March begins and we always think about the arrival of spring, the tributes to the women in our well-established day, by the way, thanks to the fact that many of them, back in the 1900s, had the courage to face the prejudices that stalked us and they defended come what may the rights we deserved.

The Protest of Baraguá also arrives, protest that showed us how intransigent Cubans are and that with us it is impossible to negotiate on principles matter, the protest that accompanies us every day as a symbol of rebellion and that Maceo so clearly left for history and will continue to accompany us while it is about honor and dignity.

And of course, the day of the birth of a woman that for Camaguey is essential to remember arrives too, for her rebelliousness, purity of feelings, love for the country and the land that saw her born, values ​​that were stronger than any reason.  Being far from her homeland cost her so many tears and made her to write works that were framed among the best of Spanish American literature of all time, that woman of whom I talk about, without a doubt is our Gertrudis Gómez de Avellaneda, our Tula, as she affectionately was named and we continue doing it when we name her

A woman, who about that time got ahead with her thought of everything.  With her brilliant intelligence she knew how to overcome the ties of the time and to be a true warrior of her most pure and genuine passions and feelings, a woman who rose up with her voice and her pen to express how much we can do to conquer a better world.

Just hours from the 205th anniversary of her birth, she, and the magnificent sculpture that presides over the street that bears her name in our city, reminds us those years lived outside of Cuba, those who never stopped thinking and loving her, and thinking about her I listen as a soft whisper the verses, that unforgettably she dedicated to be away from her land:

 Pearl of the sea! / Star of the West!  / Beautiful Cuba!  / Your bright sky the night covers with its opaque veil, as pain covers my sad forehead…

We should remember, admire and honor such a woman as she deserves in every action of love for the city, pride for being from Camagüey, so I invite you to when you see her figure, that thanks to the hands of the artist Sergio Roque  and to the almost heroic effort of the Office of the City Historian, they placed it at the entrance of the street that bears her name, we revere her and contemplate her with pride and ecstasy, because we are privileged to have someone like her, who was born in this  land of illustrious artists, of tinajones and churches, of love and traditions.

Translated into English by José Carlos García Cruz