Cuba Celebrates Intl Youth Day

Cuba Celebrates Intl Youth Day Havana, Aug 12 .- Young people in Cuba are celebrating International Youth Day on Friday with an extensive program of cultural and sports activities, turning the day into a real party. "We have the privilege of celebrating the date with happiness, unlike elsewhere in the world," Leira Sanchez, head of the Union of Young Communists(UJC) International Relations department, recently stated.

As one of the most important events in recent times, Sanchez mentioned the discussion by young people of the Economic and Social Policy Guidelines of the Party and Revolution, approved by the 6th Congress of Communist Party of Cuba in April.

She also referred to Cuba´s participation in the 17th World Festival of Youth and Students, held in South Africa in December 2010.

Today´s celebrations are dedicated to the five Cuban antiterrorist fighters unjustly held in U.S. prisons since September 12, 1998, Sanchez said.

"We want to send this message of encouragement to Fernando Gonzalez, Gerardo Hernandez, Antonio Guerrero, Rene Gonzalez and Ramon Labañino with the conviction that men like them are needed to defend the homeland," she said.

The Cuban Five, as they are universally known, are currently serving harsh sentences, after a trial full of irregularities, for trying to prevent terrorist actions against the island.

Youth Day celebrations are will begin on the eve of the 85th birthday of the leader of the Revolution, Fidel Castro, leader and creator of the work of our youth, Sanchez stated.

August 12 was declared International Youth Day in 1999 by the UN General Assembly.(Prensa Latina)