The Cuban Institute for Friendship with the Peoples was founded on December 30 1960, as a result of the heat, enthusiasm and solidarity arose everywhere in the world after the victory of the Cuban Revolution. 

The avalanche of friends that Cuba received during the first years of the Revolution, from institutional point of view did not have a compensation, that is to say, there was no any existing institution able to receive, to assist, to organize, to channel its interests; for that reason the final decision was the creation of ICAP, as a social Institution, and not government.  

Since its birth, the fundamental objectives of the institution were the promotion in all possible ways the relationships of friendship towards Cuba; at the same time it promotes in the island the knowledge of a political, social and cultural reality to the countries have relationships with the Institute. 

In the last decade, we have deepened our objective in the fight for the immediate liberation of the five Cuban prisoners in North American jails for the only crime of combating terrorism.   

ICAP is structured by a President, a First Vice-president and 3 Vice-presidents, Directors of geographical areas, and other Directors that support the work of friendship of the Institute.

During the year 2007 a new division on the attention to foreign students in Cuba was created, becoming part of the National Commission for the attention to the foreign youths that study in the Island. 

ICAP has a national character, having branches in all the countries of the world, and it has an International Camp name Julio Antonio Mella, it is 40 kilometres far from the City of Havana, where we receive international brigades of voluntary work every year.

During these years, new organizations of friendship have been created in different countries of the world, with different names in each country. These organizations base their work on the spontaneity of those friends that want to express their friendship to the Cuban institution, we have our own statutes and directive, and we also carry out our elections at the time we take our own agreement. 

The Institute maintains interchange with those organizations which give priorities to Cuba. The adoption of free initiatives is one of the ways of carrying out friendship to Cuba.

On November 1994, the I`st world solidarity meeting took place in Havana, where many organizations and friends of Cuba gather, the event marked a landmark in the global development of the solidarity toward the Island. Until that moment, they were only carried out of the country ( continental, regional and national meetings) in diverse parts of the planet.  

In the year 2007: 

The ICAP kept relationships with 2017 organizations of friendship in 146 countries, where 7 905 activities of friendship with Cuba were made. 

We arrived to 339 Committees Pro-liberation for The Five in 107 countries; with a total of 2 054 actions to their fair cause.  

A continental meeting took place in Ecuador with the participation of 38 countries and 6 323 participants. 

We received 22 brigades in the International Julio Antonio Camp with 1 978 members.  

154 delegations visited Cuba among them 1 628 personalities. 

ICAP also has a travel agency call Amistur that promotes the specialized tourism to our country with programs according to the suggestions of the clients. In 2007 they received more than 200 specialized groups. Their web page is: www.amistur.cu  

Many have been the victories reached by our country in the international sand, in the growing of relationships with other governments and countries, in the diffusion of a fair interpretation of the Cuban reality. Today more than ever, Cuba needs the friendship and the solidarity of the whole world. 

The website of the Institute is: www.icap.cu