Creole Enlightenment and the New Homeland

It was the body of professors who were members of the so-called «Principal Enlightenment», for other Creole, -and this was not of little significance in cultural and political matters-, they would help them prepare the mentalities of the pupils and raise their general instruction to higher levels; also to form in them the way to face challenges.

Of those professors, with a more comprehensive payroll that mostly worked simultaneously in other entities, such as the Economic Society of Friends of the Country or the Economic Council; It is worth mentioning the naturalist Manuel Monteverde Bello, the Dominican pedagogue trained in new teaching methods Dr. José Delmonte y Garay, the Spanish moralist and teacher Mr. Gabriel Román y Cermeño, the also Dominican Lic. Antonio Pichardo y Márquez, the no less enlightened Juan García de la Linde, the patriot and writer José Ramón Betancourt y Betancourt, and the Venezuelan patriot Cristóbal Mendoza y Durán; in them the youth of Puerto Príncipe would find support, to forge the change of the old structures of the colonial power.

It is necessary to remember that the professor of the Institute Lic. en Medicina Eduardo Agramonte y Piña, together with several colleagues and disciples, would join the independence conspiracy, which would finally lead 76 patriots from the region to the appointment of the Paso de Las Clavellinas. This event, which occurred on November 4th, 1868, had as its principle to let the colonial government know that Camagüey was seconding the East in the Ten Years’ War. Around 60 brave men would find death in the fields of the Revolution, after forging their destinies in the Institute’s classrooms.

New building, same fights

In the neo-colonial Republic, just in 1908, given the progress and importance of Secondary Education studies, the Government allocated part of its budget from the Public Works Plan to build a building that would assume a higher enrollment of students. The property, between inconveniences and delays in the project, finally outlined its rectangular figure on the land adjacent to the Casino Campestre Park, on October 10th, 1928. The date was not chosen at random.

At the inaugural moment of the building, with a classic triangular pediment between thick columns and stairways, which somewhat resembled one of the palaces of ancient Greece; in the Aula Magna, the first director of the center, Dr. Felipe Pichardo Moya, looked satisfied. The grandson of the former colonel of the 1968 war, with the same name as his grandfather, Dr. Emilio L. Luaces Bilichi, focused his introduction on the students, calling them to assimilate the humanist, scientific and educational teachings, and to “imitate the example of Ignacio Agramonte, champion of human freedoms». The latter had a strong political charge, as well as moralizing, ethical and revolutionary; that the students should not have overlooked, in the midst of surrendering to the United States.

Forge of revolutionaries

It did not take long for the important educational, moral, ethical and humanistic work of the Institute to be corroborated, and to become a forge of revolutionaries; who would come out of their classrooms to challenge the misrules and the dictatorships of Machado and Batista. Almost recently inaugurated, its students staged a public protest, on February 13th, 1929, due to the refusal of the authorities to commemorate the death of the former professor and lieutenant colonel of the Liberation Army, Dr. Manuel Ramón Silva y Zayas.

These protests were led by Francisco Venegas Muiñaz, Hugo Pedroso Rodríguez, Héctor Zayas-Bazán Perdomo, Consuelo Seone Pérez, Jorge Rovirosa Comas, María Josefa Vega Moreno, Armando Ruiz Leiro, Ernesto Nieves Casas, Ramón Moncada Rodríguez and Manolo Arango. Among the professors, the professor of Logic, Civics and Psychology, Dr. Mendoza Rojas; and the professor of Natural History and Biology, Dr. Biosca Viñolas.

There was no fear among the students to take to the streets, as evidenced when teachers and students of the Institute, the Normal School for Teachers and the Professional School of Commerce, went on strike on April 19th, 1934, to demand the dismissal of the Yankee military supervisor of the Republic. On September 6th, after the strike and while the assembly of the United Front for the Struggle of Students and Workers was taking place in the student session hall, located at the entrance of the school, this center was attacked by the police and the army. Despite the shooting, the aggression was repelled by students and workers from the roof of the building.

Exemplary actions

Many were the revolutionary actions, in those years in which the vanguard of the Institute stood out. Among them, it is worth mentioning the acts for the centenary of the birth of Major Ignacio Agramonte Loynaz, in December 1941. One of the highlight activities was the “patriotic parade” led by the children of El Mayor, Herminia and Ignacio E. Agramonte Simoni, which moved through various streets of the city. On the night of December 23rd, before the “Cena Agramontina” at the Gran Hotel, the director of the Institute, Dr. Florencio Carbó López, pondered the virtues and military exploits of Major Ignacio Agramonte.

Another highlighting activity occurred on May 12th, 1950, when Dr. Elías Entralgo y Vallina, renowned professor of Cuban History at the College of Philosophy and Letters of the University of Havana, visited the Institute. Certainly, in the national context and in the Camagüey Institute where his dissertation “The centenary of the Cuban flag” would be heard, his presence would become an act of revolutionary reaffirmation of the student body.

Likewise, it would happen during the “Martiano Parade” on January 28th, 1953, Year of the Centenary of the Apostle. By the way, three days later the wake was held, symbolic burial and mourning for 72 hours were held; after learning of the death in Havana of the student Rubén Batista Rubio, who was seriously injured after a confrontation with the Police. Although the Police promised the director of the Florencio M. Carbó Institute that everything would go smoothly, after surrounding the building, the uniformed men burst into the portal and attacked the students with sticks and sabers. Next, they threw to the ground and trampled on the National Flag that covered the coffin.

Continuity of the fight

Then came the appointment of Jesús Suárez Gayol to preside over the Student Association, on May 24th, 1954. With his mandate, the association approved important agreements, such as the one dated December 21st, aimed at undertaking the campaign of rejection of the dictatorship’s attempt to build the Vía-Cuba Canal; project that would curtail national sovereignty.

A moment of particular significance was the invitation sent by Suárez Gayol to Dr. Armando Hart Dávalos, so that he would come to unveil the portrait of Abel Santamaría Cuadrado, second head of the Revolutionary Movement in 1953. The unveiling took place in the session room, the night of November 27th, 1955.

Finally, the Rebel victory of January 1st, 1959 became a reality. Among the issues debated in the Student Association on January 14th, 1959, was the proposal of the member of the board of directors, Rafael Rivero, to invite Commander in Chief Fidel Castro “to preside a ceremony in favor of the Agrarian Reform, here at the Institute.” Nothing, that the revolutionary youth went to the side of the Revolution… and would continue fighting.

Translated by: Aileen Álvarez García