Monument to Carlos Manuel de Céspedes

Havana, Feb 27 (RHC) Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel remembered the independence hero Carlos Manuel de Cespedes, considered the Father of the Homeland, who died 149 years ago in an unequal confrontation against a Spanish column.

The lawyer Carlos Manuel Perfecto del Carmen de Céspedes y López del Castillo started the wars for independence in Cuba against the Spanish colonial regime on October 10, 1868.

With the rank of major general of the Liberating Army, he assumed in April 1869 the presidency of the Republic in Arms, but the tensions and differences with the House of Representatives led the latter to depose him on October 27, 1873.

Such measure deprived him of assistants and escort, so when he was surprised by the Spanish troops in San Lorenzo, in the Sierra Maestra (east), he was forced to defend himself alone with his revolver. (Source: PL)