Cuban president recalls landing of Granma yacht

Havana, Dec 2 (Prensa Latina) President Miguel Díaz-Canel on Friday celebrated the 66th anniversary of the landing of the Granma yacht in eastern Cuba; and the Day of the Revolutionary Armed Forces (FAR).

The expedition of freedom left, entered, and triumphed, with #Fidel at the front. Thanks to the historic Generation. Happy anniversary and happy #DíaDeLasFAR #66DeVictorias, the president wrote on Twitter.

On December 2, 1956, 82 expeditionaries, led by Commander-in-Chief Fidel Castro, arrived at Las Coloradas beach, current Granma province,with the determination to be free or to fall as heroes.

Those young men arrived from Mexico and later became the core of the Rebel Army that fought Fulgencio Batista´s dictatorship (1952-1959) beginning from the Sierra Maestra mountain range.

After the revolutionary triumph of January 1, 1959, the unity of the rebel forces with workers, peasants, students, and university militias gave rise to the creation of the FAR as a Ministry. Army General Raúl Castro led it until 2008.

The FAR consisted of Western, Central, and Eastern armies and the Youth Army of Labor.

Among its missions, not only was the defense of Cuba, but also the contribution in several African countries to the processes of national liberation and the end of Apartheid.