By: Liannys Juan López (journalism student)

At dawn, on November 4th, 1868, the people of Camagüey incorporated to the independence struggles through the Uprising in Saramaguacán, also known as Paso de las Clavellinas.

.Although it occurred a little bit late compared to the armed uprising led by Céspedes in La Demajagua, it is worth noting that some of the first conspiracies and political outbreaks to achieve our independence occurred in Puerto Príncipe, although without coordinated plans for uprisings with other Cuban regions.

On November 1st, 1868, shortly after the Reunion in San Miguel del Rompe, Salvador Cisneros met with the conspirators at the Philharmonic Society. There it would be decided whether to go to combat or wait for news about the weapons that Manuel de Quesada Loynaz would bring from Nassau.

On the 4th, after evading the Spanish defense, 76 patriots embraced the ideals for which the patriot Joaquín de Agüero had been shot in 1851, definitively incorporating Camagüey into the armed insurrection. Days later, Agramonte joined the fight and earned, on his own merit, the place he occupies today in the memories of the Homeland.

The independence movement in Camagüey emerged as a single focus under the leadership of the Revolutionary Council and its beginning was marked by the Uprising of Las Clavellinas and by those from Camagüey, who carried more enthusiasm than weapons.

Translated by: Aileen Álvarez García