Raul Castro Paid Tribute to Commander of the Revolution Juan Almeida

Raul also laid floral wreaths before the tombs of brothers Israel and Benjamin Pardo Guerra, the latter killed in combat in Sierra Maestra on January 19, 1958, during the struggle against the army of Fulgencio Batista’s dictatorship.

Present in the tribute were Deputy Minister of the Cuban Revolutionary Armed Forces (FAR) Army Corps General Ramon Espinosa Martin; the head of the Civil Defense National General Staff, Division General Ramon Pardo Guerra; and Lazaro Exposito Canto, First Secretary of the Cuban Communist Party (PCC) in Santiago de Cuba.

During his tour of the area, Raul and his accompanying group visited the place where the bridge over the Contramaestre river is being re-built after it was seriously damaged by Hurricane Dennis in 2005.

Raul spoke with constructors there and encouraged them to conclude their work in April. He spoke with them about the characteristics of the bridge, its socio-economic impact and life in the mountains, in general.

Raul also spoke with residents of the mountainous region of Granma province where he had a working meeting with the PCC’s Provincial Bureau headed by its First Secretary, Luis Rafael Virelles Barreda and the President of the Provincial Assembly, Jesus Antonio Infante Lopez.

Raul and the participants in the meeting discussed several economic, political and social topics that affect the country and humanity, in general.