Registered with the complete name of Celia Esther of the Desamparados Sánchez Manduley (Media Luna, May 9, 1920 – Havana, January 11, 1980).
She was a revolutionary, political and research Cuban fighter. She was part of the July 26 Movement during the Cuban National Liberation War (1956-1958), where she organized under Frank País’ orders the clandestine network of peasants that was vital for the survival of the guerrilla led by Fidel Castro who landed in the South of Oriente on December 2, 1956 and later became the Rebel Army.
She fulfilled important missions in the supply of the guerilla and soon became direct combatant. After the triumph of the Cuban Revolution in 1959 she assumed important tasks and responsibilities, being an active participant in the most transcendental moments of the first decades of the revolutionary period, years in which she devoted herself to collecting and organizing all the information regarding the guerrilla struggle. She was a member of the Communist Party of Cuba since its creation until her death. For her work she is known as the native flower of the Revolution.
Sierra Maestra
Bathed by the Caribbean Sea, it is the most important mountainous massif of the Cuban archipelago, erected as a strong bastion and guardian of the south east coast.
On December 2, 1956, the Sierra Maestra panorama changed with the landing of the Granma yachtsmen and the establishment of the First Eastern Front José Martí by the Rebel Army commanded by Fidel Castro.
From then on, the steep mountains and lush vegetation served to protect the rebel forces able to develop in that topography, maneuvers and movements for which the army of tyranny was not prepared. Important actions were won in the Sierra Maestra becoming theater of military operations, among them: the first, the combat of La Plata amd the one that marked the maturity of the troops, the combat of the Uvero.
Others, decisive because of their size as the Battle of Jigüe and the Battle of Guisa determining the successful aspiration of the Rebel Army, to surrender to the soldiery located in eastern Cuba, specifically in Santiago de Cuba, capital of this area of the country.
It was not until the Triumph of the Revolution, on January 1, 1959, that health, education, culture and sport dominated the Sierra Maestra, and they definitively changed desolation for justice. At the same time, the laws that protect the flora and fauna of the region came at the same time, making sustainable exploitation of the natural resources of an ecosystem that is now National Park.
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