…The troops that Fidel formed are already marching,
They already take over the towns, they shine more than the sun,
the notes of the invading anthem are heard,
the dictator fell.
(María Aguilar, December 7, 1958, San Miguel del Junco Command)
The captain of the MININT, María Aguilar Vita, is one of those women from Camagüey, who assures that she is not a woman of tears, with great courage and determined to fight to see her people free from suffering, she began her path as a guerrilla when she was only 21 years old, her poem “Sierra Maestra”, denotes her hope in the triumph, which was so close when she composed it.
The beginning of her journey
Born into a family of revolutionaries, parents, siblings, friends and her boyfriend, they met in the dining room of her house, located in Benavides Street # 652, to prepare actions and Molotov cocktails with which they frightened the soldiers of the ruling dictatorship.
In March 1957 they founded the group TOM (succeed or die) that was part of the Revolutionary Directorate and at the same time of the July 26th movement, in the city.
Their actions were focused on causing blackouts, throwing explosive cocktails in public places and watering sharp objects, to strike out the patrols of the soldiers in the service of Fulgencio Batista.
But only a few months could her work be done at will, because a tip-off took them all to jail and it would take them 9 years to discover the snitch.
In prison
She was detained in the Avellaneda unit and later transferred to the Francisquito street prison, to protect her companions and family members, she took the blame for all the material seized.
The dictator’s henchmen did not believe that she, with her “dead fly” face, was capable of preparing the explosives and directing the group of rioters, so they sent Negro Goyo to get her to confess.
El Goyo was known for his torture and abuse methods used in prisoners, María saw how her boyfriend was beaten with mittens and her back was bleeding, she screamed and feigned madness, but they beat her and tried to rape her, 5 days without sleep held in an office resulted in an eternity.
They got bored of mistreating her and pressuring her to testify and finally they released her, but without news of her brother, her boyfriend and other imprisoned companions of hers, she feared for their lives.
How did she get out of that situation?
A revolutionary infiltrated the police managed to free her and sent her to the countryside to save her. There she began her new work. She arrived at the rebel command of San Miguel del Junco and began working as a nurse for a while, an attack on the camp killed her boss and they had to move to Guáimaro, walking through the countryside.
From Guáimaro she continued with her troops on the way to Las Tunas and a contact with the revolutionary Teté Puebla sent them to the Sierra de Gibara, where they founded a field hospital.
Many of her companions died in those combats, when recalling those passages so well kept in memory, tears and emotions arise, she reminds me that she is not a woman of tears, otherwise she would never have come so far.
A memory
She remains silent and tries not to cry, but her feelings are crystal clear, we wait for a while and with a broken voice she reveals that her poem came out for the first time in the Comandancia del Junco, the revolutionary Vicente, asked her if he fell first she should recite it in his memory and the young man fell, but the pain did not let her keep her promise.
After the triumph
She left Gibara on January 5th, after the Victory Caravan led by Fidel, and joined many other tasks, until 1969 when she joined State Security, where she worked for 26 years. She would have liked to stay longer, but the aftermath of the war had already taken its toll on her health, which she hides very well, since at her 86th she is a beautiful lady, with impeccable hair and distinguished elegance.
Medals and distinctions endorse her hard work in the service of the country, including those of distinguished services, that of combatant of the clandestine struggle and of the liberation war, however, the most exclusive title is that of having been the only woman guerrilla, which worked in Camagüey for the MININT.
On several occasions she was close to Fidel, but the most beautiful memory was when she met him in person in Holguín, she says that from the stage where he spoke to the people, he looked into her eyes and greeted her with a nod, she was captivated by his beard reddish against the light at dusk… it was beautiful and unforgettable.
We have talked for a long time, the rain that has been very present these days threatens to collapse; Major Santos joined us, who was his boss in counterintelligence, the three of us are very talkative and we ran out of time, a lightning bolt forces me to say goodbye and I have one last question for Captain Aurora, how did her ex-boss and friend baptize her?: What would you not do if you went back to your youth days?
She shakes her head, smiles and with a sweet smile assures… I would do the same again.
Translated by: Aileen Álvarez García
