July 26th is a date of national significance for all Cubans, and it is also significant for Barbadians.
Barbadian National Significance Day is celebrated annually in Barbados to honor National Hero Clement Payne, who led the 1937 rebellion, igniting the workers' struggles that led to the creation of a strong labor and union movement and political parties that led to the independence movement, which gave rise to the 1937 Revolution and subsequently to the Barbadian nation and the independence of Barbados.
For Cuba, the celebration of July 26th is equally of historical significance, it is to commemorate the Day of National Rebellion, to remember the heroic act of those young rebels who made up the July 26th Movement (M-26-7) and who, under the direction of our leader, Commander in Chief, Fidel Castro Ruz, carried out the feat of the assaults on the Moncada Barracks in Santiago de Cuba and the Carlos Manuel de Céspedes Barracks in Bayamo, an action that began the final stage of the independence struggle in our country, when six years later, on January 1st, 1959, the Cuban Revolution triumphed and brought true independence to the Cuban people and the end of neocolonialism in Cuba.
A single day in the history of two countries located in the same geographical region, bathed by the warm and rebellious waters of the Caribbean. Two different historical moments, but with the same purpose and the same political and philosophical essence. In both uprisings, numerous freedom fighters sacrificed their lives, and others of their comrades suffered repression and exile, all for achieving independence and the rights of the working class to live and work in a more just and egalitarian society.
This historical coincidence is yet another reason to strengthen the bonds of friendship and cooperation that unite our peoples in the pursuit that "a better world is possible."