Amid the difficult economic and energy conditions the country is going through, children, teenagers and young people in Ciego de Ávila are celebrating the 65th anniversary of the José Martí Pioneer Organisation (OPJM) and the 64th anniversary of the Young Communist League (UJC).

Nailín Machado Ávila, the highest-ranking youth leader in the province, reported that camps, special morning assemblies, recognitions and a bike ride — setting off from Pedro Martínez Brito Park to Motel La Rueda — are part of the activities marking the birthdays of the UJC and the OPJM.

Gladys Ruiz Marrero, Deputy General Director of Education in the Avilanian municipality, stated that these days the thoughts of José Martí and the trust Fidel Castro placed in the new generations are present in educational institutions.

In this regard, young Yonathan Rodríguez Rodríguez affirmed that they are a diverse, spontaneous, fun and committed youth, true to their time, who will always know how to defend Cuba.

Karen Pérez Sánchez, a twelfth-grade student, explained that when the Revolution was just beginning to light the way, the organisations that bring together pioneers and young communists were born alongside it. Now that circumstances challenge them, it is they who must lead it towards tomorrow.

Recreational activities including swimming pool sessions, stew, dancing, clowns, encounters with history, music, dance, poetry, as well as exchanges with the duo Buena Fe, among other prominent artists, add variety to the celebration.

With pride in having a Cuba that seeks the right solutions to their concerns in order to continue on a firm path in defence of the revolutionary cause, children, young people and teenagers celebrate another birthday of the UJC and the OPJM.

On 4 April 1961, the Union of Rebel Pioneers was born, which later adopted the name of the Union of Pioneers of Cuba, and during the 3rd Congress of the UJC, in 1977, it became the current OPJM.