Radio Cadena Agramonte emisiora de Camagüey
Havana, Dec. 2 - Cuba commemorates today the Day of the Revolutionary Armed Forces (FAR, for its acronym in Spanish), coinciding with the 69th anniversary of the Granma yacht landing, an event that marked the beginning of the armed struggle against the government of Fulgencio Batista.
On December 2, 1956, 82 expeditionaries led by Fidel Castro arrived on the southeastern coast of the island after setting sail on November 25 from Tuxpan, Mexico.
Hours later, they were ambushed by Batista's army. Most fell or were captured, and the survivors dispersed throughout the Sierra Maestra, located in the eastern provinces of Santiago de Cuba and Granma.
In the mountain village of Cinco Palmas, a small group gathered with just seven rifles, and it was there that Fidel Castro uttered his famous phrase: “Now we will win the war.”
That handful of men laid the foundation for the Rebel Army, which in just over two years would defeat the dictatorship led by Batista (1952-1958) and triumph on January 1, 1959.
The Revolutionary Armed Forces (FAR) were officially founded on December 2, 1961, in homage to that feat, with the mission of mobilizing the people in defense of national sovereignty from the first moments of any aggression. (PL) (Photo: Internet)
