HAVANA, CUBA .- The 47th contingent of the Venceremos Brigade, a U.S. solidarity-with-Cuba group, was received on Sunday in the eastern city of Holguin, some 773 kilometers from Havana.

The about twenty members of this contingent were welcomed at the Frank Pais International Airport of Holguin, where they will hold a fraternal meeting at the Latin America Center and participate in the Holguin Nights project.

On Monday, they visited the historic town de Biran, where Fidel and Raul Castro were born, a reference place for visitors to this northeastern region.

Malcom Sacks, a member of the Brigade who visits Cuba for the eighth time, stressed that the group demands the lifting of the U.S. blockade on the island and wishes to show the U.S. people the reality of the Caribbean country.

The contingent will be in Cuba until August 7 and after its stay in Holguin it will travel to Guantanamo and later to Santiago de Cuba.

The Venceremos Brigade was founded in 1969 by young U.S. citizens in support of the Cuban Revolution and since then more than nine thousand brigadistas have visited the island.