HAVANA, Cuba. – Juan Rius Rivera Puerto Rican Brigade of Solidarity with Cuba was received this Monday at the Julio Antonio Mella International Camp in Caimito, where they paid homage to Boricua revolutionary Julio Vives, an independent fighter.

Before the plaque honoring Vives´s memory, the more than sixty brigaders offered a minute of applause, as a peculiar way of remembering the man who gave his life for the independence of Puerto Rico, and supported the Cuban cause.

Maria Esther and Cristina, two of Julio Vives´s children, mentioned that being in Cuba is like breathing that freedom that was so good for their father.

Fernando Gonzalez, Hero of the Republic of Cuba and President of the Cuban Institute of Friendship with Peoples mentioned other Puerto Rican revolutionaries, including Oscar Lopez Rivera, liberated by the pressure of international solidarity.