National Tribute to Camilo Cienfuegos

Cuban students are celebrating the 78th anniversary of the birth of Commander Camilo Cienfuegos in several activities organized across the country.

In classrooms on Friday, students held special presentations and exhibitions featuring photos, letters and books about Camilo Cienfuegos.

An official from the national board of the José Marti Pioneers Association (OPJM), Boudet Napoles, said that the Communist Youth League of Cuba (UJC) has organized a series of activities to bring students closer to Cuban history and its heroes in tribute to the anniversary of Camilo’s birth. The student organizations also made a call to students to begin preparing for the 49th anniversary of the OPJM, the 48th anniversary of the UJC and the upcoming Ninth Congress of the UJC.

Camilo Cienfuegos was born on February 6, 1932 in Lawton, City of Havana. Raised in a socialist family that had fled Spain during the Spanish Civil War, he became a key figure of the Cuban Revolution, along with Fidel Castro, Che Guevara, Raúl Castro and Huber Matos.

In 1954 he became an active member of the underground students’ movement against Dictator Fulgencio Batista. This involvement led him to be wounded by firearm on December 7, 1955, during a popular protest organized to honor Cuban independence hero Antonio Maceo.

Camilo travelled to Mexico were he met Fidel Castro, who was organizing a revolutionary expedition that would return to Cuba to fight Batista. Thereafter Cienfuegos was one of the 82 revolutionaries who set sail aboard the boat Granma in November 1956.

The Granma arrived in Cuba on December 2. The rebels were surprised in the mangrove swamps by the Batista's army at Alegría de Pío. The surviving rebels escaped in small dispersed groups, wandering for weeks in the Sierra Maestra mountains. Camilo was one of the twelve who survived the attacks and executions carried out by Batista's forces not long after they landed. He was able to rejoin Fidel Castro in the Sierra Maestra a month later.

In 1957 he became one of the top leaders of the revolutionary forces, appointed to the rank of Comandante. In 1958, with the defeat of Operation Verano Cienfuegos was put in command of one of three columns which headed west out of the mountains with the intention of capturing the provincial capital city of Santa Clara. Che Guevara was in command of another column and Jaime Vega was in command of the third.

Cienfuegos and Guevara's two columns reached the central provinces, where they joined efforts with several other groups. Cienfuegos's column fought the Battle of Yaguajay in December and, after a fight, forced the garrison to surrender on December 30, 1958. This earned him the nickname "The Hero of Yaguajay". With Yaguajay captured, Cienfuegos's column was able to advance against Santa Clara in conjunction with Guevara's forces. Together, the two columns captured Santa Clara on December 31; most of the defending soldiers gave up without shooting. Batista fled Cuba the next day, and the guerrillas were victorious

Later, Cienfuegos would serve in the Cuban Army's high command, fight anti-Castro uprisings, and play a role in agrarian reforms.

The main activities to celebrate Camilo’s birth in Havana were carried out at the Rolando Pérez Quintosa School in Guanabacoa.

The OPJM also presented a special award to the January 28 School for children with disabilities founded on February 11, 1988 by Fidel Castro.