This July 26, the Philippine solidarity group in support of Cuba PhilCuba convened a face-to-face meeting at the José Martí Memorial Bust located in Manila.
The act, called "Moncada @ Martí: A Day of Cultural Solidarity", was organized to celebrate the 69th anniversary of the assault on the Moncada Barracks in Santiago de Cuba and the Céspedes Barracks in Bayamo.
According to the organizers of the event, "It is one of the many many national occasions that Cuba holds and is viewed as the precursor to the January 1, 1959, Triumph of the Cuban Revolution. During the attack on Moncada, more than one hundred died trying to take two military barracks. The survivors of this failed uprising -against the dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista - led by Fidel Castro- were captured and tried, and were later released by virtue of a strong popular outcry that recognized their just action against the Batista regime".
Also in its call, PhilCuba highlighted that the Moncada Trials, in which Fidel Castro fiercely defended their actions, were instrumental in paving the way for their freedom. In his defense, Fidel widely quoted and referenced the words of Cuban national hero Jose Marti, who wrote extensively about social injustice in Latin America, the enjoyment of Cuban peoples’ rights, and the exercise of freedom and self-determination.
This is one of several actions that PhilCuba has been organizing throughout the month of July in support of the Cuban Revolution and against the unjust blockade of the United States against Cuba.