On the night of April 11, 1895 the delegate of the Cuban Revolutionary Party, José Martí, disembarked on Playitas de Cajobabo in Guantanamo’s municipality of Imías along with Major General Maximo Gomez, Cesar Salas, Marcos del Rosario, Francisco Borrego and Angel Guerra.
On the night of April 11, 1895 the delegate of the Cuban Revolutionary Party, José Martí, disembarked on Playitas de Cajobabo in Guantanamo’s municipality of Imías along with Major General Maximo Gomez, Cesar Salas, Marcos del Rosario, Francisco Borrego and Angel Guerra.
Marti had shown from exile his great qualities as a politician and organizer of the independence struggles and that the fact of the landing became a practical demonstration of his sacrifice for the country to prevent timely with the independence of Cuba that the United States would extend to the lands of America.
José Martí came to Cuba to join the war that began on February 24, 1895 after several setbacks like Fernadina and unite all Cubans inside and outside the island for such epic.
The date of April 11 was chosen by the Provincial Assembly of People's Power, after extensive consultation with the people as the most significant event in the history of the province and each year is celebrated by the Guantanamo residents with solemn, historical and cultural activities that turn the municipality of Imías and all Guantánamo into a melting pot of ideas, actions and patriotism.
After Martí writing in his diary: "We arrived at a shore of stone, (The little one, near Cajababo). I stayed on the boat the last one evacuating it. I jumped. Great happiness…,” during his stay in Guantanamo, he was in the Cueva de Juan Ramírez (Juan Ramirez Cave), site named by Maximo Gomez as "The Temple," the second camp and first indoors where the crew spent the night. The peasants in the area brought them sweet potatoe, chicken and pork. Next day, they climbed Sao del Najesial, where Martí described the unspoilt nature of the area, and expressed "Up sister hills, men."
On April 15, José Martí was promoted to the rank of Major General of the Liberation Army in Rancho de Tavera, this time in his notes described it: "Gomez at the foot of the mountain, in the shaded lane of bananas, with mountain gap down, He tells me, beautiful and softened, which apart from recognizing me as the Delegate, the Liberator Army and heas the leader, elected in council of chiefs, appointed me as Major General. I hug him. Everybody hugs me ... "
The House of Pineda is one of the places where Patriots spent the night while in Palmarito Marti was recreated with the beauty of the landscape and takes notes of the local flora: "The coffee, hoya, pomarosa, cupey, pagua and royal palm. He delighted himself with the beauty of the Cuban landscape.
Spanish pursued the crew in Pazarzo, Palenque, where hunger forced them to feed on sugar cane, and then reached Madre Vieja, where they received the news of the death of Flor Crombet and Antonio Maceo was wounded by the betrayal of Garrido and his men. Sadness invaded, they hardly ate.
In Los Cigüatos, Yuraguana, Malabé and Ináguabana, José Martí continues writing letters, documents and notes in his campaign diary up to Vuelta Corta, the last camp in the region of Guantanamo, when they left on May 1, 1895.
Here, the wife of Pedro Agustín Pérez gave them the first Cuban flag that accompanied them until the end of the war.
Translation: Liubis Balart Martínez