Holguin Youths Celebrate Baragua Protest Anniversary

By Karina Marrón / karina@ahora.cu / Tuesday, 16 March 2010 13:20

Young people from the eastern province of Holguin, joined the people of Santiago de Cuba to celebrate the 132nd anniversary of the Protest of Baragua, the historic March 15, 1878 meeting between Cuban independence forces and leaders of the Spanish army in which General Antonio Maceo refused to stop the war short of achieving full independence.

The celebration also marked the tenth anniversary of the Oath of Baragua sworn by Cubans nationwide on February 19 reaffirming their will to continue the struggle for independence.
The ceremony was presided over by Misael Enamorado Dager, member of the Politburo of the Communist Party of Cuba; Lazaro Exposito Canto, First Secretary of the Party in Santiago; Major General Onelio Aguilera Bermúdez, head of the Eastern Army; and Liudmila Alamo Dueñas, first secretary of the Communist Youth League of Cuba (UJC).

Once again Mangos de Baragua was the stage to ratify the determination of the Cuban people to defend their independence at all cost.

During the political-cultural meeting to mark these two events, Exposito Canto said that Baragua will remain our patriotic spirit and inspiration to move forward in the defense of our country and our conquests, improving the economic life of our society.

Ten years after the oath of Baragua, the people of Holguin and Santiago de Cuba who attended the meeting, continue supporting the statement by the People's National Assembly and demand the immediate release of the Five Cubans unjustly imprisoned in the United States.

The misguided arrest of the Cuban Five —Gerardo Hernández, Ramón Labañino, Fernando González, Antonio Guerrero and René González— in 1998 and the subsequent travesty of justice lead to their convictions on multiple unsubstantiated charges in 2001. The Cuban Five were dedicated to uncovering plots by ultra-rightwing Cuban-American organizations based in Miami with a long record of terrorist actions against Cuba and the Cuban people.

The Antonio Maceo, Máximo Gómez and Calixto García Columns, comprising 150 youths from the municipalities of Mayari, Moa, Cueto, Urbano Noris and Holguin, reached Baragua after a camping trip in Sao Corona de Biran, the previous day and a walk of about seven kilometers.

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