Heroine of Cuban Revolution dies at 92

Cuban revolutionary heroine Melba Hernandez, one of two women who accompanied Fidel Castro on his first failed attempt to overthrow the then government in 1953, passed away Sunday night here. She was 92, local media reported.

Hernandez died "as a result of complications associated with diabetes mellitus, a disease she suffered for many years," reported Xinhua citing a statement from the Central Committee of Cuba 's Communist Party (PCC).

orn in the town of Cruces, in the former central province of Las Villas, July 28, 1921, the prominent revolutionary graduated with a degree in law from the University of Havana in 1943.

She participated in the struggle to topple dictator Fulgencio Batista (1952-1958) and was put into prison for her role in the historic, but unsuccessful assault on the Moncada Barracks on July 26, 1953.

After leaving prison, she helped to smuggle out of jail Fidel Castro's writings justifying his revolutionary movement, which were later published under the title "History will absolve me".