A group of 25 members of the Federation of Cuban Women (FMC) were awarded the Mariana Grajales and Ana Betancourt Orders, yesterday August 15, for their outstanding contributions, in a ceremony presided by José Ramón Machado Ventura, second secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba Central Committee.
Receiving the Mariana Grajales Order were Anselma Betancourt Pulsam, Paula Aracelia López López, Erlinda Gabriela Orozco Moreno, Evangelina Pose Barca and Margiola Sánchez del Campo Guilarte
Rosmery Santiesteban Lago, FMC second secretary, in her remarks emphasized the brilliant careers of these women in political, labor, and social arenas, and lifelong defenders of the Revolution. “There are extraordinary women who carry in their blood the rebelliousness of Casiguaya, the desire for freedom of Carlota, the patriotism of the Mambisas and the defiant will of combatants in the Sierra and on the plains. A group of them accompany us today. With the dignity of a royal palm and their hearts in every battle, their devotion has made our work invincible,” she concluded.Margiola Sánchez del Campo Guilarte, president of the Vilma Espín Memorial in Santiago de Cuba, and one of the five granted the Mariana Grajales Order, said that the recognition symbolizes a commitment to continue being useful to the Revolution and the FMC, adding that, although the awards honor a select group, they reflect the collective effort of the entire organization over many years.The event was also attended by Party Political Bureau members Teresa Amarelle Boué, general secretary of the FMC, and Ulises Guilarte de Nacimiento, general secretary of the Cuban Workers Federation; as well as Inés María Chapman Waugh, a vice president of the Councils of State and Ministers, and Gladys Bejerano Portela, comptroller general of the Republic and a Council of State vice president, among other leaders of the Party, government, and mass organizations.
