July, 2024: “What monsters! They don’t know the intelligence, the character, the integrity they have murdered”. This is how Commander Fidel Castro Ruz reacted upon receiving the news of the assassination of the young revolutionary Frank Isacc País García, head of Action and Sabotage of the 26th of July Movement and member of its National Directorate, who was shot in the Callejón del Muro, in Santiago de Cuba, on July 30, 1957, together with his comrade Raúl Pujol Arencibia.
Born on December 7, 1934, lover of arts and literature, during his student life he developed a curious experiment which he called Democratic School Republic, consisting of emulating a government similar to that of the country within the classroom; he graduated as a teacher at the Normal School of Santiago de Cuba and created an academy for the improvement of workers.
At only 22 years of age, Frank had conquered a place in History for his integrity of character, courage, boundless loyalty to the Revolution and for his conditions as an honest leader; he stood out for his participation in various actions, he organized the November 30 Uprising in his native province, in support of the Granma expeditionaries, and later he provided vital help to the guerrilla during its nomadic phase, sending supplies of weapons, medicines and men to the Sierra Maestra.
A man of great values and guerrilla spirit, he played a significant role in the coordination of the actions to be developed in the east of the country, and together with Fidel signed the so-called Letter or Pact of Mexico, which turned out to be a document of unity and commitment between the July 26th Movement and the Revolutionary Directorate, whose essential objective was to coordinate the activities against tyranny.
For all the merits acquired, Fidel called him “Symbol of the whole generation that sacrificed itself”, and for the indelible mark he left, July 30 was consecrated as the Day of the Martyrs of the Revolution.
