The Puerto Rico Committee of Solidarity with Cuba (CSC) today revealed the formation of the 35th Juan Rius Rivera Brigade, which will participate in the centenary of the eternal Commander in Chief Fidel Castro.
Milagros Rivera, president of the CSC, reported that the brigadistas will be in Cuba from 30 July to 15 August of this year, a period during which they will undertake an extensive programme in the provinces of Artemisa, Santa Clara, Matanzas and in the city of Havana.
“Its members will participate in the II Gathering of Brigades and Solidarity Projects from countries in Latin America, the Caribbean, Europe and also the United States, among others,” she detailed.
Rivera specified that “all will be in Havana to pay tribute to the Unvanquished Commander Fidel Castro Ruz on the centenary of his birth, 13 August 2026.”
“Fidel has been described worldwide as the best friend of humanity and in the case of Puerto Rico he always demonstrated this from his student years,” she added.
Puerto Rico has historical ties with Cuba; despite the empire, the brotherhood and solidarity between both peoples has always been maintained.
Since 1991, a sizeable group of boricuas (Puerto Ricans) has travelled to Cuba to demonstrate that solidarity cannot be blocked.
“The Brigade, which bears the name of Major General Juan Rius Rivera, a patriot from Mayagüez who attained the highest rank in Cuba’s Liberation Army, in which hundreds of Puerto Ricans participated in the 19th century, is a project of the Committee of Solidarity with Cuba to break the informational blockade, defy the criminal blockade laws and maintain the more than century-old solidarity between the peoples of Cuba and Puerto Rico,” she recalled.
Rivera specified that the main requirements for joining the Brigade’s trip are: to be against the criminal blockade, to respect the right of the Cuban people to their sovereignty, to be willing to live the best experience in Cuba while fulfilling the programme, to attend an orientation session and to self-finance the trip.
