Thousands of residents of Santiago celebrated the 91st anniversary of the birth of Comandante en Jefe Fidel Castro Ruz with an extensive program of activities, including a tribute at the stone monument that guards his ashes in the Santa Ifigenia cemetery.
 
In the early morning of August 13, the Cuban and the July 26 Movement flags, measuring five by ten meters, the biggest in the territory, were raised on 25 meter flag poles in the heights of Puerto de Boniato, from where Fidel spoke to the people on his first election as a deputy to the Cuban Parliament.
 
On a tour led by Lázaro Expósito Canto, first secretary of the Party in the territory, and Beatriz Johnson Urrutia, president of the Provincial Assembly of People’s Power, participants noted the transformation of 15 former administrative premises surrounding the central Plaza de Marte into facilities offering diverse gastronomic and recreational services for the enjoyment of the population.
 
At the former City Hall, today headquarters of the Municipal Assembly of People’s Power, from where Fidel proclaimed the triumph of the Revolution on January 1, 1959, the exhibition El Caballo was inaugurated, featuring works by National Visual Arts Prize winner, Nelson Domínguez, and photographer and researcher Vicente González.
 
To close the emotional day of tributes to Fidel, members of the La Colmenita children’s theater group performed at the former Moncada Garrison, today a museum and school complex.
 
PATRIOTIC ACTIVITIES IN BIRÁN
 
Birán, the birthplace of the leader of the Cuban Revolution, Fidel Castro Ruz, saw a series of activities that inspired a sense of patriotism, loyalty and Cuban identity, as part of the tributes to one of the greatest men that humanity has known.
 
The activities led by residents and young people included the presentation of the book Profeta de la aurora, by the historian of Birán, Antonio López, which depicts the life of Fidel from his childhood here.
 
On Sunday morning, new members of the Young Communist League (UJC) received their membership cards. The organization also awarded its 55th Anniversary medal to various figures, including Dr. Pura Avilés, a Hero of Labor of the Republic of Cuba, and renowned medicine specialist at the Vladimir Ilich Lenin Hospital in Holguín.
 
The political-cultural activities to mark the 91st anniversary of Fidel’s birth in his hometown of Birán, also saw a performance by the Ronda de Los Sueños children’s company, from Holguín, while schoolgirl and pioneer Mabel Quevedo, from the August 6 School, reiterated the endearing love that children and the people of Cuba feel toward the leader of the Cuban Revolution.