Havana - President, Raul Castro, congratulated the national leadership of the Committees for the Defense of the Revolution (CDR) and all its members, on occasion of the 55th anniversary of the organization, marking today.

An official note released here states that in his message of greeting from New York City, where he complies with a broad agenda at the United Nations headquarters, the president acknowledged the work done by the largest mass organization in this country, founded by the leader of the Cuban Revolution, Fidel Castro.

In his message to the more than 8,500,000 CDR members, grouped in more than 136,000 committees, Raul Castro stressed the delivery of the people in defense of their Revolution, according to the source.