Cuba commemorates today the anniversary of the establishment of the Ministry of the Interior (Minint), an institution that has been ensuring national security and citizen tranquility on the island for 63 years.

The creation of the Minint was an early response by the leaders of the Cuban Revolution, which triumphed on January 1, 1959, to the growing aggressiveness of the U.S. Government, which hatched dozens of plans to overthrow it.

On this day in 1961, the new portfolio of the Cuban Government was made official, bringing together in its structure human and material resources from different agencies dispersed until then, with the aim of concentrating efforts and experiences to defend the country in the face of the undeclared war of the White House.

The nascent military structure integrated dependencies of the then extinct Ministry of the Interior and the Ministry of Justice related to the preservation of the internal order and the security of the nation.

Thereafter, the Minint continued to strengthen its chain of command and other agencies were subordinated to it, such as the Fire and Forest Ranger Corps, the Canine Technique, the Border Guard Troops and the National Special Brigade.

In the Antillean island, the forces of the Ministry of the Interior act in coordination with the citizens to confront internal criminal activities and those coming from abroad with the support of successive U.S. administrations.

Likewise, its troops participate in missions summoned by the country’s leadership to preserve human life and the nation’s economic interests in the face of disasters caused by natural events and pandemics.