Radio Cadena Agramonte emisiora de Camagüey
Havana, May 19th. - She is the same age as the children who inhabit the pages of The Golden Age. In her hands, a bouquet of white flowers, like a handful of newly cut verses. She doesn't come to play with hoops, buckets or paddles today. She's with her head down and a very, very serious attitude. She approaches the obelisk in her memory, whispers it; he embraces it. She knows that even heroes need the warm affection of those who believe in fairies.
In the heart of the province of Granma, in the municipality of Jiguaní, stands the National Monument of Dos Ríos, located five kilometers from the confluence of the Cauto and Contramaestre rivers, a site that marks the place where José Martí, Apostle of Independence, fell into combat, on May 19, 1895.
FIGHT AND DEATH
His death, which occurred in a skirmish against Spanish troops, remains a historic enigma, wrapped in contradictions and debates. Was it an act of reckless heroism, or a tragic mistake? The hypotheses, fed by fragmentary testimonies and historical analysis, paint a complex picture around that day.
The truth is that, between myth and reality, between popular knowledge and historical research, the greatest certainty is that that day, Cuba and the Necessary War suffered a devastating loss.
The pro-independence expedition led by Máximo Gómez and Martí faced a Spanish column near the Contramaestre River. Gomez, experienced strategist, ordered Martí to back off: "Put you back, Martí, is not your position now." However, the Apostle advanced alongside Angel of the Guard, his escort, towards the enemy lines.
Testimonies describe that, after crossing the river, a hollow diverted their horses to a Spanish advance hidden among the grass. Both were fired shots fired.
One of the articles consulted for this text points to several conflicting hypotheses, among them the behavior of the horse. Máximo Gómez suggested that Martí's horse, unbridled, dragged him to danger. Historian Rolando Rodriguez refutes this: Martí was not an inexperienced jockey. In addition, if the animal had fled, it would have surpassed De la Guardia, but both fell under simultaneous fire.
Others like José Miró Argenter defended the idea that Martí sought death to achieve immortality. However, authors such as Leonardo Griñán Peralta and Jorge Mañach reject this idea: Martí was a pragmatic politician who prioritized the success of the revolution. To die at that time, with the war just begun, would have been a strategic failure.
The most accepted version suggests that Martí, driven by his patriotic fervor, exposed himself to enemy fire. Spanish Colonel Ximénez de Sandoval corroborated this thesis: His courage placed him in front of his soldiers. Letters from Martí, such as the unfinished to Manuel Mercado (I am already every day in danger of giving my life for my country), support this narrative of conscious sacrifice.
Even today the question resonates: Why did you ignore Gómez's orders? Similar hypotheses have ventured to the answer, but the truth is that Martí, far from the stereotype of the warrior, died as he lived: combining thought and action.
FROM STONES TO MARBEL
A few hours after his death, Antonio Pacheco and his father, José Rosalía Pacheco, neighbors of Dos Ríos, searched for the footprint of the place where the Hero fell. Antonio recalled that there was a great stream of blood and collected land, later marking the site with a stick of heart.
According to the historical references of the file of the Monument Dos Ríos, of the Provincial Directorate of Heritage in Granma, on October 10, 1895, Enrique Loynaz del Castillo and José Rosalía identified the place and placed a cross, burying a bottle with a document, an act that reflects the concern to identify the site, thus consolidating its meaning as a symbol of the struggle for independence.
In August 1896, Fermín Valdés Domínguez wrote a chronicle of the homage and creation of the first monument to José Martí in Dos Ríos. The event was attended by more than 300 mambises, led by Máximo Gómez who, when crossing the Contramaestre River, collected stones from the shore to build a symbolic promontory, in honor of the patriot.
He says in his letter that they placed the stones forming a ring in front of a wooden cross, ensuring that it was left face to the sun, as Martí wanted. The act was respectful and solemn.
General Gómez said a few words: "Every Cuban who loves his homeland and knows how to respect Martí's memory must leave, whenever he passes, a stone in this monument, and then addressing the brave soldiers who listened to him, he said, in a strong phrase: "Endulate your virtues and your patriotism and learn to die and serve the great cause and exalted by him and other heroes: to the independence of the Homeland."
After the war, the place where Martí died remained in oblivion, until José Rafael Estrada Arencibia, councillor of Palma Soriano, promoted in 1901 the idea of erecting a monument. However, a first Italian design (from the sculptor Humberto Dibianco) ended up in Palma Soriano due to logistical difficulties.
On the same site, on May 20, 1913, the obelisk was inaugurated in a public event. The original monument stones were said to have been used in the foundry of its base.
Estrada insisted on something simple, built with local materials and commemorative marble plates. Finally, in 1922, on a pilgrimage led by Arturo R. de Carricarte, the current monument was inaugurated: a 15-metre-high obelisk, with a staggered base and four plaques that narrate Martí's life and death, financed by popular donations.
In 1975, major reforms were made, creating a Martian park, whose gardening includes the type of vegetation Martí mentions in his Campaign Journal.
ARQUITECTURE AND SIMBOLISM
The monument, of sober lines and neoclassical style, combines functionality and solemnity. His trapezoidal plaques summarize the essential story: The first: He died in this place on May 19, 1895; the second: To the memory of the procer José Martí; the third: He was born in Havana on January 28, 1853; the fourth: Recognition of José Ramón Estrada, promoter of the work.
The design, crowned by a slotted pyramid, is integrated into a white rose forest park, planted after the 1959 revolutionary triumph, as symbols of purity and resistance.
Today, Dos Ríos welcomes national and foreign visitors, who keep alive the tradition of honoring Martí. The place transcends the physical and becomes an altar in which Cuba reinforces the ties between past, present and future, from loyalty and commitment to independence. (Text and photo: Granma Digital)
