February 24th has a special meaning for the Cuban people, that day in 1865, Baire took up arms and began the Necessary War. Despite getting rid of the Spanish oppression, the victory was clouded by the North American intervention in the island, but even so the significance of February 24th reached a greater dimension.
It was certainly not by chance that that date was chosen in 1912, to inaugurate the statue of Ignacio Agramonte, in the homonymous park. That day Amalia Simoni Argilagos unveiled the equestrian statue, which had been made at the initiative of the Santa Cecilia Popular Society. From then on, El Mayor accompanies visitors and locals from the land that take on his name as one of its gentile.
This day, but in 1929, two monuments are inaugurated in honor of the wars of independence. One is dedicated to the dozen patriots who were shot on the walls behind the Spanish Army Infantry Barracks during the Ten Years’ War, including Oscar de Céspedes, son of the then President of the Republic in Arms: Carlos Manuel de Céspedes.
The other monument inaugurated that day is dedicated to the Unknown Liberator Soldier. The remains of a mambí are kept in this huge obelisk located near the Casino Campestre, whose identification is unknown and it is a tribute to the thousands of Cubans who gave their lives in the battle field to fight against Spain.
It is said that the Camagüey population financed the work and that the Liberation Army Colonel Ángel Castillo y Quesada together with Captain Américo Silva were in charge of the exhumation and transportation of the remains. Several veterans of the war participated in the inauguration ceremony, who even objected to the fact that North American planes, which at that time were in Cuba, would fly over the sky with the Cuban aviation, as part of the ceremony.
February 24th is a sacred date, full of symbolism and patriotic tradition practically unmatched. Cuba does not forget its heroes, neither those who took up arms in Demajagua and a little before, nor those who took it up again in the Little War or on February 24th, 1895, hence the date is so important for all Cubans.
Translated by: Aileen Álvarez García
