Vietnamese delegations have flocked to the Cuban Embassy in Hanoi to pay final tribute to Cuban revolutionary heroine Melba Hernandez Rodriguez del Rey, who passed away at the age of 93 on March 9.

Hernandez, widely known as “the heroine of Moncada”, actively joined the movement protesting the American war in Vietnam .

Noting her emotions in a book of condolences, Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan, President of the Vietnam-Cuba Friendship Association, declared that the Vietnamese people will forever remember Hernandez’s great contributions to international movements supporting Vietnam .

The valuable legacy left by the senior Cuban revolutionary will be upheld by the next generations of both counties to foster their continued friendship, she said.

Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Ha Kim Ngoc wrote that Hernandez, the first President of the Cuban Committee of Solidarity with Southern Vietnam , was an eminent member of the Cuban revolution and an immortal example of heroic Cuban women who devoted their whole life to solidarity among nations.

Vietnam News Agency (VNA) Deputy General Directors Le Duy Truyen and Nguyen Hoai Duong expressed their deep sadness over the passing of the great friend of the Vietnamese people, particularly VNA reporters.

Melba Hernandez, a member of the Communist Party of Cuba’s Central Committee and a National Assembly deputy, was one of the two women who joined Fidel Castro in the famous 1953 attacks on the garrisons at Moncada and Carlos Manuel de Cespesdes in order to kickstart the revolution against Fulgencio Batista’s dictatorship.

Born on July 28, 1921 in Las Villas, central Cuba , she held many important positions following the victory of the Cuban revolution in 1959.

In 1963, she became the first President of the Cuban Committee of Solidarity with Southern Vietnam , which is now the Cuba-Vietnam Friendship Association. She also held the post as Secretary-General of the Organisation of Solidarity with the People of Asia, Africa and Latin America , and was a presidium member of the World Peace Council.

Melba Hernandez once served as Cuban Ambassador to Vietnam . With admiration towards Vietnam ’s revolutionary history against invaders, she cited Vietnam as an example to peace-loving nations around the world.

With her great contributions to the Cuban revolution and the solidarity between Cuba and other nations in the world, she was awarded many noble medals and orders from the Cuban Party, State and Government as well as from other countries around the globe.-VNA