Cuba Celebrates the Santiago Armed Uprising's 65th Anniversary

On Tuesday, children, adolescents, and youth from Santiago de Cuba commemorated the 65th anniversary of their city’s armed uprising, which revolutionary hero Frank Pais led to support the Granma yacht's landing and the resumption of the fight against Fulgencio Batista’s dictatorship (1952-1959).

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In the former Moncada Barracks, which is now a school, the Education Ministry organized a youth camp, a cultural presentation by a brigade of art instructors and the Brothers Saiz Association, a concert by the Karachi group, and the sale of books and magazines.

Young Communists Union (UJC) militants lit a giant torch as a symbol of the revolutionary ideas' continuity. They also placed a floral offering on the Mayor hill, where young combatants Pepito Tey, Tony Aloma, and Otto Parellada fell in the uprising.

As every year, elementary and secondary school students also staged a symbolic assault on the former National Police and Maritime Stations, which were the main targets of the revolutionary fighters.

Then, the youth will walk to the Santa Ifigenia Heritage Cemetery to pay tribute to the Cuban Revolution's leader Fidel Castro on the fifth anniversary of his death. Finally, at night, young amateur artists will sing patriotic songs in Mars Square.

Although the uprising could not coincide with the landing of the Granma yacht's expedition from Mexico, the armed action evidenced the country's rebel spirit, which the guerrilla struggle in the Sierra Maestra later guided until the revolutionary triumph on Jan. 1, 1959.

"On Nov. 30, 1956, the youth took up arms to fight against the Batista dictatorship in Santiago de Cuba. Today, we must defend our social conquers with the same spirit," UJC Secretary Aylin Alvarez stated.