January 8, 1959, the Caravan of Freedom arrives in Havana

Enero 8 de 1959, la Caravana de la Libertad llega a La Habana

The Caravan of Freedom, led by the bearded men of the Rebel Army with Fidel at the head, triumphantly entered Havana on January 8, 1959; the scenes of jubilation with which the leader of the Revolution and his valiant troops were received in the capital of the country had been repeated since the departure in Santiago de Cuba and along the entire route.

On his way along the Avenida del Puertoven docked at the dock to the Granma yacht, the Commander boarded the boat, accompanied by rebel officers; then, the march was diverted by the Avenida de Las Misiones and arrived at the Presidential Palace. The triumphal procession stopped there and Fidel pronounced vibrant words from the north terrace.

The apotheosis reception concludes with a mass act in the military camp of Columbia, where the rebel leader talks to the people and at one point in his speech he looks at the Hero of Yaguajay to ask him «Am I doing well, Camilo? a phrase that shows the confidence that the Commander in Chief felt for the Lord of the Vanguard.

That day Fidel speaks to him with the honesty and commitment that characterizes him and affirms “while the people were laughing today, while the people were rejoicing, we were worried; and the more extraordinary the crowd that came to welcome us, and the more extraordinary the joy of the people, the greater our concern, because the greater our responsibility before history and before the people of Cuba”.

On that historic January 8, 1959, Fidel Castro concluded his speech at the former military camp in Columbia, assuring with deep conviction: “I know, moreover, that never again in our lives will we witness such a crowd, except on another occasion when I am sure that the crowds will gather again, and that is the day we die, because we, when they have to take us to the grave, on that day, as many people will gather again as today, because we will never let our people down”.

In a dialogue with the people of Havana, Fidel warned about how much remained to be done and about the certainty that the most difficult part was surely to come, and the great majority of Cubans trusted in the leader’s words and decided to accompany him in the future they were going to build, for which thousands of their compatriots had died.

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Acerca de Martha Martínez Duliet

Licenciada en Educación en la especialidad de Historia y Ciencias Sociales en la Universidad de Camagüey. Labora como periodista en Radio Florida desde el año 1993 desempeñándose actualmente como editora del sitio digital de esta emisora. Contactos: Twitter: @MDuliet Facebook: Martha Martínez Duliet Blog personal: soyfloridana@wordpress.com

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