People's Democracy

Cuban Rebellion Day Observed

Vijayaraghavan addressing a meeting in Delhi

THE National Committee for Solidarity with Cuba along with the Embassy of Cuba celebrated the ‘The Cuban Rebellion Day’ at the Kerala House on July 26. The meeting was attended by members of parliament besides artists, writers, journalists and citizens of Delhi belonging to various mass organisations. Also present were Embassy officials from various countries.

On July 26, 1953, Fidel Castro, heading a hundred young guerrillas, tried to assault the Moncada Barracks, the country's second most important military base back then. The young guerrillas made use of the Santiago carnival to raid the military base, but they failed and many of them were killed.

The survivors, including Fidel Castro and his brother Raul Castro were jailed. But 22 months later they were freed in an amnesty. Fidel Castro then departed to Mexico, where he organised the expedition of yacht Granma which in December, 1956 secretly arrived in Cuba to begin a guerrilla war in the mountains of the Sierra Maestra. Exactly five years, five months and five days after the failed assault on Moncada, the rebels took control of the country on January 1, 1959, after Batista ran abroad.

Speakers at the meeting in Delhi recalled how the rebellion day ultimately turned into a revolution. They also remembered Che Guevera and other martyrs. Speakers condemned the US imperialism for its various attempts to topple the Castro government and even kill him. The shining example of the progress of Cuba despite the US economic blockade was highlighted. Many called for reviving the spirit of NAM in the light of serious attempts to denigrate it.

Cuban Charge De Affaires Indira Lopez Arguelles recalled various destabilisation attempts against the Castro government, the solidarity received from various parts of the world and in particular from Venezuela and other Latin American countries. Other speakers included A Vijayaraghavan, MP and convenor, ‘The National Committee for Solidarity with Cuba’, Suneet Chopra, Mohammed Salim, MP, Sebastian Paul, MP, Hari Singh Kang, central secretariat member of the CPI(M) among others. (INN)