“The local chapters have been and continue to be the driving force behind the Association’s activities, propelling hundreds of political, solidarity, and cultural initiatives,” ANAIC President Marco Papacci highlighted, while reviewing the work done in support of Cuba, particularly during the last period.

More than 100 locally elected delegates, representing over 3,500 members of that organization, are participating in the meeting.

The ANAIC was founded on April 19, 1961, as part of Italy’s support for the Cuban people during the mercenary invasion by the Bay of Pigs, where the first major defeat of US imperialism in the Americas was inflicted.

Papacci highlighted the work done by former ANAIC presidents Arnaldo Cambiaghi, Roberto Foresti, Sergio Marinoni, and Irma Dioli, and thanked the current national secretariat’s support in leadership tasks during the last four years, a team that is being renewed at this congress.

The ANAIC chief referred to three figures who unite the Italian and Cuban peoples: partisan Gino Done, the only European expedition member who participated in the Granma landing; Giovanni Ardizzone, assassinated in 1962 during a rally in Milan in defense of Cuba; and Fabio di Celmo, a victim of terrorism against the island.

Papacci emphasized that, throughout its 65 years, “the Association has reaffirmed its central role in solidarity with the Cuban Revolution, both in Italy and internationally,” and also in support of the causes of other peoples in struggle, “particularly Palestine and Venezuela.”

The “Energy for Life” campaign, to support the Cuban power grid, co-sponsored by the Italian General Confederation of Labor (CGIL), the National Association of Italian Partisans (ANPI), and the Cultural Association for Social Promotion (ARCI), is among the most recent initiatives promoted by the ANAIC.

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