As Che Guevara is finally laid to rest, thirty years following his death, what are the challenges facing Cuba as one of the world's last communist states?
Argentinian revolutionary Ernesto "Che" Guevara died in Bolivia in 1967 and thirty years later receives an elaborate state funeral in Cuba.
Che Guevara received a hero's send off in Cuba this week.
Hundreds of thousands of Cubans turned out to pay tribute before his burial.
Ironically, on the streets of Havana, the socialist martyr has become a commercial icon. Fidel Castro and his government opened the way for private enterprise after the collapse of the Soviet Union plunged Cuba into economic crisis made worse by the tightening of the US trade embargo against Cuba. While the embargoes exist, there will be shortages in Cuba. However, the Cuban people are finding other ways to put bread on the table through the private economy.
The Cuban Communist Party is cautious about letting private enterprise to get out of control and have learnt lessons from the collapse of communism in Eastern Europe.
On the walls and billboards of Havana, Cuba's commitment to socialism is unwavering.
An RTÉ News report broadcast on 17 October 1997. The reporter is Mark Little.
