The «Caravan of Freedom» of the Rebel Army, led by Fidel Castro, set out in 1959 from Santiago de Cuba to the Cuban capital, a historic event which today celebrates its 66th anniversary.

The journey of more than a thousand kilometres between the two cities ended on 8 January, and marked the first direct meeting of Cubans with the guerrilla leader, who would later lead the destiny of the nation and build, together with the revolutionary forces, a socialist project of world reference.

The insurgent forces had entered the eastern city on the first day of January 1959, and from the balconies of the City Hall in Céspedes Park, Commander Fidel Castro proclaimed victory over the regular army troops of Fulgencio Batista’s regime (1952-1958).

After more than two years of hostilities against the Batista dictatorship, the rebel columns were welcomed by the inhabitants of towns and cities along the route, which was evidence of the resounding popular support for the proposal for political change that was beginning on the Caribbean island.

According to chroniclers of that heroic deed, the contingent of humble soldiers and patriots, with combat uniforms and long manes, imbued the population with a mystique that elevated the stories of their military victories over better equipped and trained regular forces to epic proportions.

The advance of the Caravan from East to West showed the possibility of realising long-delayed dreams of social justice, and at the same time pointed to numerous dangers that the Revolution had to overcome in the face of the hostility of its internal and external enemies.

This certainty was very clear to the insurgent leader when he affirmed that this time the Mambises – the founding fathers of independence and anti-colonialism – had indeed entered the heroic city of Santiago de Cuba.

Likewise, in Cuba, every anniversary of this event is remembered with Fidel Castro’s statement that «this time it was the real Revolution, which did not admit traitors, corrupt people, sell-outs or annexationists».