Cuba commemorates Julio Antonio Mella on the anniversary of his death

Havana, Jan 10.- Miguel Díaz-Canel, First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba and President of the Republic, today evoked the figure of the young revolutionary Julio Antonio Mella on the 97th anniversary of his death.

"Julio Antonio Mella, eternally young, communist, and non-conformist (which is almost the same thing), was only 25 years old when he was assassinated by the fascists of his time on a street in Mexico; 97 years later, his example and his ideas continue to inspire Cuban youth," the president stated on his X social media account.

Also on X, the Cuban Ministry of Foreign Affairs recalled Mella's last words as he fell: "I die for the Revolution."

His anti-imperialist legacy transcends borders and confirms the validity of the principle that the dignity of the people does not bow before imperialism, the Ministry added.

On the night of January 10, 1929, the young student leader was walking down a street in Mexico City with his partner, Tina Modotti, when he was shot in the back.

"I don't have an iota of fear of death; the only thing I regret is that they are going to assassinate me from behind," Mella declared before leaving Cuba for exile, anticipating what the Cuban dictator Gerardo Machado would order his hitmen to do.

At that time, Mella was in the midst of preparing an expedition that would take him from Mexico to Cuba to join the struggle.

Mella's ashes were transferred to Havana on September 29, 1933. (Source: ACN)