The title of Hero of Labour of the Republic of Cuba was awarded yesterday afternoon to 13 workers with outstanding careers in their working lives, in addition to other high trade union decorations.
In the presence of the First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba and President of the Republic, Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, the occasion was an opportunity to honour comrades who have made important contributions to production, services, teaching, research and defence of the country.
The attitude and work of the honorees makes them examples of selflessness, spirit of sacrifice and combat in the construction of socialism, assured Isdalis Rodríguez Rodríguez, second national secretary of the Cuban Workers’ Central (CTC).
At the proposal of the general secretary of that organisation, Ulises Guilarte de Nacimiento, the Cuban President, in exercise of the power conferred by Article 128 (r) of the Constitution, issued Presidential Decrees No. 881 and 994, to award 13 Honorary Titles to Heroes of Labour.
They were awarded to Julia Fundora López, a tobacco sorter; Rolando Carbó Ávila, a forklift operator; Thamara Matilde Junco, a consulting professor at the Military Technical Institute; Teresa Lluis Rojo, director of the Havana Design Company; Ángel Narciso Rodríguez, an assistant technician in hydraulic resources at the Hanabanilla South Complex; and Miozotis Fabelo Pinares, a radio correspondent in Camagüey.
The list continued with Francisca Sotolongo Gavilán, brigade chief of the basic business unit Producciones Industriales de Minas de Matahambre; Alejandro Padilla Concepción, first-degree specialist in Internal Medicine; and María Guadalupe Guzmán, head of the Research, Diagnosis and Reference Centre of the Pedro Kourí Institute.
Also receiving recognition were Ángel Piriz Momblant, professor and specialist in General Surgery in Guantánamo; Juan Daniel Zayas, professor of Orthopaedics and Traumatology at the Carlos Juan Finlay Military Hospital; and Brigadier General Alberto Díaz Martínez, director general of the Union of Military Constructions in Havana.
They posthumously praised Brigadier General Juan Israel Cervantes, represented by his widow, Mireya Máxima Leyva, and his son Ernesto Cervantes. His record includes membership of the Association of Young Rebels and support for the Literacy Campaign. He was Director of Tanks and Transport at the Ministry of the Revolutionary Armed Forces, and headed the Union of Military Industries.
Meanwhile, Presidential Decrees No. 974 and 983 established the Lázaro Peña Order of I Degree for 12 workers and one labour collective; that of II Degree for nine and two, and that of III Degree for five and three, respectively. Decrees Nos. 975 and 984 awarded the Jesús Menéndez Medal to eight comrades.
The role of the proletariat is decisive for the implementation of the economic and social strategy, said Rodríguez Rodríguez. Also present at the ceremony were members of the Political Bureau, Esteban Lazo Hernández, President of the National Assembly of People’s Power; Roberto Morales Ojeda, Secretary of Organisation of the Central Committee of the Party; Manuel Marrero Cruz, Prime Minister; Ulises Guilarte de Nacimiento, Secretary General of the CTC; and other leaders of the government, political and mass organisations.
