chairman Mao Memorial Hall before leaving, "Chairman Mao will never die." You led Chinese people to stand up and never be bullied again. ”
In fact, Raúl Castro, like his brother Fidel Castro and his best friend Che Guevara, was the hero who led the Cuban people to their feet. Together, they led the Cuban Revolution and rescued the Cuban people from the depths of the storm.
On the afternoon of April 7, 2005, then Colombian President Alvaro Uribe, who was on a state visit to China, visited chairman Mao's memorial hall on the south side of Tiananmen Square. Accompanied by the person in charge of the Chairman Mao Memorial Hall, Uribe and other Colombian guests slowly walked into the north hall of the memorial hall and came to the 3-meter-high white jade statue of Chairman Mao, looked at it carefully, and took a group photo in front of the statue. Subsequently, Uribe and his party visited Chairman Mao's remains lying in a crystal coffin. "When I was young, I read a large number of Mao Zedong's works, and I felt that Mao Zedong's "Theory of Contradictions" on the contradictions between the enemy and ourselves and the contradictions among the people was very important." Uribe said. He said that Mao Zedong Thought is one of the greatest philosophical ideas in a century, and he praised Chairman Mao for his great contribution to the development of Marxism in China.
In October 1999, Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez, who had only been in power for eight months, came to Chairman Mao's memorial hall during his first visit to China and told the Chinese media, "I admire Mao Zedong." In September 2014, the successful Venezuelan President Maduro visited China, and on September 14, Maduro and his wife arrived at the memorial hall to lay a wreath on behalf of the Venezuelan people. Maduro said it was his first visit to the memorial to mourn one of the great founders and was deeply moved. He said that this state visit to China symbolizes a new era in bilateral relations and describes China as the big sister of Venezuela.
On the morning of August 30, 2016, Senior General U Chun Li, member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Vietnamese Central Committee, deputy secretary of the Central Military Commission and minister of national defense, who was visiting China, came to Tiananmen Square to present flower baskets to the Chairman Mao Memorial Hall and pay respects to Chairman Mao's remains.
On April 1, 2006, former boxing champion Tyson was personally invited by Pan Qinglin, a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, to visit Beijing and accept a statue of Tyson presented by Pan Qinglin at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse. Tyson only stayed in Beijing for 5 hours, and despite the tight schedule, the boxing champion Tyson asked to visit Chairman Mao's memorial hall before attending a private banquet for his friend Pan Qinglin. After visiting Chairman Mao's memorial hall, the boxing king Tyson said: In front of Chairman Mao, I am really too small.
Why do so many foreign dignitaries and celebrities have special feelings for Chairman Mao? Chairman Mao has had an extremely extensive and far-reaching influence in Latin America, Africa, Asia and other third world countries, and many people have great respect for Chairman Mao, whether during his lifetime or after his death, whether it is a politician or a commoner.
When the Xinhua reporter interviewed in Latin America, he found that many Argentines and many people in Latin American countries had never been to China, and some people could not even figure out China's geographical location, but they were not unfamiliar with the name "Mao Zedong" at all. Here, "Mao Zedong" has become synonymous with China.
In China after the late 1980s, many young people fell in love with reading Mao's writings. In 1991, the Party Central Committee decided to publish the second edition of the Selected Works of Mao Zedong, and Luoyang paper was expensive for a while. This scene has almost recurred in Latin America. In 1992, a bookstore in Argentina spontaneously reprinted the Spanish edition of the two-volume edition of Mao Zedong's Selected Works for distribution to Latin American countries, resulting in many bookstores in short supply, selling as many as 1,000 copies in Caracas, the capital of Venezuela. Venezuela has a population of only 6 million and is extremely illiterate, so such a sales volume should be a record for bestsellers.
In October 1971, China regained its rightful seat in the United Nations. Speaking on behalf of Latin American countries at the general meeting in November to welcome the Chinese delegation, the representative of Chile said: "There are no more coolies and bureaucrats in China, and the almighty foreign exploiters are finished." Today, a nation of dignified, united, confident and revolutionaryly vigorous free people has emerged. "China has risen from the ashes of backwardness, poverty, famine, floods, and plagues, and in just a few years has made extraordinary progress in agriculture and industry, education and public health, the conquest of the universe — and in perfecting collective and individual morality." After counting the great achievements of New China, we specially said: "We pay tribute to Mao Zedong, the leader of New China, mao Zedong, a revolutionary fighter of the Long March, a thinker and a poet, who inspired and often guided his people, turned knowledge into subjective experience, and integrated this experience with a lasting revolutionary attitude. He also recited Chairman Mao's words "Minus Magnolia Guangchang Road" in Spanish. The people of Latin America have loved Mao's poetry for a long time. In May 1960, when Chairman Mao met with delegations from Cuba, Brazil, Argentina and other countries, one of the foreign guests said: "The president's poems are widely circulated in Latin America, and people are very fond of them and very popular. Ask the Chairman to write a few more! ”
Former Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez said during a visit to chairman Mao's memorial hall in 1999: "I have been an admirer of Mao Zedong all my life. In July 2014, General Secretary Xi Jinping visited Chávez's mausoleum during a state visit in Venezuela and praised Chávez: "I have a deep understanding of the history and governing philosophy of the Communist Party of China, and have made outstanding contributions to the development of Sino-Venezuelan relations." ”
Argentine President Alberto Fernández is a member of the Argentine Justice Party. The party's founder, Juan Perón, was a world-renowned leftist revolutionary leader and military general who founded the Justice Party, which is still the largest political party in Argentina, and served as President of Argentina three times. Carlos Spadone, who served as Perón's personal secretary-general for four years in the late 1960s and early 1970s, later recalled that Perón greatly admired the anti-imperialist and anti-feudal revolution carried out by Mao Zedong, the founder of the new China, and the anti-imperialist and anti-feudal revolution led by Chinese the Chinese Communist Party, and had been exchanging letters with Chairman Mao since the 1950s. And Spadone's love affair with China also stemmed from the time when he worked at Perón's side.
In early 1972, General Perón, who was in Spain, received Mao's response to Perón's previous letter expressing his desire to visit China. In April of that year, I accompanied Perón to a representative sent by Chairman Mao in Paris, France. The two sides discussed issues such as the future development and construction of New China, Arab-Chinese relations, and the international situation at that time. I listened to the entire talks at the scene and was deeply moved by the revolutionary spirit of the Chinese people and the lofty ideal of building a new China. At that time, China became the red holy land that I longed for in my heart. ”
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This time, Argentine President Alberto Fernández visited chairman Mao's memorial hall and fulfilled the wish of Juan Perón.
It is worth mentioning that the reverence of the Latin American people for Mao Zedong is being passed down from generation to generation. After the Eighteenth National Congress of the Communist Party of China, the Central Committee of the Communist Youth League and the Liaison Department of the Central Committee jointly held a training course for young cadres of Latin American political parties in stages. Some young cadres made a special trip to the Bronze Statue Square of Chairman Mao in Shaoshan, Hunan Province, to carry out a flower-laying ceremony and to visit Chairman Mao's former residence. Their voices also represent the voices of many young Latin Americans:
"I am very excited to come to Chairman Mao's hometown, his ideological works were very popular in Latin American countries in the 1950s, such as Argentina and Peru, and he always shouted for the vulnerable groups to help them protect their rights and interests, so we have a special affection for Chairman Mao."
"Presenting flowers to Chairman Mao is a moment of extraordinary significance. I have taken two photographs of ordinary Chinese people paying respect for Chairman Mao here, which I think not only reflects the respect of the Chinese for Chairman Mao, but also represents the strength of the Communist Party. ”