Born on the same date, although 83 years apart, Antonio Maceo and Ernesto Che Guevara eloquently represent fundamental characteristics of Cubans’ quest to reach our dreams
SANTIAGO DE CUBA.— Born on the same date, although 83 years apart, Antonio Maceo and Ernesto Che Guevara eloquently represent fundamental characteristics of Cubans’ quest to reach our dreams.
On the 175th anniversary of the Bronze Titan’s birth, and the 92nd of the heroic guerilla’s, the President of the Republic of Cuba, Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, recalled on his Twitter account: “Maceo and Che are always present in our daily struggle, in our conquests, in our aspirations as a nation, in our commitment to solidarity, in our patriotism.”
During the difficult days of October 1962, Che said that the whole of Cuba was a Maceo, and years later, amidst the grueling hardship of the special period, and the struggle for the return of the boy Elián González, Fidel reaffirmed our decision to resist and win as an eternal Baraguá, in reference to Maceo’s historic refusal to surrender.
Maceo’s name continues to serve as a call to combat, and provokes, in the spirit and attitude of Cubans, the same emotions that Martí discovered in the General: “He loves the country so much that when he speaks, alone with his oath, of its reality, of the fire within it, joy illuminates his eyes, and forms a knot in his throat.”
This is how he was remembered in his hometown, with a floral wreath in the name of the Cuban people, by a representative group of Santiago residents, in the Plaza de la Revolución that honors his name, where 23 giant machetes bear witness to his struggle and a flame of eternal life burns.
TRIBUTE IN SANTA CLARA
As Che’s city, the current epidemiological situation presented no obstacle for Santa Clara to commemorate the births of Antonio Maceo and Ernesto Che Guevara with several activities.
Once again, the Memorial Sculpture Complex that is honored to bear the name of the Heroic Guerrilla served as the main venue of the tribute that began with the placing of floral wreaths alongside the bust of the Bronze Titan and at the Memorial where the remains of Guevara and his comrades in struggle in Bolivia rest, in a ceremony presided by Yudi Rodriguez Hernandez, president of the Provincial Defense Council. .
During the day, in which Party and Young Communist League membership cards were presented to a group of outstanding workers and students at Marta Abreu Central University, Ché’s work as an internationalist doctor was recalled, and gratitude for the efforts of Cuban medicine in the current battle against COVID-19 expressed.
Performances by recognized artists from several provinces and other Latin American countries were streamed across the planet – via an online transmission – from the Memorial Sculpture Complex, singing to these two giants of Our America.
To honor the anniversaries, a brigade of outstanding youth took part in volunteer work at the Las Villas Front Combatants Mausoleum, doing needed maintenance in the gardens and cleaning niches where the remains of those who fought alongside Che rest, while several groups of workers joined the initiative on the production front.
Author: Eduardo Palomares | [email protected]
Author: Ángel Freddy Pérez Cabrera | [email protected]
