Years go by, they weigh and leave traces that, in the case of Ricardo Araujo Domínguez, reveal his eyes, although the strength and spiritual growth of this veteran combatant, born in Marcané, in 1940, began with the agricultural work with his father and the exercise of a full life dedicated to the Cuban Revolution.
He was 17 years old when he joined, in 1957, the Rebel Army and in one of the skirmishes carried out by forces of the Second Front, to which he belonged, he was wounded, although he specifies that slightly and when the Revolution triumphed on January 1, 1959 he devoted himself to the Revolutionary Armed Forces, fulfilling various responsibilities until his discharge.
“I joined the rebels, because I rejected since I was a child the abuses committed by the soldiers and rich people of Fulgencio Batista’s dictatorship against the most humble families of my community and people unprotected by the law, including children and the elderly. Those were very difficult times, which had to be transformed. We were eight siblings and my father had to work very hard on his farm to feed us, for which reason, I supported him in all those activities, until I stood up”.
Responsibilities assumed after the revolutionary triumph
“On January 1st we received the joy of victory, after battling against forces superior in military strength, trained and equipped by the U.S. Army.
“I stayed in this territory of the Second Front (Eastern Army), where I served as second chief of the armaments workshop of a division and chief of that specialty in a tank battalion, for which I had received due preparation in one of the many courses I passed. Later I was chief of an infantry battalion, a position I held without an official appointment, among other responsibilities, including the preparation of people’s forces. I contributed to the preparation of two battalions, in Camagüey; I was chief of supply of a regiment and finally I was discharged, with the rank of Captain, after 43 years of active service in the FAR”.
And in these last 22 years?
Ricardo Araujo, revolutionary combatant, Holguín
“Once I graduated I began to work at the Vladimir Ilich Lenin Hospital, as shift chief, then I worked, eventually, as chief of general service. I was in the construction sector and I have been integrating the integral inspection system of the People’s Power for several years.”
As a man is a living duty, Araujo (surname of Portuguese and Galician roots), will celebrate in February 60 years of party militancy, being one of the secretaries of his zonal nucleus (of retirees); he presides the Association of Combatants of the Cuban Revolution (ACRC) of his community; is president of his Committee for the Defense of the Revolution (CDR) and organizer of the Zone section because, as he himself acknowledges, “with the greatest simplicity in the world, I have the need to devote myself body and soul to the tasks of our Revolution, because every worthy Cuban citizen has that sacred duty”.
Loves that sustain the life of Ricardo Araujo Domínguez
“My revolutionary, free and independent Homeland; the three sons who, with their conduct and constant self-improvement, conquered their university careers, honoring my steps through life. I also applaud the young people committed to their time and those who sustain the destinies of our country with no other interest than to serve.”
And Marcané?
Although I reside in this city of Holguin, where I have put down roots, I will never be able to detach myself from Marcané, little piece of eastern land where I grew up listening to the whistles of the sugar mill founded in 1915, renamed Alto Cedro in 1926 and with the Loynaz Hecheverría Revolution, in just tribute to the man who worked since 1934 in that industry, where he defended labor rights until he became a union leader, for which reason he was tortured and murdered on the night of December 25, 1956, during the infamous Bloody Easter”.
- Holguin pays homage to José Martí - 10 de May de 2024
- For Víctor, being is more than existing - 14 de March de 2024
- Without a woman’s smile there is no man’s full glory - 8 de March de 2024