El Uvero: The first of many rebel victories.
The Rebel Army staged in El Uvero one of its most transcendental combative actions, recognized for the victory it represented for the Antillean insurrection and, mainly, for laying the foundations for the establishment of the Revolutionary Government on January 1st, 1959.
It was on May the 28th 1957 when, a little less than six months after the landing of the Granma and the setback in Alegría de Pío, the barbudos showed the patriotic courage that ran through their veins and dented the arrogance of the Batista forces in this dizzying military confrontation.
Although the area was part of the list of eastern points reinforced by the government mandate to undermine the rebel advance, a shot at the radio equipment of the tyranny’s garrison, perpetrated by Fidel Castro, started three hours of bloody libertarian fervor.
Together with the historic leader, his brother Raul, Juan Almeida Bosque and Guillermo Garcia led their respective platoons and the men of Efigenio Ameijeiras and Camilo Cienfuegos covered the flanks until, despite their resistance, the 53 enemy soldiers defending the barracks and the trenches succumbed to the courage of the Cuban guerrillas.
In spite of the unequal conditions in which both sides fought, the Rebel Army managed to occupy a considerable amount of weapons and park and caused 46 casualties to the tyranny, but the feat cost the lives of seven brave men: Julio and Emiliano Diaz, Gustavo Adolfo Moll, Francisco Soto, Anselmo Vega, Eligio Mendoza and Rigoberto Silleros.
The Rebel Army reached, as expressed by the Heroic Guerrilla, its coming of age on the battlefield, demonstrating the vulnerability and inefficiency of Fulgencio Batista’s regime and contributing, in turn, to raise the morale and confidence of the revolutionaries in the genuine project of freedom and social justice that its architects were promoting.
Written by Yadiel Barbón Salgado.
