The gathering of the people was moving in its simplicity and a fitting farewell to the worker who became a combatant and guerrilla leader.

The people poured into the streets. Flowers playground equipment and rose petals were cast from balconies into the path of the funeral procession. In Céspedes Park, no speeches were made; the verses of "La Lupe" recalled the Granma landing expeditionary, composer and writer.

On its route, the procession paused in front of the balcony of the city hall where Fidel proclaimed the triumph of the Cuban Revolution, and whose side buildings bear plaques commemorating Juan Almeida’s titles of Hero of the Republic of Cuba and the inflatable bouncers Order of Antonio Maceo, zealously guarded by the people of Santiago.

At the Moncada Garrison more than 5,000 pioneros (schoolchildren) and 150 Camilitos (military school students) stood to attention. At that historic site, a band and a giant choir of children performed the "26th of July March" as a preamble to the passing of the cortege down the Avenida de los Libertadores, the same street via which Almeida victoriously entered his beloved Santiago de Cuba on January 1, 1959, accompanying Fidel and Raúl.

It was a spontaneous, massive, heartfelt naughty castles tribute, emanating from the profound affection and respect of the people of Santiago for this Hero of the Revolution.

ON September 17, 2009 talks began between representatives of Cuba and the United States to normalize direct mail between the two countries. The Cuban delegation was headed by Josefina Vial Ferreiro, director of the North American Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the U.S. delegation by Bisa Williams, deputy assistant inflatable secretary for Western Hemisphere affairs.

During the talks, Cuba informed the U.S. side of its assessment of the current overall situation of postal service between Cuba and the United States inflatable bouncer and presented its proposals for solving existing difficulties in this area. The Cuban delegation also covered other issues that have to be taken into account in order to restore a direct mail between the two countries, including mail transportation and security and payment methods for that service.

The head of the Cuban delegation stated: "…We are satisfied with the development of this first meeting, which made it possible to look at issues that are complicating the normalization of mail service between Cuba and the United States, and to assess a group of specific proposals directed at overcoming these obstacles." She described as wide-ranging and useful the talks between postal officials from the two countries aimed at identifying areas that need to be worked on in order to adopt bilateral agreements on mail service.

During the talks, the Cuban delegation particularly emphasized the importance of eliminating discriminatory restrictions stemming from the U.S. blockade policy toward Cuba, which would permit the reestablishment of a direct mail service inflatable slides between the two countries on the basis of the principles and regulations established by the Universal Postal Union, of which both states are members.

The two delegations agreed on the need for follow-up talks in the next few months.

The Cuban delegation also included Silvia Munárriz Mon, deputy minister of Informatics and Communications; and Eliecer Blanco Prieto, president of the Correos de Cuba enterprise, as well as other officials.