On February 4, 1858, Bernabé Boza Sánchez, Brigadier General of the Liberation Army, was born in Puerto Príncipe, Camagüey province. He was the son of wealthy parents, but with pro-independence ideas.

His childhood

Since he was little he followed his father ideas and for this reason, at the age of ten, when the war for Cuban independence broke out in La Demajagua, on October 10th, 1868; his mother sent him abroad knowing of his rebellious ideas. He joined the War of ’68 at a very young age.

His passion for freedom

He returned to Cuba six years later, in 1874, to join the Mambisas ranks; in February 1878, he rose to the rank of First Sergeant. Years after the end of the war he kept waiting for a new uprising and in 1895 he rose up again with Major General Máximo Gómez Báez, who put him at the head of his escort; becoming a member of his staff.

He excelled in various battles during the War of 95, concluding with the rank of Brigadier General. After the first intervention of the United States on the island, he was mayor in Santa María del Rosario, Havana, to later become part of the House of Representatives after the establishment of the Neocolonial Republic, paying close attention to social works.

He continued his fight for independence and joined the independence fighters against the United States after the second American intervention in 1906.

When the Patriotic Board was formed by Salvador Cisneros Betancourt he joined him, always keeping firm the principles for which he fought from an early age, strongly criticizing annexationist ideas.

Translated by: Aileen Álvarez García