Hasta siempre, Comandante

Monument to Che Guevara in Santa Clara with the inscription Hasta la victoria siempre

Hasta siempre, Comandante or Hasta siempre ( Spanish: Hasta siempre, Comandante - literally translated “Goodbye Forever, Comandante” ^[1] ) is a song by the Cuban composer, singer and guitarist Carlos Puebla , written in 1965 . The lyrics are a response to Che Guevara 's Farewell Letter, which he wrote to Fidel Castro before leaving Cuba for Congo .

The song recalls the main points of the Cuban revolution , the role of Che Guevara as a revolutionary commandant . The name is part of a famous phrase: ¡Hasta la victoria siempre! - “Until victory, always!” / “Always until victory!”.

Oktober Klub , Compay Segundo , Boikot , Buena Vista Social Club ^[2] (at their version of 2003 in the last stanza the word “Fidel” was replaced by “Cuba”), Wolf Birman ^{[3 ]} released their cover versions of this song at different times. ^] , Oscar Chavez ^[4] and Natalie Cardon ^[5] . The instrumental version of the song was recorded by the famous Turkish performer in the saz Ahmet Koch ^[6] .

The song was also performed by Russian musicians and groups: Vadim Kurylyov ^[7] , Fidel Castro Ensemble , Zhanna Aguzarova , Kristina Orbakaite , Wallace Band ^[8] , NedRa group, Barto group, Tol Miriam group (translated), GRAV group, group The Unknown Earth (translated), the Psho ProRok group, as well as the Ukrainian pop group Lavika .