International Colloquium for the Release of the Five in Holguin

One of the most important events held every year in Holguin is the International Colloquium for the Release of the Cuban Five unjustly imprisoned in the United States for trying to prevent terrorist actions against the island.

The sixth edition of the event, to be held from November 17 to 21, will gather delegates from all continents to demand the immediate release of Antonio Guerrero, Fernando Gonzalez, Ramon Labañino, Rene Gonzalez and Gerardo Hernandez, internationally known as the Cuban Five.

Lawyers, journalists, parliamentarians and religious leaders will attend the meeting to learn more and to help spread the truth about the unjust legal process against the Five.

The program of activites includes an interactive Internet forum to analyze the current state of the case with specialists answering questions. Torno added that the International Brigade against Media Terrorism, which will soon begin a visit to Cuba, will also attend the colloquium.

Participants will visit places of historic and social interest such as the birthplace of Fidel Castro in the municipality of Biran.

In Holguin, Cultural Route “The Art of Beer”

In the City of the parks, several activities have been developed this summer for the enjoyment of people, and as part of these activities it was launched this Monday
the Cultural Route “The Art of Beer”, an initiative of Alexis Triana, provincial director of Culture.

The Route is conceived as a contest connecting 30 sites of the city that usually sell today’s most famous beers of the country Bucanero and Cristal, both brewed in Holguin’s Cervecería Bucanero S.A (CBSA).

The initiative seeks to pay homage to master beer brewers that brought the art of beer to the Caribbean and the Americas and to those who have kept it alive.

Participants in the Route will receive an ancient parchment-looking map and a leaflet with the instructions of the game and they have free entrance to some places like the Casa de la Musica, Casa de la Trova and the Salon Benny More included. The itinerary starts at the Loma de la Cruz hill and finishes at the Mirador de Mayabe lookout.

The first edition of the Route will take place a week before the Holguin’s carnival on August 19 and the jury of that popular party will also chose the winner of the contest.

”The Strategic Victory”, a book by Fidel Castro

Fidel Castro presented on Monday his book "The Strategic Victory", a detailed story of how the rebel forces he commanded defeated the army offensive in the summer of 1958 in the mountain range of eastern Cuba.

"It´s something special to remember all that," the Cuban historical leader said while opening the presentation ceremony visibly surprised by the beautiful design of the 896-page book and moved by the memories.

Revolution Commanders Ramiro Valdés and Guillermo García and 17 leading officers of the rebel forces who today hold the ranks of general or colonel were the special guests at the televised ceremony held in one of the small halls of Havana International Convention Center.

They were "the boys", as he called them, who accompanied him since the initial combats. The book is a tribute to them and to all those who fell during the last phase of the liberation war that ended triumphantly on January 1st, 1959.

During the ceremony he discussed the content of the story, recalling the names of some of the fighters.

In the book, Fidel meticulously narrates the days in 1958 when the U.S.-equipped and trained army of dictator Fulgencio Batista launched a ferocious offensive against the First Rebel Front in the "Sierra Maestra" and the tenacious resistance and defense of that territory by the guerrilla forces.

It was an unevenly fight between 300 poorly-equipped men against a 10,000-strong, well-armed army, he stressed.

Who trained that army of torturers, who supplied the weapons, the tanks, the planes, the frigates, who taught them to torture and kill prisoners, asked Fidel.

And answered that it was the U.S. government, the same that is now torturing Gerardo Hernandez without any justification, he stressed referring to one of the five Cuban antiterrorists serving harsh sentences in U.S. jails.

"Everything is in the book, the Turquino (peak), the Joaquin (high grounds), La Jeringa, the small store", he said, recalling that he liked those places, specially the Turquino and Joaquin "because there was fresh weather that later turned cool".

"The Strategic Victory" has a sober, elegant design with ample margins, legible font and many photos and old manuscripts with faded colors that readers will enjoy as if they had in their hands the original documents.

Fidel announced that he will work on a second book that will tell the counteroffensive of the rebel forces till they victoriously entered Havana.