Camilo Cienfuegos Gorriarán, one of the main leaders of the last stage of our struggles, accumulated a long record of service to the Revolution. The Granma expeditionary participated in his first combat with his companions in Alegría de Pío, on December 5th, 1956. In El Uvero combat he already held the ranks of lieutenant and led a platoon. During the armed struggle in the Sierra Maestra, due to his combat abilities, he was named Captain of the Rebel Army.
After the betrayal of Hubert Matos, Fidel entrusted Camilo to take command of the province of Camagüey because he was Chief of the Rebel Army General Staff. At 8:30 am on October 21th, 1959, Camilo arrived at the city of Camagüey, presenting himself at the Agramonte barracks and informing Hubert Matos to hand over command. On the 21st he delivered a historic speech, during the mass act that took place in the Agramonte barracks.
The newspaper “Adelante” publishes an emotional note from Camilo: “Through the newspaper” Adelante “we are the ones who say thank you; Thank you, people of Camagüey, your presence in the Agramonte camp helped solve a new betrayal against our Homeland. Men can be traitors, but not peoples, and less Camagüey”. On October 25th, 1959, after reorganizing the army in Camagüey and making changes in the government of the province, Camilo returned to Havana.
On October 28th, 1959 around 11:59 a.m. he leaves the Ciudad Libertad airport for Camagüey in a Cessna 310 model plane, which was manned by the pilot Luciano Fariñas, accompanied by Captain Senén Casas and the soldier Félix Rodríguez as an escort. Camilo and Rodríguez descended in the city of Camagüey, while Fariñas continued his trip to Santiago de Cuba to take Senén Casas. At 4:40 p.m. the small aircraft identified with the initials FAR 53 was already back. It took off for the Capital of Cuba at 6:01 am. The return trip to his base from this point required two hours of flight on average and carried gas for three.
At the Libertad military air terminal, Captain Manuel Espinosa (Head), Camilo’s personal assistant, began to get impatient after the time stipulated for the arrival of his boss. Commander in Chief Fidel Castro Ruz, immediately after knowing about the disappearance of Commander Camilo Cienfuegos, dictates the necessary orders to carry out a meticulous search by air, sea and land with the aim of locating the whereabouts of the Hero of Yaguajay. He also moved to the city of Camagüey, from where he personally directed the tireless search.
Camilo disappeared in the middle of a storm. “In our country,” said Fidel when confirming his disappearance after two weeks of incessant search, “there are many Camilos.” “And Camilo will continue to live in other men like him; he will continue to live in the men who are inspired by him. Because the only thing we can ask for our people is that, whenever the country finds itself in a difficult situation, in a moment of danger, remember Camilo and every time our compatriots see that the road is long and difficult, they remember Camilo, what he did, how he never lost faith in the most difficult moments and how he knew how to do great feats “.
Translated by: Aileen Álvarez García
