Tribute from a grateful homeland
March 13, 1957, will continue to be a historic date that resonates with Cubans

Author: Mauricio Escuela | informacion@granma.cu
march 11, 2016 09:03:54

The former Presidential Palace is now the Museum of the Revolution. Photo: Jose M. Correa
March 13, 1957 will continue to be a historic date that resonates with Cubans.
Over the coming days, Cuban university students, members of the Revolutionary Directorate of the time and patriots in general, will commemorate, as they do every year, the assault on the Presidential Palace, on March 13, 1957. José Antonio Echeverría, president of the Federation of University Students at the time, led a group of students from the University of Havana that day, in an attempt to bring down the tyranny of Batista. This feat would clear the way for those who would later, from the Sierra Maestra, eventually bring freedom to the country.

José Antonio Echeverría

Beyond the program of activities, the tribute will speak to the very essence of those members of the Directorate who, as Martí would say, carried within them the shame of many, facing the beast in its own lair and attacking one of the most important and wide reaching radio stations, Radio Reloj.
Scheduled to take place are moments of silence and reflection, announcements, and the playing of the National Anthem. Cuban classrooms will be the perfect space to recall an unforgettable moment in the island’s history. The function rooms of the Museum of the Revolution (former Presidential Palace), will receive those who participated in the assault, who instead of weapons will bring ideas, dreams, concrete plans for the nation and much respect for José Antonio Echeverría, martyr, leader and a man who, together with so many others, never feared retribution and embodied the maxim: “To die for the homeland is to live.”
In the early days of January 1959, following the triumph of the Revolution, Fidel spoke from the balcony of the Presidential Palace, which from that moment ceased to be a space for evil and became the site of many positive actions, benefiting the Cuban people. This was a promise encompassing the essence of Martí’s thought, made reality. March 13 is the day that the grateful Cuban people pay tribute to these martyrs. A white rose symbolizing purity and appreciation will be placed at the statue of the brave José Antonio Echeverria

Esteemed heads of state and government,
Distinguished heads of delegations,
Mr. Secretary General of the United Nations,

Mr. President,
Seventy years ago, on behalf of their peoples, the member states of this organization signed the United Nations Charter. We pledged to protect future generations from the scourge of war, and to build a new type of relationship guided by a set of principles and purposes that could bring about an era of peace, justice and development for all of humanity.
However, since then, there have been constant wars of aggression; interference in the internal affairs of states; violent overthrowing of sovereign governments; so-called “soft coups,” and the re-colonization of territories. All of these perfected with non-conventional strategies and new technology, under the guise of alleged human rights violations.
The militarization of cyberspace, and the covert and illegal use of information and communications technologies to attack other states is unacceptable, as likewise is the distortion of the advancement and protection of human rights used with a selective and discriminatory approach to justify and impose political decisions.
Despite the fact that the Charter calls to “reaffirm faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person,” to millions of people the fulfillment of human rights remains a utopia.

Continue reading Army General Raúl Castro Ruz, President of the Councils of State and Ministers at the United Nations →

Santiago has shown that, without losing its hospitality, it remains rebellious and heroic
As the July 26 commemoration in Santiago concluded, after the central remarks made by José Ramón Machado Ventura, President Raúl Castro Ruz shared a few words. Machado Ventura recalled that the July 26 commemoration is held not only to honor the past, but to reaffirm that the heroic 1953 actions were not in vain, that the seeds sown have borne fruit.
Author: Redacción Nacional | internet@granma.cu
july 26, 2015 09:07:33

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Foto: Jose M. Correa

“I could not pass through here without saying something to you. Three or four words. I am leaving confident and hopeful that Santiago will always continue to be Santiago,” said Army General Raúl Castro Ruz, as the commemoration of the assaults on the Moncada and Carlos Manuel de Céspedes Garrisons in Santiago concluded.

Continue reading The July 26 commemoration in Santiago →