Las Tunas, June 23 (RHC)-- The Hero of the Republic of Cuba and National Vice-Coordinator of the Committees for the Defense of the Revolution, CDR, Gerardo Hernández, received this Tuesday the Coat of Arms of the City of Las Tunas, which he valued as an eternal debt of gratitude with the people of this territory.

The event, held at the Vicente García Memorial, the historic home of the Major General and symbol of the independence struggle of the people of Las Tunas, brought together the territory's main political authorities and was part of the activities planned in the two-day exchange supported by the national coordination of the CDR in the province in view of the 60th anniversary of this organization.

Gerardo Hernandez, moved and surprised by the presentation of the Shield, said that in his heart were engraved the innumerable signs of affection that from Las Tunas reached him and his other four brothers of the struggle unjustly imprisoned in the prisons of the Empire for 16 years.

Instituted as the highest distinction granted by the Municipal Assembly of People's Power in Las Tunas, the City's Shield is attributed to personalities and Cuban and foreign groups according to their merits and contributions to the development of this territory.

It represents the purest ideals of the inhabitants of this province and their traditions, as well as being the most relevant symbol of the historical patriotism of the municipality of Las Tunas, carrying the immortal words of Major General Vicente García González, El León de Santa Rita, of preferring to see this city "burned rather than enslaved".