On Saturday, Cubans celebrated the 61st anniversary of the revolution led by Fidel and Raúl Castro in the provincial capital of Artemisa.

The Associated Press reported that the anniversary featured Cuban leaders telling the country to defend the island's communist tradition. President Raúl Castro, 83, celebrated the event in an "olive-green military uniform," according to AP, sitting alongside fellow Cuban leaders.

The president did not make a speech, but Vice President Ramiro Valdes did, his voice extra influential as he was a commander during the rebellion.

"We must preserve this unity above all things," Valdes said. "We have no alternative but to keep fighting every day, until the last breath, for the country, with the revolution and with socialism."

About 8,000 people attended the ceremony held about 50 miles southwest of Havana, AFP reported.

July 26 commemorates Fidel and Raúl Castro's attack on Moncada and Cespedes military garrisons, Havana Times reported. The failed attack is considered the start of the revolution that resulted in dictator Fulgencio Batista's fleeing of the country in 1959, according to AP. According to AFP, over 100 rebels participated in the attack, but they were ruled the loser of the battle, suffering many casualties and the capturing and imprisonment of both Castro brothers.

"There is no place in our hearts for discouragement, and the word defeat has been erased from our vocabulary," Valdes said.

Unlike Raúl, during Fidel's reign, the former president often gave "marathon speeches," as reported by Havana Times, during the revolution ceremony. The 87-year-old was not at the ceremony, according to AFP. Because of his health, the last time Fidel attended a revolution ceremony was in 2006.

Additional attendees included Jose Antonio Valeriano Fariñas, Artemisa party secretary, Machado Ventura, Communist Party member and Marino Murillo, chief of economic reforms, Havana Times reported.
---

Follow Scharon Harding on Twitter: @ScharHar.

Related