Camilo Cienfuegos Gorriarán (February 6, 1932 – October 28, 1959) was a Cuban revolutionary born in Lawton, Havana. He felt oriented towards a democratic revolution, and this and his reluctance to arrest a fellow soldier caused his disappearance. Considered as someone different from his Marxist colleagues, he was identified as a "romantic revolutionary" and different to the future Cuban communist government.
Guerrilla activities[]
The Granma arrived in Cuba on December 2. After a three day nightmare of swamps and mangroves, the rebels were surprised by the Cuban (Batista's) army at Alegría de Pío. The surviving rebels escaped in small dispersed groups, wandering for weeks in the Sierra Maestra mountains. Camilo was one of the twelve who survived the attacks and executions carried out by Batista's forces not long after they landed. He was able to rejoin Castro in the Sierra Maestra a month later.
In 1957, he became one of the top leaders of the revolutionary forces, appointed to the rank of "Comandante". In 1958, with the defeat of Operation Verano (Summer), Cienfuegos was put in command of one of three columns which headed west out of the mountains with the intention of capturing the provincial capital city of Santa Clara. Che Guevara was in command of another column and Jaime Vega was in command of the third. Jaime Vega's column was ambushed and defeated by Batista's forces.
Cienfuegos and Guevara's two columns reached the central provinces, where they joined efforts with several other groups. Cienfuegos's column fought the Battle of Yaguajay in December and, after a fight, forced the garrison to surrender on December 30, 1958. This earned him the nickname "The Hero of Yaguajay". With Yaguajay captured, Cienfuegos's column was able to advance against Santa Clara in conjunction with Guevara's forces, and the other non-Castro forces from the Escambray front. Together, the two columns captured Santa Clara on December 31; most of the defending soldiers gave up without shooting. Batista fled Cuba the next day, and the guerrillas were victorious.
Later, Cienfuegos would serve in the Cuban Army's high command, fight anti-Castro uprisings, and play a role in agrarian reforms.
Politics and death[]
There has been debate as to Cienfuegos's political leanings. He came from a Spanish anarchist family and believed strongly in the tenets of Anarchist-Socialism. Cuban author and historian Carlos Franqui suggests otherwise in his book, Family Portrait With Fidel. Franqui, one of Cienfuegos's closest friends during the Cuban revolution, asserts that Cienfuegos "sympathized with socialism" and that he followed the Marxist Che Guevara politically. Other sources tend to agree with Franqui. Both Cienfuegos's father and his brother, Osmany, were, and in Osmany's case still are, radical leftists.[citation needed] What we do know from their own writings, statements, and deeds is that many leaders of the 26th of July Movement, including Raul Castro and Che Guevara, is that they were in the far left of the political spectrum. Both Camilo and his brother Osmany were on that side of the spectrum, but not dogmatic in their political beliefs.
Several days before his death, Cienfuegos arrested his former revolutionary comrade Huber Matos on Castro's orders. Comandante Matos had complained to Fidel Castro that the 26th of July Movement was being rapidly infiltrated by communists, who were assuming positions of power. Receiving no response, Matos sent a letter to Fidel relinquishing his position as military chief of Camaguey province (October 20). Cienfuegos was under the impression that Matos was leading an open revolt, but he found that was not the case. Nevertheless he carried out the arrest.
On October 28, 1959, Camilo’s Cessna 310 ('FAR-53') disappeared over the ocean during a night flight from Camagüey to Havana. An immediate search was called which lasted several days, but no plane could be found. By November the search was called off and Cienfuegos was presumed lost. He quickly became a new hero for the Cuban revolution.
Rumors concerning Cienfuegos's disappearance have been rife. Some have speculated that Cienfuegos was killed on the orders of Fidel Castro; These rumors have been difficult to uphold, however, as Cienfuegos had appeared exceptionally loyal to Castro throughout his involvement, and had vigorously supported the arrest of Matos only days earlier. Che Guevara, who was also close to Cienfuegos (naming his son Camilo after the fallen revolutionary), dismissed any rumors of Castro's involvement. Another rumor circulating was that a Cuban air force fighter plane shot Cienfuegos down mistaking his plane for a hostile intruder. Historians seem to agree that Camilo's death is more likely to have been an accident, and not the result of foul play.