Frank País and Raúl Pujol live on the Day of the Martyrs of the Revolution

Perhaps the most horrendous toll of Fulgencio Batista's tyranny was the death that his henchmen caused to more than 20,000 people who were fighting for the Homeland dreamed of by Martí. In honor of them and Frank País and Raúl Pujol, on July 26, 1959, at the Moncada Barracks, the Council of Ministers agreed to declare July 30 as the Day of the Martyrs of the Revolution.

By Katherin Hormigó Rubio, translated from the Spanish

"What barbarians! They hunted him down in the street like cowards, taking advantage of the advantages they enjoy to pursue a clandestine fighter! What monsters! They don't know the intelligence, the character, the integrity, that they have murdered," said the Commander in Chief of the Revolution, Fidel Castro, on July 31, 1957 in a letter to Celia Sánchez upon hearing the news of the murder of Frank País.

July 30, 1957 marks a day of deep sadness for Cuba. On that date, at about four in the afternoon, Frank País and Raúl Pujol were murdered in cold blood.

The Callejón del Muro, in Santiago de Cuba, witnessed one of the most horrendous crimes committed by the Batista tyranny which received a resounding response from the people of Santiago.

Both revolutionaries took refuge in Pujol's house. Upon learning that the police were inspecting houses nearby, they decided to leave the area, when they were intercepted by the guards.

When they were searched, they discovered a pistol that Frank was carrying, who was identified by one of the guards. They were beaten and murdered in a cowardly way by Lieutenant Colonel José María Salas Cañizares, one of the most loyal henchmen of the Fulgencio Batista dictatorship.

At the young but fruitful age of 22, Frank had more than demonstrated his courage and loyalty to the growing revolutionary movement. He stood out as a student leader and is still considered the soul of the clandestine struggle. These conditions led him to be named head of Action and Sabotage and member of the National Directorate of the 26th of July Movement. He was a lover of poetry, a musician and amateur painter, but, above all, a teacher and revolutionary.

Frank incorporated workers and young people into the struggle, and always sought to include people of all ages and social sectors. He organized and led the uprising in Santiago de Cuba on November 30, 1956, which would serve as support for the landing of the Granma expedition, although bad weather delayed the yacht's arrival on the island.

Raúl Pujol was one of the organizers of the Santiago Civic Resistance and his house hosted several meetings of the 26th of July Movement and served as a refuge for Frank País on many occasions. After the formation of the Second Eastern Front, he was one of those in charge of making the necessary implements, as well as acquiring equipment and supplies. The hardware store where he worked became the operations center of the revolutionary forces.

After Frank's death, just a month after his brother Josué was murdered in this same city, the women went with their mother Rosario García Calviño to claim the body.

No one could prevent him from being dressed in the olive green uniform of the Rebel Army, and from wearing the beret and armband of the 26th of July Movement on his chest.

A spontaneous general strike, which filled more than 20 blocks, paralyzed the city the next day. The two funerals were joined together and several voices, backed by a heart-rending chorus, were raised to condemn the tyranny.

His burial was a massive expression of pain and repudiation of the ignominious act and of the dictatorship that maintained a fierce repression and had plunged thousands of Cuban families into mourning in the 1950s.

Santiago showed its strength and anger, without fear, defying the guns pointed at them on corners and in squares. The people walked through the streets singing and calling for justice, under a shower of flowers from many balconies.

In that same letter to Celia Sánchez, the leader of the Cuban Revolution said: "the people of Cuba do not even suspect who Frank País was; how great and promising he was. It hurts to see him like this, fully mature despite his 23 years, when he was giving the Revolution the best of himself."

In honor of them and the twenty thousand Cubans who perished in the anti-Batista struggle, on July 26, 1959, in the Moncada Barracks, the Council of Ministers agreed to declare that date as the Day of the Martyrs of the Revolution.

A people who still remember them.

The people of Santiago de Cuba do not forget their children, those who shed blood to see Cuba freed from bondage.

That is why every July 30th, its streets are filled with colors, and Cuban and July 26th flags to honor the "most valuable, the most useful, the most extraordinary of our combatants," as Fidel Castro said.

At four o'clock, as happens every year, the people of Santiago march to the city cemetery to pay homage to the Martyrs of the Revolution.

From the balconies of the houses on San Pedro Street, rose petals fall, as happened in 1957, on the flags.

The cheers of "Long live the Revolution!" or "Homeland or Death!" shake the city, a city that does not forget 67 years later that horrendous event that marked a turning point in the struggle against the tyranny imposed by the Batista government.

This work was translated and shared via a License CC-BY-NC