First Cuban Female Guerrillas Remembered 

Havana, Sept 4, (PL).- The Cuban media remembered the 50th anniversary of the creation by Fidel Castro, of the first female guerrilla platoon, called "Las Marianas," composed of women who joined the guerrilla troops at the Sierra Maestra mountains.

 On September 4, 1958, in La Plata, Sierra Maestra mountains, Fidel Castro called the revolutionary fighters to a meeting, in which he stated that women could carry guns and be even better soldiers than men, said Cuban Granma newspaper.

 The initiative found resistance by several guerrilla chiefs, who distrusted  women's fighting capacity, Granma said.

 At the end of the meeting, after seven hours and with support by the majority, Fidel Castro spoke on Radio Rebelde, a radio station at the Sierra Maestra mountains, and the first female guerrilla platoon, called  ó Mariana Grajales ó  was constituted from then on, by 13 female fighters.

 The female fighters were trained in the use of weapons, and after a few weeks, they started participating in important actions.

 In the battle at Guisa, the most violent they had, which lasted 10 days, men and women were full of bravery and heroism.

 Especially women showed they were good at fighting, so this made them deserve the recognition of military chiefs.

 The political perspective of Fidel Castro made possible that history picked the bravery and courage, with which women fighters took part on their heroic deeds.

 After the war finished on January 1st, 1959, all members of the group occupied the place the Cuban Revolution assigned them to build the new Cuban society.