President Raul Castro presented the Playa Giron (Bay of Pigs) Order on Thursday to Cuban revolutionary Asela de los Santos Tamayo on the occasion of her 80th birthday anniversary.

During the ceremony, the revolutionary and pedagogue also received a replica of the Granma Yatch from the hands of Army Corps General Julio Casas Regueiro on behalf of the Cuban Revolutionary Armed Forces, and a portrayal of Ernesto Che Guevara from Army Corps General Abelardo Colome Ibarra on behalf of the Interior Ministry.

According to Granma newspaper, after receiving the tribute and in the presence of many comrades-in-arms, Asela, visibly moved, expressed her gratitude with her proverbial humility.

Asela de los Santos joined the revolutionary struggle against the Batista dictatorship in the early 1950s when she became a close friend of revolutionary heroine Vilma Espin. She participated in the November 30th 1956 popular uprising in Santiago de Cuba and joined the Rebel Army in 1958.

In 1960, she participated in the creation of the Cuban Women’s Federation along with Vilma Espin and, in 1970, she was named General Director for the Training of Teaching Personnel and she was later appointed Minister of Education.

Asela de los Santos is a founder of the Cuban Communist Party and she was a member of its Central Committee for three terms.President Raul Castro presented the Playa Giron (Bay of Pigs) Order on Thursday to Cuban revolutionary Asela de los Santos Tamayo on the occasion of her 80th birthday anniversary.