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Image source,Reuters
Maradona has a tattoo of the late Cuban leader Fidel Castro on his calf, and often calls Castro his “second father.”
He is widely considered to be one of the greatest footballers in history, but Diego Maradona (also translated as Maradona) has an influence beyond football itself.
He has established personal relationships with some of the most famous and controversial leftist leaders in Latin America, including Fidel Castro in Cuba, Hugo Chávez in Venezuela, and Ethiopia in Bolivia. Evo Morales.
The late former Cuban leader was a close friend of his, so close to Maradona that he had a Castro tattoo on his leg. The two died on November 25, only four years apart.
The king of dance had settled in Cuba for several years when he was trying to free himself from drug addiction. During that time, the relationship between the two deepened.
Maradona once said that Castro often called him in the morning to talk about politics and sports, and encouraged him to use drugs. “Fidel is like my second father,” Maradona said. The last time he visited Castro was three years before the latter’s death; Castro died in 2016.
Castro once commented on Maradona: “Diego is a very good friend and very noble. There is also no doubt that he is a magical athlete and maintains a friendship with Cuba. He did not bring me any material benefit.”
The Argentine star dedicated his autobiography to some people, including Castro.
Image source,EPA
In 2001, Maradona showed the revolutionary Che Guevara (Che Guevara) tattoo on his arm in Rome.
Maradona was also close to the late Hugo Chávez. In 2005 he traveled to Venezuela to visit Chávez at the Presidential Palace. After that meeting, Maradona said that he originally wanted to meet “a great man” but saw “a giant” instead.
“Everything that Fidel did, everything that Chávez did, was the best for me,” he later said on Chávez’s weekly television show in 2007.
After the news of Maradona’s death was known, the current leader of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, shared a video of Maradona and Castro together on Twitter, and said: “I share this beautiful video, let’s see the Commander in Chief Fidel Castro and Maradona a very wonderful and joyful moment together. It tells us that life is worth it. Thanks for the divine. God, thank you for giving us life. “
Until recently, Maradona supported Evo Morales. The latter left Bolivia after massive protests and pressure from army leaders last year. Maradona described the regime change as a “coup.”
He posted on his Instagram account: “I regret the coup that took place in Bolivia. Especially for the people of Bolivia and Morales. He is a good person and always serves the smallest people.”
Maradona: Three minutes to review the life of the Argentine soccer legend
As a humble man, the son of a factory worker who grew up in a poor neighborhood on the outskirts of the Argentine capital, Buenos Aires, he always took the initiative by speaking out in favor of the oppressed class.
Afrigate, a Cairo-based news website that reports on Libya, claimed that Maradona has always been “one of the people who supported the Libyan people against the blockade of Western forces in the last 20 years of the 20th century.” The agency praised him for his “always support for the humanitarian position of the oppressed” – especially his support for the Palestinians – and praised his “feats of a soccer hero.”
Later, Maradona was also hired by Saadi, the son of Muammar Gaddafi, the Libyan leader at the time, to help him during his short career in Italian soccer.
“Golden roof”
One of Maradona’s most famous outside stories is his public criticism of the Vatican. The Pope at that time was John Paul II (John Paul II, John Paul II). Maradona believed that the Vatican did not pay attention to the welfare of the poor.
After visiting the Vatican, he mentioned in his autobiography: “I went there and saw the golden roof. I thought: How can (he) live under the golden roof and then have such a big belly? Go to a poor country to kiss a child? I don’t think so anymore, I think I saw it with my own eyes … “
Years later, an Argentine was named Pope and Maradona restored his faith in the Holy See. After Francis was elected the first Pope of Latin America in 2013, Maradona visited him several times in the Vatican.
Image source,Reuters
Bronze statue of Maradona in Kolkata, India.
In West Bengal, India, where soccer is hugely fanatic, Maradona’s fans mourn their childhood hero. Many people share their stories on social media, especially when the former star arrived in 2008 and 2017. Past events in the capital Kolkata.
“Seeing that the city was so fanatical to him, Maradona was stunned at the time,” the Indian newspaper Bartaman said in an editorial reviewing that visit in 2008, when some 50,000 people packed into the city’s airport. Know this legend.
During his visit, Maradona met with leaders of different political parties and with the owners of many soccer clubs in the state. During his visit in 2017, Maradona also revealed a 12-foot (3.7-meter) bronze statue of himself in Kolkata.
In 2018, he also visited Belarus. The local tabloid recalled: “He kissed the land in the city of Brest, Belarus, and said he could stay and settle in Belarus.”
The newspaper also quoted Maradona as saying that he wanted to see President Alexander Lukashenko and take a picture with him. “I have deep memories of Fidel Castro, Chávez, Maduro, Gaddafi. I still know Putin. Now I want to take a photo with Lukashenko. I hope that after this, he will become our fan.”
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