The need for growth with the incorporation of young people, and the importance of preserving revolutionary values, were topics of debate at the 6th Provincial Conference of the Association of Combatants of the Cuban Revolution (ACRC) in the eastern province of Las Tunas.

Las Tunas, Cuba.- The organization has more than 9,040 members. During the 2019-2023 period, good results were obtained in patriotic and political-ideological work, with active participation in dissemination, and always looking for what else can be done to achieve more attractive work for young people and combatants.

At the Conference, the growth and decrease in membership were analyzed since the province could not overcome the previous five-year period. One call was to potentiate the influence of the civilians of the Revolutionary Armed Forces (FAR) and the Ministry of the Interior (MININT).

Ariel Lara Torres, delegate for the main municipality and president of the Las Tunas municipal board, explained that this municipality was marked by a decrease. “This year we managed to grow with members of the FAR and the MININT, who upon completing a certain period of work become members of the ACRC.”

This five-year period also evaluates the years in which the world went through the COVID-19 pandemic, which were hard and served to bring the associates closer together. Luis Núñez, president of the Manatí municipality, assured "By 2022, the internal functioning was turned around, based on all the indications from the national and provincial directorates.”

"There is a working system that has fostered the link at all levels, as well as the materialization of joint plans with the organizations, we are talking about Health, Education, Ministry of Labor and Social Security, and student organizations."

One of the issues pointed out by the delegates from all over the territory was the attention to the combatants; the quarterly visits has contributed a little more humanity to the work.

The national president of the ACRC, Major General José Antonio Carrillo Gómez, pointed out that "Growth is vital because the Association is not for veterans, it is created to continue in combat. We have not fulfilled that."

"We have worked closely with the reservists who belong to the FAR and the MININT, but we must grow with the workgroups of the defense zones, the Municipal and Provincial Defense Councils. For this, we must have the help of each person designated by the FAR and the support of the Party.

"The association has to grow with the civilian workers serving in the armed institutions. We must be aware that defense is not a fact, it is a conduct and an aptitude.

"We are going to take to the national conference the proposal to reduce the entry periods of the comrades of the FAR and the MININT, we must also reduce those of the Reserve because they are the ones who are in combat every day."

One of the agreements was the need to inject more young people into the ACRC because creativity comes mostly from them; this is not only an organization of older adults but of all those who defend the conquests of the Revolution.

Nine delegates were selected to represent Las Tunas at the 6th National Conference of the ACRC, which will soon held in the country's capital. Gustavo Álvarez Vázquez was also ratified as provincial president.

Manatí, Puerto Padre, and Majibacoa municipalities were recognized for their outstanding organizational performance in the last five years; the municipal capital was also distinguished for being the best in the balance sheet and conference at that stage.

Walter Simón Noris, first secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba (PCC) in Las Tunas, pointed out that "We must have the conviction that we will move forward, each of the proposals discussed must be debated in each base delegation."

"Holding an assembly in the current scenario in which we operate is heroic, therefore we cannot leave any word spoken here hanging in the air."

Although there are still dissatisfactions, the members of the Association of Combatants of the Cuban Revolution have a commitment to history, which is their driving force to continue their fight for the defense of the Homeland.