BY ERNIE MAILHOT

HAVANA - More than 100,000 Habaneros, as Havana residents are called here, marched December 2 in celebration of the 40th anniversary of the birth of what today are the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Cuba.

On this date in 1956 the rebel forces led by Fidel Castro disembarked from the yacht Granma at Las Coloradas beach in the Cuban province of Oriente. They had left Tuxpan, Mexico November 25. Three days after the landing, on December 5, the troops of the U.S.-backed Batista dictatorship surprised the rebel forces, killing or capturing most of them. Many outstanding fighters were lost, including Juan Manuel Márquez, the second in command on the Granma, who was captured and then murdered. His role and that of others was discussed in Cuban television coverage of the 40th anniversary celebration.

Among the survivors were Fidel and Raul Castro, Ernesto Che Guevara, Camilo Cienfuegos, and Juan Almeida. They regrouped the Rebel Army in the Sierra Maestra mountains and with new recruits and a rebel network in the cities they organized a movement that on Jan. 1, 1959, brought down the Batista dictatorship.

The massive and enthusiastic outpouring at this year's commemoration showed the popular support for the military preparedness of the Revolutionary Armed Forces. This remains true despite the scarcity of resources over the last half decade.

I started for the demonstration at 7:30 am. and had no problem finding the Plaza of the Revolution. I simply headed in the same direction as the many thousands of Cubans streaming through the Havana streets.

Most were going to the assembly point where they would enter the march. I joined the crowd of spectators about a quarter mile from the reviewing stand that marked the end of the march. On the stand were leaders of the Cuban military and of the Cuban government, some international guests and others, including workers chosen for the exceptional role they played in their workplaces.

The group I stood in was just across from a replica of the Granma stationed in the middle of the large boulevard leading to the plaza. On the bow stood Norberto Collado, who as a young man had piloted the Granma on its famed trip to Cuba. The lower part of the boat's hull couldn't be seen because it was surrounded by a sea of 3,000 junior high school students in school uniforms.

The contingents passing by told the history of a century of struggle against imperialist domination of Cuba. Two columns of horseback riders approached dressed in the garb of the Mambises, the 19th century Cuban fighters against Spanish colonialism.

A huge cheer went up when the next contingent was announced - more than 100 veterans of the Rebel Army of the Sierra Maestra who had fought and routed the Batista army. They were in perfect step, as were the contingents who came after them. These were the veterans of the Escambray mountains, who had defeated counterrevolutionary bands supported by Washington in the early 1960s, followed by the combatants of Playa Giron, who in less than 72 hours smashed the 1961 U.S.-sponsored invasion of Cuba at the Bay of Pigs.

Then came the internationalist fighters representing the over 350,000 Cubans who have served on military missions around the world. Many of these marchers had served in Angola, where Havana sent more than 300,000 volunteers between 1975 and 1988. In answer to the Angolan government's request for military aid to defend the country against repeated invasions by the apartheid South African army, the Cuban people shed their blood at the side of fighters from Angola, the African National Congress of South Africa, and the South West Africa People's Organization, which was fighting South African colonial rule over Namibia.

The parade of columns continued with armed students from various military schools. More than 100 athletes from sporting academies marched by carrying rifles that were longer than usual and had thicker barrels that tapered off somewhat at the end. When the loudspeakers said that these weapons were Cuban-made specifically to shoot down helicopters, the crowd erupted once more. Groups of soldiers and militia members carried various other Cuban- made weapons.

The Navy contingent passed by, as did some 100 police and a much larger group of armed members of the territorial troop militia. An armed militia made up of students from the University of Havana followed. A women's militia unit passed.

One of the last of the military groups had several hundred people in civilian clothes all armed with rifles. They were from the production and defense brigades organized in workplaces around the country. As this group marched by three Cuban MIG-29s flew by just above us.

Behind the half-hour parade of military groups was a massive wave of tens of thousands human beings of all ages.

Two huge Cuban flags were carried by young people and many banners and individual signs could be seen. Some designated different municipalities, such as one from Boyeros. Others were from different workplaces. Some carried handmade signs denouncing the Helms-Burton law, which tightened the Washington's economic embargo against Cuba. Others wore T-shirts from the Blas Roca work contingent. Many carried posters of Che Guevara, Camilo Cienfuegos, Fidel Castro, and Raul Castro.

One person told me that Cienfuegos, an immensely popular leader of the Cuban revolutionary war, was especially thought of on this day. He was killed in October 1959 when his plane was lost at sea while helping to organize the fight against the counterrevolution. One of the quotes Cienfuegos was known for, my friend told me, was, "The rebel army is the people in uniform."

Ernie Mailhot is a member of Union of Needletrades, Industrial and Textile Employees Local 694B in Miami.  
 
 
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