The lesson of Maceo and Guevara: to be an example

To imagine crossing this archipelago with machetes and machine guns is madness. To actually do it becomes legend. This is confirmed by many accounts of the Invasion from East to West, conceived between 1895 and 1896, and which in 1958 became the final blow in the last stage of armed struggle in Cuba.

It is precisely in this defiance of reason that, among so many names, two of those inscribed on the altar of the Fatherland coincide. Life and destiny decreed that on June 14th, the names of José Antonio de la Caridad Maceo Grajales and Ernesto Guevara de la Serna would become intertwined. The former in 1845. The latter in 1928.

The date became the starting point for constant references between the two. Both were men deeply respected and admired, even by their enemies. They earned it through example, discipline, putting the collective good ahead of their own, and revealing profound perspectives with the utmost transparency.

They lost their names. The Bronze Titan, among the bravest of the insurgent jungle, resonated both within and beyond Cuba. Che, the same name he adopted from Argentina, which he used to christen those he encountered, traveled much of the world with his ideals as his shield.

Both Maceo and Guevara demonstrated that loyalty, more than commitment, is conviction. General Máximo Gómez could not have had a better Lieutenant General of the Liberation Army to lead the military campaign against Spanish colonialism. Commander-in-Chief Fidel Castro was absolutely right to include Commander Ernesto Guevara among his indispensable men.

Few are known to have surpassed Maceo in putting their lives on the line in any situation. He not only established himself as a great military strategist by having more victories than defeats on his service record, but also by telling General Arsenio Martínez Campos to his face that surrender was not a possible pact in his Cuba.