A new era in Free Cuba

Day 2,637, 01:42 • Published in Cuba Cuba • by NewDawnFades

Camilo Cienfuegos (1932-1959) was one of the leading figures of the Cuban Revolution next to Fidel and Raul Castro and Ernesto Guevara. He was raised under modest living conditions in a family of tailors. His father had an anarchistic attitude and sympathized with the Russian Revolution.

After his school education Camilo went to university, but soon he had to abort his studies due to financial difficulties. Not least because of the bad economic condition of Cuba, Camilo left the country for the USA when he was 21 years old. When he was deported back to Cuba two years later, he joined the student movement and committed himself to the fight against the regime of dictator Fulgencio Batista. As a consequence he was persecuted by the secret police, was tortured and finally escaped into exile. In the USA, he became part of the Revolutionary Opposition of Exile.

There he learned of Fidel Castro's plan to organize an armed invasion of Cuba from Mexico, which corresponded to his own ideals. When he was deported from the USA and arrived in Mexico on September 19th, he was however not integrated at all in the revolutionary cell. He had difficulties being accepted in the group, until he was presented to Fidel Castro in person and sent to the camp of Ciudad Victoria. He was one of the view fighters chosen by Fidel Castro who embarked upon the expedition on board the Granma and arrived at Cuba on December 2nd. 70 of the 82 men died in a fight with Batista's troops. Those who survived included the protagonists of the Revolution such as Fidel and Raul Castro, Ernesto "Che" Guevara, Juan Almeida and Ramiro Valdés.

During the numerous combats in which Cienfuegos was involved in 1957, he was injured severely as he was responsible for the vanguard of the guerilla troops, a dangerous task. His morals as a fighter earned him the name "leader of the vanguard". His experience grew and grew so that he became captain and in 1958 commanding officer. Until the invasion of the center of Cuba and the triumph of the Cuban Revolution he was a key figure in the struggle for liberation.

Camilo Cienfuegos died in 1959 unexpectedly when his plane crashed during a reconnaissance flight. The precise circumstances of his death have not been clarified, which has led to speculations until today, because neither Cienfuegos' remains nor any remains of the airplane have ever been found.


From the mountains to the sea We will always keep Cuba Free