Havana, January 28 (RHC)-- Cubans are celebrating a day of homage to the National Hero José Martí on the occasion of the 167th anniversary of his birth this Tuesday.

This time, the tribute is part of the acts of reparation to the Apostle, after people linked to the Cuban-American ultra-right in South Florida desecrated busts of the hero in Havana.

As part of the day of homage, young people will participate in marches in public squares, including  Revolution Square in Havana.

Two national television channels are airing special programming for the occasion.

The celebrations began Monday night with the traditional Torchlight March from the steps of the almost 300-year-old University of Havana to the Fragua Martiana.

The memorial is located at the old quarries of San Lázaro, where the young Martí spent several months after being condemned to forced labor by the Spanish colonial regime in 1870.

The first secretary of the Cuban Communist Party, Raúl Castro, together with the president of the Republic, Miguel Díaz-Canel, and other top officials, led the Torchlight March, which was attended by thousands of young people.

The activity recalled the first march, organized in 1953 on the occasion of Martí's centennial, and is part of those held throughout the country in remembrance of the distinguished patriot and outstanding politician, writer, thinker, teacher, journalist and fighter, who fell in combat on May 19, 1895 in Dos Ríos, in the former province of Oriente.