On his Twitter profile, Lugo expressed his congratulations ‘to all those who are part of the historic news agency, which ‘has become an informative trench in defense of the truth and the sovereignty of Cuba and our peoples.’

Prensa Latina was created on June 16, 1959 as a result of Operation Truth, almost six months after the triumph of Cuba’s Revolution led by Fidel Castro.

Its first general director, the Argentine Jorge Ricardo Masetti, called on its professionals to be objective but not impartial.

Masetti and many Cuban and Latin American journalists perceived the need to create their own news agency in order to, in his words, ‘break the monopoly of public opinion held by the US news agencies.’

Among the promoters of the foundation of this news media at the service of truth was also the Heroic Guerrilla Ernesto Che Guevara, who proposed calling it Prensa Latina.

ef/omr/mgt/dla