Whatever happened in the course of the Independence War of 1895, Major General José Martí Pérez would come to Camagüey to the place where Major Ignacio Agramonte Loynaz had fallen in combat, on Sunday, May 11th, 1873. He would have set it that way, in secrecy, the Delegate of the Cuban Revolutionary Party in the company of the Dominican Major General Máximo Gómez, when he signed the historic Montecristi Manifesto in Santo Domingo.

After the risky landing of the leadership of the struggle in Playitas de Cajobabo, in the eastern part of Cuba in April 1895 – a stormy night with rough waves and threatening rocks – Martí maintained that conviction unshakable. It was necessary to give legal form to the nascent Republic in Arms, to enforce the Rule of Law, to organize in a balanced way the civil and military powers, to announce to the world the legitimacy of the process of Cuban emancipation struggle.

Jimaguayú had to add more glory to his land with the arrival of Martí and Gómez, however, the fate of the armed struggle prevented that privilege due to the premature death of the Apostle in Dos Ríos. Despite the disaster, the Jimaguayú Constituent Assembly elected the Government of the Republic in Arms. The convention was held between September 14th and 18th, on the ruins of the old mambí camp and the Military Training Academy where Ignacio Agramonte trained rigorously his officers and soldiers.

In Jimaguayú, unlike the Assembly of Guáimaro, the structuring of the government to be established and its powers had a decisive weight in the debates. Just like Martí and Gómez had planned. Undoubtedly, the deputies in their deliberations reflected a higher qualitative balance in comparison to the content and the form of the debates carried out in the previous constitution of Guáimaro, since the resulting power mechanism managed to adapt more to the conditions of the war, by granting to the Governing Council executive and legislative functions, and leave the General-in-Chief free to decide the direction of the war. Martí’s thought triumphed again. If Major Agramonte were alive he would have received the embrace of José Martí and Máximo Gómez, who so heartily admired him and recognized his merits and military achievements.

In Jimaguayú, the legislation was made with measure and wisdom, the deputies ratified Major General Máximo Gómez Báez and Major General Antonio Maceo as General in Chief of the Liberation Army and Lieutenant General respectively, at the same time that the absolute independence of Cuba was proclaimed and ratified, without leaving no margin for the opportunistic interference of third nations in the conflict with Spain.

It is worth knowing that on the occasion of the Seventh Extraordinary Session of the Provincial Assembly of People’s Power in Camagüey as a tribute to the centenary of the Constitution of Jimaguayú, the official use of the shield of the province was restored, design that was made by the Camagüey teacher and Captain of the Liberation Army Ángel Hernández Navarro, in 1926.

Headed by the member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of Cuba and President of the National Assembly of People’s Power Ricardo Alarcón de Quesada, the plenary session of Camagüey legislature in Agreement No. 120─VII, of the second As of Act No. 7, of September 13th, 1995 stated: “The pastures of Jimaguayú turn out to be a site of high historical value for the country and in particular for our province, a condition recognized today more than ever by our people that precisely identifies it as a place that deserves to be known and visited, both by those of us who live in these lands of Camagüey, as well as by our guests. ”

Therefore, in the same Agreement No. 120─VII, refers to promote the knowledge and systematic veneration of the site through its use in activities that are necessary due to their relevance; also achieve the maintenance, conservation and improvement of the site and its surroundings.

As a place that continuously honors Ignacio Agramonte, we must also go to thank our first legislators who thought and designed our Rule of Law, who laid the foundations of our democracy and full freedom; and although José Martí was physically absent because of his death, he became the soul of the Revolution of 1895.

Translated by: Aileen Álvarez García