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| Home - Havana - Vinales Valleys - Isle de la Juventud - Baracoa - History |
| Hatuey was the first Cuban freedom fighter, he
died at the stake under the orders of the Catholic Church. He came to Cuba to
raise a force to attempt to put a halt to the Spanish invaders. Hatuey, the
leader of the Tainos fought the Spanish for three months in the forests and high
mountainous regions of the area surrounding Baracoa. Eventually he was betrayed
by one of his own, and arrested, and taken to be tried by the Church. A priest
at the trial and who attended the burning of Hatuey at the stake, offered Hatuey
in his dying moments a chance for his soul to be allowed into heaven. The priest
asked Hatuey to allow himself to be baptised. Hatuey asked if this was a place
where Spanish souls would go. On the answer to that Hatuey said " I would rather
go to hell and avoid the lot of you". Hatuey's statue stands at the front of the towns church, his hair worn in the traditional Taino fashion of the day. Hatuey will be remembered as Cuba's first revolutionary. He has been immortalised by a Cuban beer company who have taken his name for their product brand. Ernesto "Che" Guevara. Born in Rosario Argentina of middle class parents. He took up medicine and graduated in 1953. On completion of his course, Ernesto Guevara, nicknamed "Che", took to his motorcycle and along with a friend explored the south American continent. This epic journey, documented by Che himself, and now a 2004 film. Was highly influential in the formation of Che's political ideas and stance on Latin-American social injustices. Che met Fidel Castro in Mexico after escaping the 1954 American over through and subsequent coup. He joined Fidel's small army and returned to Cuba in 1956 to rally support from Cuban nationals in the eastern side of the island. His role as one of Fidel's commanders gave him great respect. He was instrumental in the Battle of Santa Clara when an armoured train was derailed, thus breaking the communication links the Americans held, to control the island from Guatemala to the capital Havana. After the success of the revolution in 1959, Che, developed a role of Cuba's character builder. His theories manifested in his concept book El Hombre Nuevo. Che believed in the communist movement, he motivated the nations new attitudes and acted as an ambassador on the worlds stage for the country and people he had fought for. Having completed four years as Cuba's ambassador. Che took to direct action again and travelled to the Congo. And became involved in yet another revolution in the name of communism. In 1966 he was attracted to Bolivia to fight in a more combat role against the Bolivian army. On the 8th October 1967 Che was captured by the CIA and shot. His body has never been returned, however his memory, ideals, philosophies live on in the spirit of millions of people globally he has touched.
Born 14 June 1928. This young medical student became a highly principled guerrilla fighter. Whose image, taken from a photograph by Alberto 'Korda' Gutierrez. Can now only be described as iconography. Seen everywhere on anything.
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