Brothers in blood and ideas.

The socio-political panorama that led the Centennial Generation to stage the assault on the Moncada Garrison in Santiago de Cuba and the Carlos Manuel de Céspedes Barracks in Bayamo was so close to the majority of Cuban families that not only the brothers of ideas but also those of blood coincided in the action.

The socio-political panorama that led the Centennial Generation to stage the assault on the Moncada Garrison in Santiago de Cuba and the Carlos Manuel de Céspedes Barracks in Bayamo was so close to the majority of Cuban families that not only the brothers of ideas, but also those of blood coincided in the action.

Thus, among the hundred young people who went to the appointment with the Homeland that morning of Santa Ana, there were eight couples and a trio of brothers.

There are the names of the organizing leader, Fidel Castro Ruz and his brother Raúl, that of the second chief and soul of the movement, the young Abel Santamaría Cuadrado and his sister Haydée, that brave girl of whom Fidel said in his self-defense plea History will absolve me.

«Never was the name of the Cuban woman placed in such a high place of heroism and dignity».

Along with them were Manuel and Virgilio Gómez Reyes, both killed after the actions; Horacio and José Wilfredo Matheu Orihuela, who died in the Saturnino Lora hospital. Orlando and Roberto Galán Betancourt survived.

Among Julio and Pedro Trigo López, the former was murdered after the assault; of the Martínez Ararás brothers, Mario died after receiving several torture sessions and Raúl left the ranks of the Revolution after receiving amnesty two years later.

The list ends with the brothers Guillermo and Gerardo Granados Lara. The first one died in the assault.

The trio of brothers who also took part in the heroic deed were Alejandro, Armelio and Antonio Ferraz Pellicer, heirs of the patriotism of their father, the Mambi Juan Ferraz Gonzalez and survivors of the attack on the Bayamo garrison.

Undoubtedly, the feeling of rebellion reigning in the hearts of those young people was made stronger by the blood ties that united them. That is why when the henchmen appeared before Haydée Santamaría with a bloody human eye in their hands and told her:

«This is your brother’s, if you don’t say what he didn’t mean, we will tear out the other one», the young revolutionary replied:

«If you plucked out one of his eyes and he did not say it, much less will I say it.»

To that courage and dignity the brothers added material resources such as the contribution made by the Matheu Orihuela family when they donated the money they saved from their work as construction workers in Havana.

But what happened on July 26th, 1953 was the continuity of the legacy of other blood brothers who in previous stages joined the Cuban independence cause. An example of this are the Maceo Grajales brothers, who by dint of courage and mastery of the art of war, wrote glorious pages in the history book of struggles against Spanish colonialism.

The brothers Enrique and Tomás Collazo Tejada; Demetrio and Joaquín Castillo Duany; Rafael and José Portuondo Tamayo; Armando, Benjamín and Eugenio Sánchez Agramonte; Serafín and Joaquín Sánchez Valdivia, as well as Aurelio, Emilio and Rosendo Collazo García were also part of those armies of valiant mambises.

Written by Ana González.