The Hero of the Republic of Cuba and president of the Cuban Institute of Friendship with the Peoples (ICAP), Fernando Gonzalez, exalted the 50 year career of the U.S. brigade Venceremos, which tours the city of Santiago de Cuba.

According to the website of ICAP, González Llort highlighted that it was the first initiative of this type in solidarity with the Cuban Revolution, in 1969 and with the support of Fidel, in the midst of the intense days to achieve in the following year a sugarcane harvest of 10 million tons.

This contingent has been larger, with more than 150 members for the celebration of half a century and although some had to return to their country, about 50 participate here in the tours that give continuity to those made by the provinces of Villa Clara, Camagüey and Granma, he said.

The increasing presence of young people in the contingents of the brigade was highlighted by the president of ICAP, who appreciated the opportunity for younger Americans to get to know the country better and its efforts to build socialist society a few miles from the largest empire on the planet.

The brigadistas began this Monday their approaches to places of historical and cultural interest, among them the fortress of San Pedro de la Roca del Morro, World Heritage Site; the René Valdés art gallery, the Casa de la Cerámica and museums linked to the assault on the Moncada Barracks on July 26, 1953.

On the 13th, on the 93rd anniversary of the birth of the Commander in Chief, they will pay tribute to Fidel in front of the rock that holds his ashes in the patrimonial cemetery of Santa Ifigenia.