The cry: Batista is gone! It was the detonator of euphoria that seized the citizens of Ciego de Ávila on the first morning of 1959. Like burning powder, it ran from house to house in the various towns. Thousands of people were flooding streets and parks. In almost all of them, a common denominator: the cries of Long live the Revolution! and Long live Fidel!
Many jumped with so much happiness, and others, even without knowing each other, hugged each other. Tears of joy appeared in not a few eyes, without any blush. In the crowd were also present, in the memory of relatives and comrades in the struggle, those - the vast majority, young people - who with their lives had contributed to the overthrow of the bloody tyranny where torture, murder and disappearance were daily issues. The words of the Apostle who had led the burial of Rául Cervantes, the first martyr of the Revolution in Ciego de Ávila, in December 1955 came true: "The blood of the good is never spilled in vain."
With Fidel
After the news of the tyrant's flight, another one became known that put the revolutionary forces and the people of Ciego de Ávila in general in tension: in the capital of the country, an attempt was made to carry out a coup led by a Batista general.
From Palma Soriano, Fidel unmasked the attempt: “All power is for the Revolution!”, “Revolution, yes; military coup, no!” He ordered the rebel troops to continue their offensive without accepting any other condition than surrender; and he summoned the people to start the revolutionary general strike. He also told him to be alert and follow the information only through Radio Rebelde.
That night Fidel entered Santiago de Cuba and spoke to thousands of people from Santiago from the balcony of the City Hall; from there he left to occupy Bayamo, after which he headed for the country's capital with the Caravan of Freedom. Other news from those first days were also closely followed by the people of Avila: in Santiago, which had become the provisional capital of the Republic, the Revolutionary Government had taken possession, which, headed by the jurist Manuel Urrutia, took very significant measures, such as the dissolution of the Batista Congress and the extinction of the offices of all governors, mayors and councilors.
While this was going on, in the lands of Ciego de Ávila, events were unfolding in a vertiginous way: the people in the streets, jubilant and enraged, supporting Fidel's pronouncements; the Police stations completely empty due to the flight of their troops towards the Rural Guard barracks, where the military were entrenched; the windows of the houses adorned with Cuban flags, of the July 26 Revolutionary Movement and the March 13 Revolutionary Directorate; in many homes giving thanks to God, the Virgin of Charity and illuminating saints; the armed militias of the aforementioned organizations locating and arresting henchmen, whistleblowers and torturers so that they could not escape the revolutionary courts, and also trying to impose order and stop - sometimes unsuccessfully - attacks against hated places such as courts and houses of famous Batista citizens; the occupation, on the night of the first day, of the Morón Rural Guard barracks by forces of Column No. 11 “Cándido González”, led by Captain Roberto León, and that of Ciego de Ávila, the following day, by troops of Column No. 8 "Ciro Redondo", commanded by Commander Ramiro Valdés, both from the Rebel Army. The incorporation to the strike was total: they closed the productive, service and school establishments.
The bearded ones arrived
The joy of the people of Avila for the revolutionary triumph reached its climax when they were able to receive, embrace and share in their homes with the heroes of Sierra Maestra. This occurred throughout the 5th, when, from before dawn, jeeps, trucks, tanks, dredges and tanks from the Caravan of Liberty began to arrive on the Central Highway from Camagüey. From house to house, voices could be heard that, without worrying about the early hour, said: Hey, get up, Fidel's bearded men have arrived! Run, get dressed and let's see it! Hurry up!
All along the Highway and in places close to it, such as lots and intersections, the aforementioned vehicles were parked. The rebellious-people fellowship was indescribable. They all wanted to take their portraits with the heroes and even asked them as souvenirs —and received— bullets of the ones they carried; Perhaps today some are preserved as patriotic relics in Ciego de Ávila`s homes, which, with the corresponding anecdotes, are passed from generation to generation.
Hospitality was on display: Rebel soldiers were brought as loved family members to homes where they were given food, washed clothes, and watched over their dreams. This happened in the house located in Independencia 106 Street (East) where the members of the Mariana Grajales platoon stayed for several hours.
Fidel in Ciego de Ávila
Fidel arrived at Ciego de Ávila in the evening of January 5, in a car, coming from the city of Camagüey where he had stayed to meet with the President of the Republic and Che; the first from Santiago and the second from Havana, both by air. He met with them at the Camagüey airport, on the presidential plane, deciding questions vital to the course of the Revolution.
His arrival was along the Central Highway, a road that continued to Martí Street where he turned left, heading to the house located on Cuba 108 Street, a place of full trust, home of María Luisa Domínguez and her children, a prominent member of the Resistance. Civic and efficient collaborator of Pastorita Núñez, when months before she was sent here by Fidel to collect the war tax.
There he remained with his companions, including Celia Sánchez, for several hours: he had lunch, recovered his strength and made calls to other parts of the country to learn about the existing situation and give guidance.
His departure went down Cuba Street to Narciso López, from there to the Central Highway, heading for Sancti Spíritus with the Caravan.On his tour of what is now the Avilanian capital, he made brief stops at places where Caravan vehicles were, and exchanged with combatants.
The culmination of those first days of bright January 1959 was Fidel's entry into Havana on January 8, at the head of the aforementioned Caravan, and his momentous speech on that date in the Military City of Columbia. White doves around him and on his shoulder were symbols that the people, with their characteristic wisdom, interpreted as very good omens.