Camilo: champion of the eternal smile.
On October 28th, 65 years after his physical disappearance, the figure of Camilo Cienfuegos Gorriarián lives on as an eloquent testimony of courage, sacrifice and leadership unparalleled in the history of Cuba.
This October 28th, 65 years after his physical disappearance, the figure of Camilo Cienfuegos Gorriarián lives on as an eloquent testimony of courage, sacrifice and leadership unparalleled in the history of Cuba, a perennial symbol of the Antillean revolutionary gesture and an inspiring beacon of hope for the generations that followed him.
Born on February 6th , 1932 in the bosom of a working class family in the modest Havana neighborhood of Lawton, the struggle for freedom and social justice found in Camilo a fervent defender. This was evidenced as a member of the 26th of July movement, where he led decisive combative actions to consolidate the triumph of January 1959.
His audacity and military skill in warlike enclosures such as La Plata, El Uvero, Pino del Agua, Alto del Cojo, Mar Verde and Yaguajay, among others, earned him the title of Commander of the Rebel Army and chief of the Antonio Maceo Column No. 2.
Once the Batista dictatorship was overthrown, his work as Chief of Staff of the Rebel Army was essential for the reorganization of the Cuban armed forces and his firm commitment to justice and the elimination of the repressive forces that previously plagued the country, led him to dissolve entities such as the Military Intelligence Service and the Bureau for the Repression of Communist Activities.
Likewise, the cavalry march he led together with his invading column on July 26th , 1959, in homage to the assault on the Moncada and Carlos Manuel de Céspedes barracks, and the neutralization of the counterrevolutionary actions in Camagüey, demonstrated his deep sense of patriotism and loyalty to the revolutionary project promoted by Fidel Castro Ruz.
Sadly, on October 28th , 1959, a tragic plane crash on his departure from Camagüey cut short the life of this Cuban hero at the early age of 27. The news caused a great wave of commotion and pain in a nation that knew it was deprived of one of its most devoted libertarian heroes.
Today, six decades after his departure, the legacy of the Lord of the Vanguard lives on in the soul of this people, admirers of his patriotic courage and enthusiastic of his deep-rooted Cuban identity, which, in a traditional offering, deposits every year among flowers its inexhaustible affection and gratitude to the brave man with the big hat, to the man with the eternal smile.
Written by Yadiel Barbón Salgado.