Thirty years after Ernesto "Che" Guevara was killed trying to spark revolution in Bolivia, Cuba re-interred the legendary guerrilla's body yesterday as a national hero.
Guevara's remains were buried in a specially-built mausoleum, along with the bodies of six comrades who died with him.
President Fidel Castro said Guevara would never die, living on as an example and an inspiration for those who fought for justice in the world, and reinforcing Cuba's determination to preserve socialism.
The 71-year-old leader read an emotional tribute to the man who was his lieutenant during Cuba's 1959 revolution.
Argentina-born Guevara was captured by Bolivian troops in October 1967, while leading an abortive rebel mission there and executed the following day.
His body, flung into a secret mass grave near the Bolivian town of Vallegrande, was unearthed and returned to Cuba three months ago.
Guevara's widow and four children live in Cuba, and his two brothers and a sister came from Argentina for the ceremony.
The figure of Che, forever preserved as a young and handsome idealist, commands respect among many Cubans, even those critical of the present government.
Dr Castro ended his tribute by repeating Guevara's famous words in his farewell letter: "Until victory always."