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Enver Villamizar recalls being a University of Windsor student in 1999 and making a pilgrimage to Cuba.

He was part of a delegation of students opposed to tuition hikes. They wanted to see first-hand what a political system that educated its young people for free looked like.

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At a rally opposing bombings in Palestine, an unexpected guest was in the crowd. It was Fidel Castro.

“There were no security guards. The people protected him… The Cuban people love him.”

Villamizar told the story in Dieppe Gardens Tuesday night during a candlelight vigil for the former Cuban president who died last week. Wiping tears, Villamizar said, “When we remember Fidel, we remember Cuba and we remember humanity.”

About 30 people gathered at the waterfront park to share stories of how Castro touched their lives. “For me, Fidel is an example to follow,” said Marvin Roman, a social worker born in Guatemala.

Roman said Castro’s policies on universal health care and education trained 1,000 doctors currently working in Guatemala. “They are serving in the worst conditions — places doctors from Guatemala won’t go,” he said.