Artemisa - The 50th contingent of the Venceremos Brigade is in Cuba. 160 US citizens are joining the trip which its organizers describe as a massive political and educational trip to protest lingering US imperialism.

According to the Cuban Institute of Friendship with the Peoples (ICAP), the brigade is starting this Wednesday in the municipality of Caimito, Artemisa province, its program of volunteer work and solidarity with Cuba.

The current contingent marks the 50th anniversary of this project, which, since 1969, has traveled annually in protest of the U.S. government’s travel restrictions and blockade on the island, while working to strengthen movements for justice in the U.S. through exchange and collaboration with Cuba.

The Venceremos Brigade was the first Cuba solidarity brigade in the Revolution history, and it was inspired and accompanied by Fidel Castro.

Since its founding in 1969, the Brigade has brought more than 10,000 people from the U.S. to the island, where they have worked as volunteers on civic projects, delivered thousands of pounds of material aid, and engaged in discourse with people from various sectors of Cuban society.