On this occasion elections will be held to choose the leadership of the group, created in July 1974, three months after the Carnation Revolution that put an end to dictatorship in this European country.

In remarks to Prensa Latina, Carvalho da Fonseca recalled that the expressions of friendship towards Cuba date from before that moment, demonstrated by a group of Portuguese people who faced repression.

After the Carnation Revolution, the work of frisndship with the Island broadened through solidarity actions, including the sending of medicines and other material resources, and a marked increase in political activity.

The agenda for 2008 includes activities to mark the 80th anniversary of the birth of Ernesto Che Guevara and the 50th anniversary of the triumph of the Revolution in Cuba.

Solidarity with The Five anti-terrorist Cuban fighters held in US prisons for ten years -Gerardo Hernandez, Fernando Gonzalez, Antonio Guerrero, Rene Gonzalez and Ramon Labanino- will also be intensified, she said.

(PL)