Santiago de Cuba, Mar 15, (RHC), -- Cubans commemorated today in the locality of Mangos de Baraguá of the eastern province of Santiago de Cuba, the historical feat staged 136 years ago by Major General Antonio Maceo, who strongly protested against a peace traty with Spanish colonial rulers following the Ten Years War in the second half of the 19th century.

The commemoration, attended by local authorities and townpeople, included a cultural gala as well as the laying of a wreath to Major General Antonio Maceo Grajales, on behalf of the people of Cuba, at the base of the towering obelisk that recalls his historic protest.

On March 15th, 1878, Antonio Maceo, who was one of the officers who opposed the signing of the Pact of Zanjón that ended the Ten Years War, met with General Martínez-Campos to discuss the peace terms, but Maceo argued that no peace could be achieved if none of the objectives of the war had been accomplished; chief among these aims was the abolition of slavery in Cuba and Cuban independence.

Maceo did not recognize the treaty as valid and stressed the undying commitment of Cubans to the final liberation of their motherland.