Jorge Cuevas, first secretary of the Cuban Communist Party in Holguin and president of the Commission, asked working groups to speed up arrangements in different areas to be able to guarantee the successful fulfillment of the scheduled program of activities.

Emphasis was put on preparations of the General Calixto García main square and actions for the mobilization of around 200,000 people that are expected to attend the ceremony scheduled for July 26 at 7:00 in the morning.

The province of Holguin, with more than one million inhabitants, was chosen as the venue for the central ceremony in the country marking the 56th anniversary of the attack of the Moncada and Carlos Manuel de Céspedes garrisons in Santiago de Cuba and Bayamo respectively, in recognition of efforts made to recover from the damage caused by Hurricane Ike in September, 2008.

In this regard, one of the most important achievements is the recovery of more than 53 percent of 124,000 houses affected by the category-4 storm.

The Cuban government also recognizes the contribution of the nickel industry and tourist sector of the province to the national economy.