RHC File

Havana, January 8 (RHC)-- 63 years ago this Saturday, the Caravan of Freedom arrived in Havana, led by Fidel Castro and members of the Rebel Army, who celebrated with the Cuban people the revolutionary triumph of January 1.

The fighters of the Sierra Maestra, who managed to defeat the tyranny of Fulgencio Batista, followed a route of more than 1,000 kilometers throughout the country from January 2 to 8, 1959.

The caravan left Santiago de Cuba and exchanged with people from different municipalities of the provinces of Granma, Holguin, Las Tunas, Camaguey, Santa Clara, Cienfuegos, and Matanzas on its way to Havana.

After several stops in the capital, the crowd escorted the leader of the Revolution to the former Columbia Barracks.

Recalling the date on Twitter, President Miguel Diaz Canel quoted one of Fidel Castro’s remarks in that rally: : “I think this is a decisive moment in our history: the tyranny has been overthrown. The joy is immense. And yet much remains to be done. We do not fool ourselves into believing that from now on everything will be easy; perhaps from now on everything will be more difficult "

Every year, on the same date, Cubans of different generations make this route as a tribute to the Rebel Army and to show their commitment to the Revolution.

Each stopover is used in the provinces to pay tribute to the heroes and recognize outstanding workers in the territory.

When Fidel Castro died on November 25, 2016, his ashes traveled across the country towards Santiago de Cuba in the opposite direction to that followed by the Caravan of Freedom, an opportunity for the island's people to bid farewell to their historic leader.