Visitors enjoy the Fidel is Fidel exhibition at the Capital Library of China on Tuesday. Photo: Li Hao/GT

Visitors enjoy the Fidel is Fidel exhibition at the Capital Library of China on Tuesday. Photo: Li Hao/GT

A photography exhibition focusing on former Cuban leader Fidel Castro was held at the Capital Library of China on Tuesday. Co-organized by China's Ministry of Culture and the Embassy of the Republic of Cuba in China, Fidel is Fidel, which depicted the life of the communist politician, was also a part of the ongoing 2016 China-Latin America Cultural Exchange Year. Vice ministers of culture from both countries were present at the event.

With August 13 marking Castro's 90th birthday, the photography exhibition was unveiled a month earlier to pay tribute to the renowned communist leader. Taken by famous photographers including Liborio Noval, the pictures on display revealed many moments from Castro's early life as a guerilla leader during the Cuban Revolution and his later political life as president of the Republic of Cuba.

The total of 87 photographs and two short films on display were taken over the past five decades.

Born in Birán, a village in Southern Cuba, Castro became active in political movements during his days at the University of Havana. He later on led a guerrilla war against the right-wing government during the Cuban Revolution in the 1950s.

 After stepping down in 2006, Castro has rarely appeared in public due to deteriorating health, but has continued to interact with the people of Cuba through his writings and speeches.

During the opening ceremony for the exhibition, Cuban Vice Minister of Culture Julio Ballester Guzman praised Castro for facilitating the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Cuba.

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