On the anniversary of the Cienfuegos uprising of September 5, 1957, the Communist Party of Cuba released a statement written by Daina Caballero Trujillo that we have translated from the Spanish:
"Always present the martyrs who that glorious September initiated the popular uprising in Cienfuegos. Action recognized by Fidel as a truly resolute and heroic combat," said Roberto Morales Ojeda, member of the Political Bureau and Secretary of Organization of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba, this morning through his account on the social network X.
"66 years ago Cienfuegos woke up in a struggle against Batista's tyranny. The actions led by a group of fighters of the July 26 movement and rebellious sailors quickly became a popular uprising," the Cuban leader added.
Morales Ojeda also congratulated the members of the Revolutionary War Navy, whom he described as "safeguards of our homeland and the tranquility of our people." The date is celebrated in commemoration of the armed popular uprising of Cienfuegos that was, according to Commander in Chief Fidel Castro, an extraordinary moral support to those who fought in the mountains of eastern Cuba.
He reflected on its background and aims during his speech on the occasion of the twentieth anniversary of the deed, in 1977; "The origin of the Cienfuegos uprising dated back a long time. As early as 1956, a group of sailors, soldiers and corporals from the Cienfuegos Base had come into contact with the 26th of July Movement."
And on November 30, when the landing of the Granma yacht was approaching and when the uprising of Santiago took place, there the idea of an uprising of Cienfuegos. But it was not possible on that occasion.
And so it was, they say that the shootings in the heart of the city of Cienfuegos that September 5, 1957 broke the usual stillness of dawn in those lands.
It was the combatants of the July 26 Movement (M-26-7) and rebel sailors of the Southern Naval District, who took the naval garrison of Cayo Loco and handed over their weapons to the revolutionaries to star in one of the most heroic deeds of the years prior to the triumph of January 1, 1959.
The action was led by Julio Camacho Aguilera, representing the M-26-7, the central articulating axis in the conception and development of the feat. The young officers of the Navy appointed the frigate lieutenant Dionisio San Román as their chief.
History has shown that if anything marked the uprising of sailors and civilians in Cienfuegos it was its extremely popular character.
"From very early on, the people of Cienfuegos joined the uprising. First there were about 60 or 70 fighters of the July 26 Movement, and then it was all the people: men, women and even teenagers appeared there asking for weapons to fight against tyranny. And, indeed, the weapons were distributed among the people," Fidel summarized 20 years later.
The heroes and martyrs of 1957 staged one of the most courageous patriotic feats of the 50s, an action that put the government of the day in check and demonstrated the strength of popular unity preparing the way for victory.