The caravan is a symbol of Cuba’s conquest of freedom
As in 1959, Fidel enters Havana today in a caravan of young Cubans who revere the history of our victory

Author: Gladys Leydis Ramos López | internet@granma.cu
Author: Ventura de Jesús | informacion@granma.cu
Author: Darian Bárcena | informacion@granmai.cu
Author: Alain Mira López | informacion@granmai.cu
january 8, 2021 11:01:31

The people of Havana took to the streets en masse to embrace the victorious rebels on January 8, 1959. Photo: Granma Archives
This January 8, the Cuban people will again experience the euphoria, genuine gratitude and love for those who, with Fidel as the undisputed leader of the Revolution in the lead, reaffirmed the promise of a free Homeland and travelled across the island proclaiming hope for a more just Cuba in 1959. Today Fidel enters Havana in a caravan of young people who revere the history of a consummated victory.

Yesterday, the town of Madruga, in the province of Mayabeque, awoke to the thundering sound of horns and the energetic roar of youth, when the Freedom Caravan stopped at La Palmita, as part of the re-enactment of the Rebel Army’s journey from Santiago de Cuba to Havana.

The Freedom Caravan also passed through the Matanzas towns of Colón, Perico, Jovellanos and Limonar, along the historic route, before reaching the provincial capital, where given the COVID-19 situation in the province, the commemoration was limited to a simple but heartfelt demonstration of love and gratitude to the rebels, and especially to Fidel, always in the forefront, yesterday and today.

Díaz-Canel: You took the light of hope, affection and solidarity on these missions
Yesterday, July 29, the Cuban President met with members of the Henry Reeve medical brigades who joined the COVID-19 battle in the Italian city of Turin and in St. Vincent and the Grenadines

Digital news staffjuly 30, 2020 09:07:34

Photo: Estudio Revolución
“…You took the light of hope, affection and solidarity on these missions,” stated the President of the Republic, Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, addressing health professionals who, as part of the Henry Reeve Contingent, joined the COVID-19 battle in the Italian city of Turin and in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, during a meeting July 29, held at the La Pradera International Health Center to welcome them home, in which Prime Minister Manuel Marrero Cruz also participated, among other national authorities.

This is the essence that defines and arms us as a nation and around the world, with more strength in these difficult months of confronting the pandemic, the President emphasized, because for our health personnel, “medicine is not only science, it is also humanism.”

Photo: Estudio Revolución
Among the brigade members who took the floor was Dr. René Aveleira Cutiño, a specialist in Hygiene and Epidemiology, who served in Turin. “We were 38 Cubans representing the essence of a country,” he said.

Dr. Luis Miguel Osoria Mengana, specialist in General Comprehensive Medicine and Surgery, one of the youngest to travel to Italy, commented on how gratifying it was to have the opportunity to expand his knowledge, during the hard work carried out over these months, adding, “Know that you can count on young people for whatever is needed.”

Photo: Estudio Revolución
At first they saw us as “extra-terrestrials,” recalled Osmani Machado Rojas, a specialist in primary health care who was part of the brigade in St. Vincent and the Grenadines. As the days passed, he said, we became “health professionals providing care to a patient. In the streets and hospitals, the recognition of Cuba never ceased, he said.

Definitely, with our health professionals, Cuba was in Turin, as well as in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and many other nations where they have come to save lives, to leave our essence.

Photo: Estudio Revolución
Intellectual and journalist Enrique Ubieta Gómez traveled to Italy with the Henry Reeve brigade, as the chronicler of Cuban collaboration in times of pandemic, the President noted. “When the doctor touches the patient’s hand, speaking with affection, when there is a human relationship, the patient recovers faster. This is not in the books, it goes beyond. And there, beyond, they have all carried the essences they learned well at home,” Ubieta concluded.

Photo: Estudio Revolución

Photo: Estudio Revolución