Melba Hernández: From Cuba to Vietnam, under One Roof

On 20 December 1963, the Cuban campaign of solidarity with Vietnam was officially constituted in the theatre of the Workers Central Union of Cuba (Central de Trabajadores de Cuba, CTC) in Havana. The event was presided over by Ernesto ‘Che’ Guevara, who shared with the audience the instruction of Commander in Chief Fidel Castro that Melba Hernández, heroine of the 1959 Cuban Revolution, was to be responsible for organising and developing the Solidarity Committee with South Vietnam. The committee brought together comrades from political, student, worker’s and state organisations, as well as intellectual and cultural figures within Cuba.