Diary of a Combatant Page 27

  ACEVEDO GONZÁLEZ, ROGELIO: Born in Placetas, Las Villas, in 1941. He joined the Rebel Army in July 1957 as a member of Column Four. He was later a member of Che’s Column Eight and attained the rank of commander.

  ACOSTA ESPINOSA, JULIO ZENÓN: Born in Veguitas, Oriente province, on May 8, 1912. He was an activist in the July 26 Movement and a combatant in the Rebel Army. He joined Column One in January 1957 and died February 9, 1957, in the battle at Altos de Espinosa.

  ACOSTA FERRALS, CLODOMIRA: Born in Cayajal, Vara, in 1937. She was a member of the July 26 Movement and joined the Rebel Army as a courier for Column One. On September 12, 1958, she was captured while on a mission to Havana. She was tortured and murdered.

  ACUÑA, SERGIO: Combatant in Column One of the Rebel Army. He participated in the battle at La Plata. He subsequently deserted and was assassinated by the head of Batista’s army, Santiago Roselló, in San Lorenzo, Oriente province.

  ACUÑA NÚÑEZ, JUAN VITALIO (VILO): Peasant from the Sierra Maestra, born in Purial de Vicana, Oriente province, on January 27, 1925. He joined the Rebel Army’s Column One in April 1957. He was subsequently a member of Columns Four and Three on the Third Front. In November 1958 he was promoted to the rank of commander. He held various posts in the Revolutionary Armed Forces (FAR) after the triumph of the revolution in January 1959, and was a founding member of the central committee of the Cuban Communist Party. He was part of the National Liberation Army (ELN) led by Che Guevara in Bolivia, and died in an ambush in Vado de Puerto Mauricio, in the Río Grande, Bolivia, August 31, 1967.

  ACUÑA SÁNCHEZ, MANUEL EUSEBIO: Born in Niquero, Oriente province, on December 16, 1908. He joined the Rebel Army in Cinco Palmas on December 25, 1956. He was wounded in the attack on El Uvero.

  ALARCÓN CABRALES, RIGOBERTO: Born in Media Luna, Oriente province, on May 25, 1932. He was a member of Column Eight and died in combat on December 9, 1958.

  ALARCÓN REYES, JUVENTINO: Born in Campechuela, Oriente province, on May 14, 1930. He was a member of the July 26 Movement and was one of the first to join the Rebel Army’s Column One. He attained the rank of lieutenant and died in the attack at Palma Mocha, August 19, 1957.

  ALBENTOSA CHACÓN, ÁNGEL EMILIO: Born May 3, 1920, in Santiago de Cuba. He participated in the attack on the Moncada barracks. He was a member of the July 26 Movement. A Granma expeditionary, he became an underground activist after being wounded at Alegría de Pío.

  ALMEIDA BOSQUE, JUAN: Born in Havana, February 17, 1927. He participated in the Moncada attack and was subsequently imprisoned. He became an expeditionary on the Granma and attained the rank of commander in February 1958. He was the leader of the Third Front and became a commander of the revolution.

  AMEIJEIRAS DELGADO, EFIGENIO: Born in Puerto Padre, Las Tunas, September 21, 1931. He was an expeditionary on the Granma and a member of Column One, and later leader of Column Six on the Second Front. He attained the rank of commander.

  ARIAS SOTOMAYOR, JOSÉ: Born in Niquero, Oriente province, on May 3, 1933. He was a member of Column Four and founder of the Second Front in Column Six. He attained the rank of captain.

  BANDERAS MACEO, TEODORO: Born in Majaguabo del Medio, San Luis, in 1930. He was a member of the Rebel Army and died in combat in the battle at El Jigüe on July 19, 1958.

  BARRERAS, LUIS (EL MAESTRO/“THE TEACHER”): He joined the Rebel Army on February 17, 1957, and fought in the battle of El Uvero. He deserted the Rebel Army and was captured and tried for immoral conduct. He was executed on October 28, 1957.

  BENÍTEZ NÁPOLES, REINALDO: Born in Bayamo, Oriente province, on April 25, 1928. He participated in the Moncada attack and was captured and imprisoned. As a Granma expeditionary, after the ambush at Alegría de Pío, he became part of Almeida’s group on December 21, 1956. He was captured in March 1957 and imprisoned in Manzanillo until the triumph of the revolution.

  BERMÚDEZ RODRÍGUEZ, CARLOS: Born in Placetas, Las Villas, on August 7, 1933. He was a Granma expeditionary and after the dispersal at Alegría de Pío, he rejoined the Rebel Army on December 27, 1956, but shortly afterwards, on account of illness, he went to Havana, where he was active in the underground movement until the triumph of the revolution.

  BORDÓN MACHADO, VÍCTOR: Born in Quemado de Güines, Las Villas, in 1930. A member of the Orthodox Party Youth and later the July 26 Movement, he participated in the April 9, 1958, strike and was an outstanding leader of the movement in the eastern zone of Las Villas province. He joined Column Eight in October 1958.

  BORRERO FONSECA, MARCOS: Born in El Cobre, Santiago de Cuba, on April 25, 1917. A member of the July 26 Movement, he was active in the underground until he joined the Rebel Army on the First Front. He was later part of Column Eight. He died in combat at La Federal farm, Camagüey, on September 9, 1958.

  BUCH RODRÍGUEZ, LUIS M.: Lawyer and member of the July 26 Movement. He was in exile in Venezuela and was a signatory to the Caracas Pact (August, 1958).

  CABRERA PUPO, FRANCISCO (PACO): Born in Puerto Padre, Las Tunas, on December 5, 1924. He was a member of the July 26 Movement and the Rebel Army in Column One, and he later joined Column Four. He died in Venezuela on January 27, 1959.

  CAPOTE RODRÍGUEZ, GILBERTO FRANCISCO: Born in Pinar del Río on January 26, 1928. He was a member of the July 26 Movement and joined Column Four on the First Front of the Rebel Army. He died in combat in the second battle of Pino del Agua on February 16, 1958.

  CARDERO MARTÍ, HERMES GILBERTO: Born in Pilón, Oriente province, on March 18, 1927. He was a peasant guide in the Sierra Maestra. He joined the Rebel Army in Column Seven on the First Front and later transferred to Column Six on the Second Front.

  CARDERO SÁNCHEZ, GILBERTO ANTONIO: Born in Pilón, Oriente province, October 1, 1930. He joined the Rebel Army in Column Seven on the First Front, and later Columns Six and 19, both on the Second Front.

  CARRERAS ZAYAS, JESÚS: Commander of the Second Front of the Escambray. After the 1959 revolution, he joined the counterrevolutionary forces. He was captured, tried and executed.

  CASTRO MERCADER, RAÚL H.: Born in Puerto Padre, Las Tunas, January 11, 1937. A member of the July 26 Movement, he joined the Rebel Army as part of the first group (los Marabuzaleros)1 sent by Frank País to the Sierra Maestra in March 1957. He fought in Columns One and Four, and in August 1957 he became a captain in Che Guevara’s column.

  CASTRO RUZ, FIDEL (ALEJANDO) (b. 1926): A student leader at the University of Havana in the 1940s, he joined the revolutionary youth of the Cuban People’s Party (Orthodox) in 1947. He was a candidate for that party in the 1952 elections that were called off after Batista’s coup in March of that year. He led the July 26, 1953, assault on the Moncada military barracks in Santiago de Cuba and Bayamo. He was captured and sentenced to 15 years in prison. His defense speech at his trial in October 1953 was published as “History will absolve me” and became the program of the July 26 Movement, of which he was the founder. He was the commander-in-chief of the Granma expedition and he was general secretary of the July 26 Movement from May 1958. From 1959 to 1976, Fidel Castro was the prime minister of Cuba, and after 1976 he was the president of the Council of State and Ministers. He was also commander-in-chief of Cuba’s Revolutionary Armed Forces until 2006.

  CASTRO RUZ, RAÚL (b. 1931): Student leader at the University of Havana, he participated in the attack on the Moncada barracks in July 1953, leading a group of seven men who took over the Palacio de Justicia. He was sentenced to 13 years’ imprisonment but was amnestied in May 1955. He was a founder of the July 26 Movement and a Granma expeditionary. He became a commander in February 1958 and led the Frank País Second Front in Oriente province. After January 1959 he became the military chief of Oriente province and subsequently the chief of the FAR. From 1959 to 1976 he was vice-prime minister and later vice-president of the Council of State and Ministers. He is currently the president of Cuba and the first secretary of the Cuban Communist Party (PCC).

  CHAO SANTANA, RAFAEL: Born in Caimito, Havana, Septemb
er 4, 1914. He was a veteran of the Spanish Civil War (1936-39) and a Granma expeditionary. He was a member of Column One on the First Front,. After the December 5, 1956, ambush at Alegría de Pío, he was reunited with the other guerrillas on December 22. On May 1, 1957, he left the Sierra Maestra because of illness and was active in the underground movement until the revolution.

  CHIBÁS RIVAS, RAÚL: He was a member of the Cuban People’s Party (Orthodox) and the brother of that party’s leader, Eduardo Chibás. He was a signatory to the Sierra Manifesto in 1957. He joined the Rebel Army in Column One on the First Front and he attained the rank of commander. After the revolution, he left Cuba and went to live in the United States.

  CHOMÓN MEDIAVILLA, FAURE (b. 1929): Leader of the Revolutionary Directorate and a participant in the attack on the presidential palace on March 13, 1957. In February 1958, he returned to Cuba, as part of an armed group on board the cabin cruiser Scapade, and organized an effective guerrilla unit in the Escambray mountains that ultimately fused with the Rebel Army in Las Villas. He attained the rank of commander. He collaborated with Che’s column and signed the Pact of El Pedrero on December 1, 1958.

  CIENFUEGOS GORRIARÁN, CAMILO: Born in Havana on February 6, 1932. He was a Granma expeditionary and was a member of Rebel Army Columns One and Four. He led the first group of rebel fighters to extend the guerrilla war to the plains of Oriente province. He attained the rank of commander on April 16, 1958, as leader of Column Two. In January 1959 he was appointed as chief of the Rebel Army. He died in an airplane accident on October 28, 1959.

  CUBELA SECADE, ROLANDO (b. 1933): Student activist and member of the Revolutionary Directorate in the Escambray mountains. He fought alongside Ernesto Che Guevara in the Las Villas campaign. He was president of the Federation of University Students (FEU) in 1959. He was recruited by the CIA on a trip to Madrid and given the assignment of assassinating Fidel Castro. He was arrested and tried by a revolutionary tribunal. On his release from prison, he went to Spain.

  CUERVO NAVARRO, PELAYO GENARO: Born in Baracoa, Guantánamo province, on September 30, 1901. He was an outstanding lawyer and leader of the Orthodox Party. He was assassinated by Batista’s forces a few hours after the March 13, 1957, attack on the presidential palace.

  DÍAZ FERNÁNDEZ, JESÚS: He was a member of the July 26 Movement in Holguín and a member of the Rebel Army in Column 12 on the Fourth Front.

  DÍAZ FONTAINE, EMILIANO ALBERTO (NANO): Born in Santiago de Cuba on September 6, 1936. Along with Frank País, he was a founder of the July 26 Movement in Santiago de Cuba, and he participated in the November 30 uprising. He joined the Rebel Army in the first group sent to the Sierra Maestra by Frank País (los Marabuzaleros). He died in the battle of El Uvero, May 28, 1957.

  DÍAZ GONZÁLEZ, JULIO (JULITO): Born in Artemisa, Havana, on May 23, 1929. He participated in the Moncada attack and was captured, tried and imprisoned. He went into exile in Mexico and was a Granma expeditionary. He was killed in the battle of El Uvero, May 28, 1957, having reached the rank of captain.

  DÍAZ GONZÁLEZ, PABLO: Born in Calabazar de Sagua, Las Villas, on June 29, 1912. He was the representative of the July 26 Movement in New York and a Granma expeditionary. After the ambush at Alegría de Pío, he went into hiding and on December 21, 1956, he made it to Havana. He later went to the United States, where he continued collaborating with the revolutionary movement by collecting funds and arms for the Rebel Army.

  DÍAZ TORRES, RAÚL: A Granma expeditionary, who, after the ambush at Alegría de Pío, managed to rejoin the Rebel Army on February 17, 1957. He fought on the First and Second Fronts. He attained the rank of captain by the end of the war.

  DOCE SÁNCHEZ, LIDIA: Born in Velazco, Holguín, on August 27, 1912. She was a member of the July 26 Movement and joined the Rebel Army’s Columns One and Four as a courier. She was captured, tortured and died on September 12, 1958.

  DOMÍNGUEZ LÓPEZ, GUILLERMO: Born in Delicias, Puerto Padre, Las Tunas, on June 30, 1932. He was a member of the July 26 Movement and joined the Rebel Army as part of the first group of combatants sent by Frank País. He attained the rank of lieutenant, but was captured and assassinated in Pino del Agua on May 17, 1957.

  DUQUE GUELMES, FÉLIX: Born in Sancti Spíritus on June 2, 1931. He was a member of the July 26 Movement. He joined the Rebel Army’s Column One on the First Front and later joined Column Nine on the Second Front. He attained the rank of commander on December 28, 1958.

  ECHEVARRÍA MARTÍNEZ, JUAN FRANCISCO (EL BIZCO): A member of the first group of combatants sent by Frank País to the Sierra Maestra (los Marabuzaleros). He fought on the First Front of the Rebel Army. He was sanctioned for gross conduct incompatible with that of a rebel soldier and shot in October 1957.

  ECHEVERRÍA BIANCHI, JOSÉ ANTONIO JESÚS DEL CARMEN (MANZANITA): Born in Cárdenas, Matanzas, on July 16, 1932. He was a leader of the student movement and a key opponent of the Batista dictatorship. He was general secretary of the FEU from 1953 to 1954 and was also president of the Congress of Latin American Students. He founded the Revolutionary Directorate and, in 1956, with Fidel Castro, signed the Carta de Mexico. He led the attack on the office of Radio Reloj during the March 13, 1957, assault on the presidential palace. He died in an armed clash with police during that attack.

  ENRÍQUEZ, SALUSTIANO DE LA CRUZ (CRUCITO): Mistakenly called José de la Cruz in Che’s diary. An outstanding member of Column Four, he died in combat at the first battle of Pino de Agua on September 17, 1957.

  ERMUS GONZÁLEZ, ENRIQUE: A member of the July 26 Movement who joined the First Front along with the first group of combatants sent to the Sierra Maestra by Frank País (los Marabuzaleros). He was responsible for the rebels’ prison at Puerto Malanga in the Sierra Maestra. He attained the rank of captain. He died in Santiago de Cuba on January 24, 1977.

  ESCALONA ALONSO, DERMIDIO: He joined the Rebel Army on the First Front. He was part of the group from Holguín that joined forces with Fidel in June 1957. He was an outstanding combatant in the second battle of Pino del Agua and at El Blanquizal. He was given the role of opening the guerrilla front in the mountains of Los Órganos, Pinar del Río, in May 1958, where he was wounded and transferred to Havana. He attained the rank of commander by the end of the revolutionary war.

  ESCALONA CHÁVEZ, MANUEL ENRIQUE (QUIQUE) (b. 1936): Born in Manzanillo, he was a member of the July 26 Movement. He joined the Rebel Army on the First Front and was wounded in the battle of El Uvero; he attained the rank of lieutenant. He worked in the underground movement in Santiago de Cuba with René Ramos Latour (Daniel). He was captured, but released. He went into exile in the United States until the revolution.

  ESCUDERO MARTÍNEZ, MANUEL: A peasant from the Sierra Maestra and Che’s first courier, he was a combatant of the Rebel Army.

  ESPÍN GUILLOIS, VILMA (DÉBORAH): Born in Santiago de Cuba on April 7, 1930. She was a member of Frank País’s group that fused with the July 26 Movement and she became a member of its national leadership. She participated in the November 30 uprising and later became the coordinator of the movement in Oriente province. In July 1958 she joined the Rebel Army in Column Six on the Second Front. After the revolution, she devoted herself to the movement for women’s rights, and in 1960 she was elected as the first president of the Federation of Cuban Women (FMC), a position she held until her death in 2007.

  FAJARDO RIVERO, MANUEL EUGENIO (PITI): Born in Manzanillo, Oriente province, on November 8, 1930. A doctor, he joined the Rebel Army’s Column One and later transferred to Column 12 on the Fourth Front. He attained the rank of commander. He died in a clash with counterrevolutuionary forces in the Escambray mountains on November 29, 1960, when he was head of the peasant militia in that area.

  FAJARDO SOTOMAYOR, MANUEL ENRIQUE: Born on March 18, 1932, in Niquero, Oriente province. He was one of the first peasants to join the Rebel Army in 1957 on the First Front. He later fought on the Second Front and attained the rank of commander. He died in 1995.

  FAJARDO SOT
OMAYOR, ROBERTO: Born in Niquero, Oriente. He joined the Rebel Army on April 1, 1957, initially in Column One, and later he transferred to Column 32 on the Fourth Front. He attained the rank of commander.

  FERNÁNDEZ FONT, MARCELO (1932–2009): Born in Havana he was a leader of the July 26 Movement urban underground and a member of its national leadership and national coordinator from May 1958 to 1960. After the revolution he took various roles, including as minister of foreign trade and president of the National Bank.

  FIALLO BARRERO, RAMÓN QUINTILIANO (FIALLITO): Born in Manzanillo, Oriente province, on October 31, 1936. He was a member of the Cuban People’s Party (Orthodox) and later of the July 26 Movement. He joined the Rebel Army’s Column One and later transferred to Column Six on the Second Front. He attained the rank of captain by the end of the war.

  FLEITAS, ARMANDO: Along with Eloy Gutiérrez Menoyo, he was the leader of the Second National Front of the Escambray. In 1961 he went into exile in the United States.

  FONSECA LÓPEZ, PAULINO: Born in Dos Bocas de Cardero, Pilón, Oriente province, on June 22, 1932. On March 25, 1957, he joined Column Four in Altos de Espinosa and was Che’s adjutant. He attained the rank of first lieutenant by the end of the war.

  FONSECA PRADO, ARQUÍMEDES: Born in Minas de Bueycito on October 24, 1935. He was a member of the July 26 Movement. He joined the Rebel Army’s Column Four, later transferring to Column 10 on the Second Front. By the end of the war he had attained the rank of first lieutenant.

  FRANQUI MESA, CARLOS (1921–2010): A journalist and member of the Communist Party during the 1940s. He joined the July 26 Movement at the end of the 1950s and helped to edit its underground newspaper Revolución. He joined the Rebel Army’s Column One and worked on El Cubano Libre and Radio Rebelde in the Sierra Maestra. In January 1959 he became editor of the magazine Revolución until 1965. He was the director of the Council of State Office of Historical Affairs, but left Cuba in 1968 and became an outspoken critic of the revolution.