CAMAGÜEY.- When walking down Rosario Street is almost impossible not to look at the showcase located in the corner of Francisquito Street. Within it is displayed a dark vehicle, with long dimensions, of the brand International Harverster, used, in its active years, by the police of president Batista. It is the Celular Car, assaulted on September 16th, 1958 by a group of young men led by Noel Fernández and made a monument of the fight against the tyranny.
The action was carried out with the same spirit of the protagonists of the attack on Radio Reloj, the Presidential Palace and the Moncada Garrison. They wanted to release combatants of the underground movement imprisoned on December 31st, 1957 during a confrontation with the president’s thugs. The rescue reminded the audacity of Agramonte and his outstanding cavalry, when they rescued the brigadier Julio Sanguily.
In jail, the revolutionary man Pedro Léster Delgado receive a visit from his mother, who passed the unforgettable message: “The hen is lied down”. That was the way to tell his son that the plan to get them out of jail was in motion. He and his comrade Alfredo Sarduy would be judged and suffer the law of flight. In other words, they would be murdered by an alleged attempt of scape.
It was the time of the action. It was 1:15 p.m. and Noel, chief of action and sabotage of the July 26th Movement (M-26-7) in the province, was with five other brave men in the junction of the streets Francisquito y Rosario. Then they took positions, following the plan. For the operation they used three cars, one will check the presence of the inmates —Sarduy, Léster, and besides, Jorge Aguirre y Badito Saker, and other six common inmates—; another, driven by Roberto Ollet, would obstruct the way of the car to begin the skirmish, the last one would be the get-a-way car.
The action took place at about three blocks from the Prison of Camagüey, when the Celular Car was on its way to the Emergency Court. After forcing the car to stop, in the fixed spot, Noel and Rolando Marrero demanded the two thugs to collaborate, but they tried to reach for their guns. Two gunshots were heard. The guns, belonging to the two young attackers, were smoking. From the distance, Ollet opened fire imagining the worst. The nerves prevented him from seeing and analyzing clearly what was happening.
In the middle of the confusion Aguirre died and Léster y Marrero were injured. This last one could not get into the vehicle that went in their aid with Léster, Noel, Badito y Sarduy. The haste prevented the rest of the group from missing him. But, happily, he sneaked out and went to the bar Cromo, owned by the revolutionary man Juanito Cervantes, near what is now the Provincial Hospital, where they had agreed to meet.
The retaliation of the police force followed soon after. They swept the streets and searched every home looking for any hint of the bold guys that had attacked the “Toña la Negra”, as this type of patrol cars were called. However, this hit worked as an example, a calling to say that the intelligence, the will and the trust in good deeds were enough to match any superior force.
By historical coincidence, this deed took place on the same date that the sessions of the Jimaguayú Constituent Assembly had taken place, but in 1895. Both moments represent the spirit of continuity of our fights, the liberating thoughts of El Mayor and Marti’s ideas of drawing roads and battles thinking about the glory of the homeland.
The young men in the underground movement were an important gear to build the independence process, along with the Rebel Army, that was marching victorious, with the guidance of the Commander in Chief, Fidel Castro Ruz.
A little less than four months later, the sun came up a January 1st, and the triumph of the Cuban Revolution transformed the shadows of the old regime. One of them, the past of the Celular Car that now, with the bullet holes and surrounded by a showcase, every September 16 receives the tribute of its people as a fair symbol of its determination.