Committees for the Defense of the Revolution (CDR)
Mass organization that has within its objectives to mobilize all the people in the tasks of defense of the Revolution and the conquests of socialism, through direct work with the people and families of the community. Before the founding of the CDR, there were several organizations with different purposes, which were unified with the creation of the new mass organization that unites all communities and the people and defends their interests equally.
Origins
Fidel Castro at the opening of the CDR Almost one million people, gathered in front of the former Presidential Palace (now the Museum of the Revolution), listened to the then Prime Minister Fidel Castro Ruz on the night of September 28, 1960 when several explosions were heard. Then, those gathered there responded vividly to the Revolution, its leader and sang the notes of the National Anthem. "We are going to establish a system of collective revolutionary surveillance - said Fidel Castro on that occasion - They are playing with the people and do not yet know who the people are; they are playing with the people and do not know the tremendous revolutionary force in the people" That same night, at the end of the speech, the first Committees for the Defense of the Revolution (CDR) were born, suggesting an organization that six months and several days later would dismantle the elements that intended to serve as a fifth column to the mercenary brigade defeated in Playa Girón. It was established as a cell in the neighborhood that channels the needs of the people, to defend the work that initiated the Revolution, women, men, elderly, students, workers, peasants, professionals, intellectuals, retirees or housewives. To the initial tasks of revolutionary surveillance, others of popular interest were added such as education, volunteer work, patriotic activities, health (vaccinations, blood donations, etc.); Raw material collection, environmental protection and many more. Promoting the human request and the well-being of the population have been prioritized objectives of the organization since its birth. With its active role in the face of the plans of those who want to turn back the revolutionary conquests, plus their enthusiasm, initiative, will, altruism, solidarity, humanism and combativeness, the institution became the most thriving mass organization in Cuba. It is an organization that brings together the vast majority of the population over the age of 14 who wants to work for the benefit of the community. It is structured throughout the country, both in rural and urban areas. The CDRs are constituted from the place of residence, in the cities by blocks or multifamily buildings and in the countryside from houses (hamlets, bateyes). The leaders of blocks, of zones carry out this activity in a totally voluntary way. It is a non-governmental organization that finances itself through the contribution of its members. All the people who occupy responsibilities in the CDR are proposed and democratically chosen by the locals
