Radio Cadena Agramonte emisiora de Camagüey
By Juan Mendoza Medina / Radio Cadena Agramonte.
Like the others that the country had, the Camagüey Front was a heroic Front, just like the Camagüey people who supported us so much were heroic, confessed the Commander of the Rebel Army Julio Camacho Aguilera, 65 years after the creation of that decisive force for the revolutionary triumph.
The Commander in Chief entrusted Camacho Aguilera with the task of establishing contacts and rapprochements with the enemy that wanted to fight against tyranny, work that contributed to the definitive victory, together with the “ingenuity of Fidel who not only knew how to direct and orient us, but also achieve the unity of the people, which is what must be maintained.”
“Fidel guided me on how to deal with the enemy and in Camagüey they wanted contacts with the rebel forces, and Fidel entrusted me with that specific mission,” recalls the combatant in a telephone conversation with the Camagüey press, almost a century into his life, the coming 7 April 2024.
The Front Command is established in San Miguel del Junco, but “for historical reasons we must consider Najasa as the center of the constitution and celebrate the event of November 18 there due to the historical importance that this Camagüey region has had since all times”.
"I think that the Camagüey Front, like the others that Fidel created throughout the country, is nothing more than the continuation of the insurrectionary struggle since 1868 and that continues today, with the "mission (then) of establishing the leadership of the insurrection in the province: the armed struggle in perfect coordination with the clandestine one.”
From those days he has many memories, "so many events and companions pass through my mind, those who joined us, the help we received, many things are updated in my mind", and among all the events he evokes the beginnings, with "that genius of Fidel's calculations, who told me that near the Jobabo River it was possible for me to detect Column No. 13 to join it, and so it was."
Weeks later, upon Fidel's triumphant entry into Camagüey, on January 4, 1959, Camacho Aguilera was here, and he had achieved the surrender of the Agramonte Regiment and other enemy military installations.
“After so much fighting had to be done to turn the desires for independence and sovereignty into reality, there is much that must be defended,” and such a task now corresponds to “the youth that I consider the heir of our youth, as heroic as we could be.” us in the times of our youth. At least I plan to leave this world with the peace of mind that Cuba will never again be a slave to anyone” because “I have faith in my people, I have faith in you.”
“There are new things to conquer, new benefits to achieve, the Revolution is alive, it is in your hands, live proud of our country's past, and fight for the present and the future,” urged whoever was one of the protagonists of transcendentals events on these plains six and a half decades ago.
“For me it is an honor to greet the heroic people of Camagüey who celebrate the constitution of their Front and who today fight to continue developing and with unity defend sovereignty,” he expressed.
“I am close to a hundred years old, but my spirit is the same as always, my mind has the clarity of all times, although my physique is wearing out. What is not lost is shame, as Agramonte said, and this is a town that is ashamed,” he assured.
Julio Camacho Aguilera is a testimony par excellence of the history of the last weeks of Camagüey in 1958, when the Front, born 65 Novembers ago, permeated an air of victory, together with the rest of the rebel forces. (Photo: Profile on social network X of Roberto Morales Ojeda)
