Radio Cadena Agramonte emisiora de Camagüey
Havana, Jan 12.- The president of the National Assembly of People's Power of Cuba (ANPP in Spanish), Esteban Lazo Hernández, recalled the burning of the eastern city of Bayamo by belligerent patriots against the Spanish empire 155 years ago today.
The historic event, which occurred in the early hours of this day in 1869 in that demarcation of the former province of Oriente, was described as heroic and symbolic by the Cuban parliamentary leader on the ANPP account on the social network X (formerly Twitter).
Lazo Hernández cited the National Hero, José Martí, who considered that the burning of that city served “more to greet with a dignified torch the birth of the free homeland than to burn the asylum of the nearby troops of Balmaseda (Spanish general Blas de Villate y la Hera)”.
According to national historiography, the Bayamese gathered at the City Hall decided to set fire to the first capital of the Republic of Cuba in Arms rather than surrender it to the oppressors.
The decision was made after three days of intense fighting against superior enemy forces and with the city imminently falling into the hands of the Spanish.
The historical event represents one of the most moving passages of the Ten Years' War (1868-1878) and demonstrated the courage, determination and patriotism of the Cubans to fight against the Spanish metropolis and achieve their independence. (PL) (Photo: @AsambleaCuba)
