CAMAGÜEY.- The Revolution Square Museum is a sacred place in Camagüey, not just for bearing the name and dignity of Ignacio Agramonte, also because it was one of the resting place for Fidel's ashes on his way to the eternal.
There the people said the saddest "goodbye"; they placed their flowers, love letters, drawings; said thank you; there they prayed for Fidel's soul; tears fell on a signature book to swear what Revolution is.
To take care of him after death, as he took care of us so much in life, to act as
that solemn moment an unforgettable memory was the mission of heroes and anonymous heroines of the Revolution Square. Maybe it was their most difficult job: swallowing tears during those days, because sadness in Cuba was infinite, because the essential thing was to honor Fidel. And again, he guided and accompanied them, while Agramonte embraced them with his nobility.
Isela Yero Tamayo, director of the Square in 2016. Photo: Alejandro Rodríguez Leiva / Adelante
“When we learned of the sad news of the death of the Commander, it overwhelmed us with great pain, but knowing that in this place we would surrender him tribute, we had to overcome that sadness and quickly summoned to the collective to organize everything. As soon as the Director of the Historian's Office called me, I told my daughter: ‘We are going to prepare the backpacks, very difficult days are coming. ' They were intense days of work, many anonymous people, but we were highly committed to honoring Fidel. When the Caravan entered on the 1st, in the rain, because even the rain wanted to say goodbye, in this sacred site only the Hymn of Bayamo, and then the entire town in unison saying: I am Fidel, I am Fidel, I am Fidel ... All the workers were in the Square at full time; you had to live it to understand the emotionality of the moment and the responsibility to make it perfect. As a woman, as a Cuban, as Camagüey's citizen, who was formed with this Revolution and with Fidel, I had the committment of being there and I am committed to continue today ”.
Yyolexis Jordán Díaz, specialist. Photo: Rodolfo Blanco Cue / ACN
“From the moment the province authorities said that in the Jimaguayú Hall, a posthumous tribute would be paid to our Leader of the Revolution on the 28th and 29th, we lived through days of immense pain, but also of commitment. From the youngest, the children, the fighters, every person who passed by wore sadness and gratitude on their cheeks. When he marched towards immortality, in this historic place his ashes rest on December the 1st. From then on it became a sacred space for the people of Camagüey and the people of Cuba.
Hence the commitment of the workers of the Square. Through visits coordinated, we link Fidel's contact points with Ignacio Agramonte, to bring to the new generation the values that they inculcated us, through encounters with history, the heritage classrooms, the circles of interest ”.
Isabel Cisneros Esbert, worker. Photo: Alejandro Rodríguez Leiva / Adelante
“I have been working in the Square for 21 years. I am a general assistant, clean, I serve coffee, I take care of the living room. Here I have lived First of May, July 26, the battle for the return of the child Elián, the visit of the Pope in 1998, but the most important for me was when we learned of the death of the Commander. The director then, Isela Yero, called us at three in the morning and we were tense until dawn. It was a defining, tough, historic moment, we had to stand at the foot of the canyon. We stayed in the door all the time until the last person with flowers passed ”.
María de los Ángeles Rodríguez Manresa, current director. Photo: Alejandro Rodríguez Leiva / Adelante
“These five years have been a reaffirmation of the legacy left by our Commander in Chief. We have continued to promote from our projects sociocultural values, training in the values of the new generations, the population, community. The Jimaguayú Hall is a sacred place of the Homeland, and that is how we treat it, with the rules, requirements and respect that it carries.
The challenge of the group in these years has been to defend and transmit that legacy, with the gratitude of the people of this province to Fidel ”.
José Medina Machado, worker . Photo: Alejandro Rodríguez Leiva / Adelante
"For the evening of the 1st., we had to put the audio with the National Anthem at the entrance of the caravan to the Square. Our sound team it is obsolete, of cassettes; we loaned a DVD at a home companion. I tested the disc every five minutes because I didn't trust the DVD, the tension was great. Then one of the speakers stopped working.
We carry a cable from the Guillén Hall to the other end tying cables, because there was not much availability. In that situation of nerves, I accidentally burned on the fingers the Director of the Office who personally supervised the work. I was very tense, everything had to come out well, the caravan was already coming through La Vallita. I always dreamed of meeting Fidel, I didn't make it, but that was my time to show that I could do it and fortunately the Hymn was heard. On a scale of eternity, five years are nothing; that is why Fidel is alive in us ”.
Photos: Leandro Pérez Pérez/Adelante
Photos: Leandro Pérez Pérez/Adelante
Translated by Linet Acuña Quilez