Cuban revolutionary heroine Melba Hernandez Rodriguez del Rey (Photo: VNA)

(VOVworld) – The Cuban Embassy in Vietnam on Wednesday commemorated the revolutionary heroine Melba Hernandez, widely known as “the heroine of Moncada”, who actively joined movements against the American war in Vietnam and passed away at the age of 92 last Sunday.

Melba Hernandez participated in student movements in the early 1940s, the 1963 armed uprising, and the guerilla struggle in the Sierra Mastra base to overthrow the dictatorial regime of Fulgencio Batista, opening an independent era for Cuba under Fidel Castro.

In the book of condolences, National Assembly’s Vice Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan who is also President of the Vietnam-Cuba Friendship Association, expressed her deep condolences at the death of Melba Hernandez, Vietnam’s great friend. Ngan wrote that Melba’s death was a great loss to both Vietnam and Cuba. The Vietnamese people would forever remember Melba’s love and her contributions to the international movement to support Vietnam, and to the development of the friendship and solidarities between the two parties, governments, and peoples.

On the same day, a delegation led by Poliburo member Le Hong Anh, paid tribute to Ms. Melba at the Cuban Embassy in Hanoi. On behalf of the Vietnamese Party, government, and people, Mr Le Hong Anh expressed his deep sorrow at the death of the Moncada heroine, a member of the Communist Party of Cuba’s Central Committee and National Assembly deputy, and the first President of the Cuban Committee of Solidarity with Southern Vietnam. Melba was a close friend of President Ho Chi Minh and the Vietnamese nation. Le Hong Anh wrote that he believed that under the leadership of the Communist Party of Cuba, the Cuban people would overcome their losses and continue to gain more success in national construction and defense, as was the wish of Melba Hernandez and other revolutionary veterans.