Many times we enjoy the skills of Hollywood screenwriters to create great escapes in their quest to entertain audiences. Perhaps the most classic ones are the assault on a convoy carrying prisoners or an armored car that is full of gold or money. In most cases, moviegoers entertain themselves with scenes like this one, but in our imagination this is nothing more than pure fiction, something unreal.
It is important for you to know, that, on September 16th, 1958, the intersection between Rosario and Francisquito streets became a Hollywood movie set, but with real gunpowder, bullets, blood and real heroes, without special effects and without the opportunity to cut and start again at even the slightest mistake.
The assault
It turns out that it was necessary to rescue two prisoners who were members of the 26th of July Movement (M-26-7, by its acronym in Spanish). Given the complexity of attacking the prison, it was decided to intercept the car that would take them to the court to hold the trial.
The action directed by Noel Fernández, head of Action and Sabotage in the city of Camagüey, and carried out by Roberto Ollet, Rolando Marrero, Roberto Coello and Noel himself. Apart from being successful, it was extremely reckless since it was carried out about 200 meters from the prison and very close to the police station on Avellaneda Street. They stole from the wolf right under his nose.
It is said that when the police van arrived at Rosario Street it was intercepted by a vehicle belonging to the M-26-7 youth and that Noel Fernández and Marrero approached the van asking the driver for the keys, while Coello went to the back of the car to release his friends. Faced with the refusal of the driver and the attempt by the commanding officer of the car to pull his gun, bursts of bullets were discharged on the vehicle by Ollet, which caused the death of both officers and two of the prisoners were injured, including Pedro Lester Delgado, one of the main objectives of the assault. Also, one of the prisoners died instantly.
Recalling the action
Today, 62 years after that heroic action, the Office of the Historian of Camagüey city cannot ignore the date and recalls what happened in the Historic Site that pays tribute to the action. As every year, Roberto Coello, the only one of the assailants still alive, tells in detail how that September 16th, 1958, they mocked the Batista police and carried out, what is perhaps, the most audacious action of the underground movement in Camagüey.
Translated by: Aileen Álvarez García
