The President of Cuba, Miguel Díaz-Canel today evoked the legacy of the Major General of the Liberation Army Ignacio Agramonte (1841-1873), on the occasion of the 180th anniversary of his birth. 

From his official account on the social network Twitter, the president wrote: “Congratulations to Cuba and particularly to his beloved Camagüey (central province) on the 180th anniversary of the birth of that diamond with the soul of a kiss (as defined by the National Hero José Martí) ".

Similarly, the head of state highlighted moments in the life and work of the man known as El Mayor, such as the rescue in 1871 of the then Cuban brigadier Julio Sanguily (imprisoned by Spanish troops), his work as a lawyer and his love for Amalia Simoni, who would become his wife.

Agramonte was the founder of the Revolutionary Board that organized the conspiratorial activities in the Camagüey region and one of the main leaders of the Cuban war of independence that began in 1868 and lasted 10 years.

Faced with the annexationist and reformist currents that threatened the emancipatory will, he pointed out: "May our cry always be independence or death, and that any other be seen from now on as a slogan of betrayal."

The young insurgent had a leading role in the Guáimaro Assembly, which approved in 1869 the first Constitution of the Republic of Cuba in Arms.

When he fell in combat at the age of 31 in Jimaguayú, 32 kilometers southwest of the city of Camagüey, Agramonte had directed more than 100 military actions.

"I do not believe that in the Cuban historiographic discourse there is another more paradigmatic personality -as a conjunction of positive traits- than that of Bayardo from Camaguey," wrote the National Prize for History award winner Elda Cento. (PL) (Photo: File)