The day Cienfuegos «dressed up» as the homeland.

On September 5th, 1957, Cienfuegos dressed up as the homeland, when its sons led one of the most insurgent and decorous armed actions of the 26th of July Movement (M-26-7), a manifest example of the strength of the Cuban people in their struggle against the dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista.

As part of their strategy, the insurgents, with the help of soldiers, corporals and Navy officers, planned to take control of the Pearl of the South through a series of coordinated attacks on key political and military installations in this city as well as in Havana and Santiago de Cuba, in the hope of generating a national popular uprising in favor of the Revolution and capable of overthrowing the tyrant.

However, dissimilar factors such as the hesitations among some senior officers who joined the cause at the last moment, as well as the lack of communication between the leaders of the 26th of July Movement and the Navy officers, made it difficult for the Cienfuegos revolutionaries to be notified of the events to take place and they had to manage on their own to fight the Batista forces.

Even so, the insurrection materialized and figures such as Julio Camacho Aguilera, who on behalf of the Moncadista Movement became the head of the insurrection together with frigate ensign Dionisio San Román, designated by the young officers of the Navy as their leader, as well as ensign Dimas Martínez Padilla, precursor of the combats at the San Lorenzo College, among others, stood out. Thanks to their work and that of the revolutionary people who joined them, facilities such as Cayo Loco, headquarters of the Southern Naval District of the Navy and the Maritime and National Police Stations could be taken over.

Unfortunately, Fulgencio Batista’s repression and the superiority and brutality of his military entourage were not long in coming and in addition to suffocating the insurrectionary actions, they put an end to the lives of a great number of rebels and civilians among whom were the Santa Clara citizens Laureano Anoceto March and his son Eduardo Anoceto Rega, as well as the guerrilla Ruben Carrillo Sanchez, better known as Carrillito. Injustice trembled that day and the indignation and repulsion towards the bloody Batista regime became even more acute.

Although internally the armed uprising of September 5th, 1957 was a painful military setback, we cannot ignore that for almost 24 hours, the city of Cienfuegos was able to embrace freedom and that time endowed these events with a well-deserved connotation.

Not only is what happened a key moment in our patriotic history for demonstrating the courage, determination and resistance of the rebels in their struggle for liberation and social justice, and for encouraging popular support or recruitment of new forces to confront Batista, but also for integrating the list of unforgettable epics that finally led to the victory of the Revolution and its architects on January 1st, 1959.

Written by Yadiel Barbón Salgado.