50th Anniversary Tour

Cuba Selling Tickets to Celebrate Revolution's 50th Anniversary
Fidel Castro's birthplace and the grave of Che Guevara are the hot places to be

HAVANA -- The 50th anniversary of the Cuban Revolution, which will be celebrated next Jan. 1, is the main theme of a tourism package being sold by Cuban and Argentine travel agencies including visits to sites such as Fidel Castro's birthplace and the mausoleum of Ernesto "Che" Guevara, organizers announced Tuesday.

The business manager of Cuba's Ecotur travel agency, Marlene Martinez, told Efe that the plan is a program with "social and political content" that will permit tourists to learn about the history of the island and "have an experience that won't be repeated, that is to say the 50th anniversary of the revolution."

Martinez said that the original idea for the travel package came from Argentine travel agency Carimar, which promotes the package directed at tourists from that country, but it does not exclude travelers from other Latin American nations from taking advantage of it.

Organizers forcast that some 150 tourists will purchase the plan and visit the island between Dec. 23-Jan. 3.

The itinerary begins in Havana and includes visits to the mausoleum where the remains of Argentine-born Che Guevara rest, in the central city of Santa Clara, and to the house where the Castros lived when Fidel was born, in the eastern town of Biran.

The visitors will also get to know the site where the yacht Granma landed in 1956 from Mexico carrying Cuban revolutionaries, an event marking the start of Castro's revolution.

Visitors will also travel to other spots linked with the armed struggle against the dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista and also will spend two days at a beach for a little pure fun and relaxation.

Wrapping up the trip will be the festivities in Santiago de Cuba marking the half-century anniversary of the Jan. 1, 1959, revolution. EFE

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