There were mainly young people who did not waver then, did not hesitate; they faced with courage and dignity the tyranny that was bleeding the country dry. They went on to swell the ranks of the eternal heroes that the Homeland welcomed in its bosom, one of them was a young man from Camaguey: Álvaro Morel Álvarez (Charles)

He was born on January 5th, 1936, in the city of Camagüey. Son of Álvaro and Concepción. He attended primary education in Camagüey. He was an avid reader of Martí’s texts. From an early age, Charles’s worry and concern was seen in the face of all injustice and mistreatment. In 1950 he enrolled in the city’s Second School Institute.

Revolutionary work

His actions for the revolutionary cause began in the midst of the government of Carlos Prío Socarrás, which he vigorously confronted until the coup d’état of March 10th, 1952, against which he openly manifested and began his fight against the bloody and brutal tyranny of Fulgencio Batista, who daily made many Cuban households dress in mourning.

Thus begins his journey of ascending revolutionary formation. Given his political training, he instantly understands the spirit of the assault on the Moncada barracks, embraces that cause and sees in Fidel the expected leader. He becomes a fervent admirer of the heroic feat, recruits the best boys in the institute to support the ideas of the patriotic event, and strengthen ties with other young revolutionary students, such as Jesús Suárez Gayol, Cándido González Morales, and Rodolfo Ramírez Esquivel.

The young man from Camagüey with a fruitful revolutionary trajectory in favor of the cause of freedom and social justice, suffered the harshness of persecution, beatings, jail and exile, with courage, loyalty and determination to all test.

He was one of the main leaders of the Camagüey student body and a member of the July 26th movement. After the armed struggle took root in the Sierra Maestra, he assumed new and greater responsibilities, tried in vain to join the Sierra, relentlessly persecuted by the Batista tyranny, and went into exile.

When he tried to return to the homeland to take his place in the armed struggle against tyranny, the expeditionary ship suffered a failure in one of the propellers, “Charles” is the first to offer to repair the damage. The courageous revolutionary jumped into the water with boots and clothes; and he disappeared into the rough waters of the Gulf of Mexico. He died at just 22 years old, on April 26th, 1958.

Tribute and remembrance

With the name of this heroic young man, the Álvaro Morell Urban Pre-University Institute is honored, once a Second School Institute, where he studied; and where today young people are being trained who, like him, have the commitment to prepare in order to guarantee the historical continuity of the Revolution, the one that with his courage he helped liberate and for which he gave his life.

Bibliography:

Ariel Noa, Álvaro Morell Álvarez. Bohemia, Junio 21, 1968.

Ariel García Suárez, “Una joven vida consagrada a la Revolución”. Granma, Abril 26,  1978.

Translated by: Aileen Álvarez García