Major Ernesto Guevara is assigned the mission of leading a rebel column from the Sierra Maestra to Las Villas Province and of operating in that territory following the strategic plan of the Rebel Army.

Column 8, "Ciro Redondo," as the invading force will be known, will leave from Las Mercedes between the twenty-fourth and the thirtieth of August.

Major Ernesto Guevara is appointed chief of all rebel forces of the 26th of July Movement operating in Las Villas Province, whether in rural or urban areas. Powers are granted to raise and dispose of contributions for war expenses in accordance with our military rules; to apply the penal code and the agrarian reform laws of the Rebel Army in the territory where the forces would operate; to coordinate operations and plans and the administration of the territory. Militarily, organizations with military forces operating in the province shall be invited to integrate one army corps in order to structure and unify the military effort of the Revolution, to organize local fighting units and to designate officers of the Rebel Army up to the rank of Column Major in order to carry out the plan.

The strategic objective of Column 8 will be to fight unceasingly in the central section of Cuba and to intercept the enemy until it totally paralyzes the movements of those troops throughout the land, from west to east.

                                                                                                                                                        Fidel Castro