Santiago de Cuba, November 22 (RHC-Granma)-- Puerto Rican independence leader Oscar López Rivera paid tribute to Fidel Castro at the Santa Ifigenia Cemetery, in Santiago de Cuba, where he also honored other national figures.

López Rivera, who was recently freed from prison in the United States after serving nearly 36 years, laid flowers at the monuments to national figures Mariana Grajales, mother of the homeland; Carlos Manuel de Céspedes, father of all Cubans, and José Martí, the island’s National Hero in the Santa Ifigenia necropolis.

The Puerto Rican leader arrived in Santiago de Cuba, after visiting Bayamo where he learned about some of the earliest feats in Cuba’s wars of independence and was warmly received by hundreds of residents.

During his tour of the cemetery, López Rivera was accompanied by decorated Hero of the Republic of Cuba and President of the Cuban Institute of Friendship with the Peoples (ICAP) Fernando González, with whom he shared a prison cell for four years while both were imprisoned in the U.S.

The Puerto Rican activist also visited the July 26th Museum, located in what was the former Moncada garrison attacked by Fidel and other young revolutionaries in 1953, and was presented with a distinction by provincial authorities.