September 6, 2026 from Havana
fotos: Estudios Revolución
The leader of the Cuban Revolution, Raúl Castro Ruz, and the President of the Republic of Cuba, Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, participated in a ceremony marking the 65th anniversary of the Personal Security Directorate.
The commemoration was attended by other leaders of the Cuban Party, State, and Government, along with founders of that security agency.
The Army General sent a message to its members in which he recognized their work in protecting the leaders of the Revolution and paid tribute to the 32 who fell in Venezuela.
Raul also sent a congratulatory letter to the members of the Personal Security Directorate on the occasion of the 65th anniversary of the founding of that agency, established on September 6, 1961. The message was read during the commemorative ceremony by the Minister of the Interior, Army Corps General Lázaro Alberto Álvarez Casas.
“On the 65th anniversary of the founding of the Personal Security Directorate, and on the centennial of Commander-in-Chief Fidel Castro Ruz, please accept my congratulations and my most sincere gratitude for your work since the beginning of the Revolution and even before, when the struggle was just taking shape in the mountains of the Sierra Maestra,” begins the message signed by Raúl.
After honoring the founders and martyrs of that unit “who carried out countless feats” and recognizing “each and every one of those who today serve on this important front in the defense of the nation,” Raúl recalled that they have contributed “decisively to preventing enemy actions against our historic leader, Commander-in-Chief Fidel Castro.”
Raúl, who reiterated the concept of Personal Security as a “loyal family,” paid tribute to the 32 Cubans who fell on January 3 in Venezuela while confronting U.S. aggression, which culminated in the kidnapping of President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores.
He affirmed that they died in the line of duty and emphasized: “May the blood they shed never be forgotten, and may their example serve as a guide for the daily work of this leadership.”
Addressing the circumstances the island faces today, the leader of the Cuban Revolution noted that it “is going through difficult times, under the hostility of the U.S. government, which remains determined to erase the example that Cuba sets for the world.”
He added that “we continue to count on you—and will continue to do so—so that this goal, like many others, appears only in the history books that recount the heroism and greatness of our people, of whom you are a part and whose children you are.”
During the ceremony, the Army General received an award from Brigadier General Emir Mesa Corona, head of the Personal Security Directorate, in recognition of his role as founding head—alongside Fidel—of that agency of the Ministry of the Interior.
The Minister of the Interior, Army Corps General Lázaro Alberto Álvarez Casas, presented a certificate to the Personal Security Directorate in recognition of its 65 years of tireless work dedicated to protecting the lives of the top leaders of the Cuban Revolution.
At the same time, five founders of that agency were honored for their role in that history and were personally congratulated, one by one, by Army General Raúl Castro.
Source: Cubadebate, translation Resumen Latinoamericano- English