Cuban Embassy commemorates Moncada attack

Accra, July 24, GNA - The Cuban Embassy in Ghana on Thursday evening held an event in Accra to commemorate the attack on the Moncada Barracks in Santiago, Cuba.

The commemoration was to showcase the Cuban government's respect for the heroes who led the attack on the barracks 56 years ago. The Moncada Barracks, named after General Guillermon Moncada, was a military barracks in Santiago, Cuba, and which was attacked by a small group of revolutionaries led by Mr Fidel Castro on July 26, 1953. Mr Castro later adopted the date as the name for his revolutionary movement which eventually toppled the government of Fulgencio Batista in 1959 and won independence for Cuba.

In a speech, Mrs Milena Caridad Zaldivar Piedra, Acting Cuba's Ambassador in Ghana, described the attack as "the little engine, which showed the world the awakening of a new consciousness, the ways and forms of struggle and the belief in the ideas of founding a revolution of the humble, for the humble and by the humble". She said the commemoration was a renewal of the commitment of the Cuban people to continue fighting for the dream of justice for Cuba and the world.

She paid tribute late President Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah, for being the champion of the African liberation struggle as well as allowing for diplomatic relations to kick-start between the two countries since 1959.

Mr Kwesi Pratt, member of the Cuban Solidarity Campaign in Ghana, said the attack was monumental and whose impact had consequences on the world. Mr Pratt said the commemoration demonstrated that international law must be respected and protected for the freedom of all.