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The pioneers were the main protagonists of the tribute to the Maestro. Photo: Courtesy of Icap

Holguin pays homage to José Martí

From May 9 to 19, the second Affection Days: Martí in the people of Holguin will be held in this eastern province to commemorate the brief but unforgettable presence of our National Hero in Holguin, only 10 days before been killed in  Dos Ríos, facing the sun, as he enunciated in one of his simple verses.

Convened by the Holguin branch of the José Martí Cultural Society and the Provincial Delegation of the Cuban Friendship Institute (ICAP for its Spanish acronym), the emotional opening activity took place in the park that bears the name of the Apostle of Cuban independence, where students presented several cultural events and a collective exhibition of drawings.conference, homage, José Martí, Holguín

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The President of the José Martí Cultural Society and UNEAC, gave a lecture at the Pioneros Palace on the history of those events. Photo: Courtesy of Icap
The first day of the event also included an exchange of pioneers and young people, at Dagoberto Sanfield Pioneers and Youth Palace , with MsC Eliel Gómez Martínez, president of the provincial branch of the José Martí Cultural Society and UNEAC, who explained about the only physical presence of our National Hero in this eastern land (Alta Gracia, from San Germán, province of Holguín, although at that time it belonged to Santiago de Cuba) about which event he wrote: “great affection I have found in Holguín”.

In this activity, organized by the Movimiento Juvenil Martiano (Martí Youth Movement) and the Brigada de Instructores de Arte ‘José Martí (Arts Instructors Brigade) and where pioneers from several schools staged fragments of “La Edad de Oro”, the specialist concluded: “Martí, teach us to be better people; teach us, Apostle of love and life, to love Cuba as you loved it, because “The bad ones only triumph where the good ones are indifferent”.

day, homage, José Martí, Holguín, Holguín

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Participants in the initial activities of the Jornada del Cariño Martí in Holguin. Photo: Courtesy of Icap
Participating in these initial activities of the “Day of Affection: Martí in Holguin peoples” were Alberto Rivas, official of the Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba –PCC-; Reynaldo Zaldívar and Víctor Ayón, respective presidents of the Movimiento Juvenil Martiano in the province and municipality; Lupe Isabel Fernández Ramírez and Yamila Fernández Domínguez, delegate and Specialist of ICAP; as well as representatives of the students’ organizations FEU, FEEM and the José Martí Pioneers Organization, among others.

day, tribute, José Martí, Holguín

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José Martí’s fall in combat in Dos Ríos. File photo

Regarding the date, historical publications recognize how, in Altagracia, Martí personally met José Miró Argenter, Rafael Manduley del Río, Jaime Muñoz, José González, Bartolomé Rosabal, Pablo García, Rafael Ramírez, Juan Oro, Augusto Feria, Teodorico Torres, Nolasco Peña, Rafael Peña, Luis Jerez, Inocencio Sosa, Rafael Rodríguez and Plutarco Artigas with his son Pedro.

And from Altagracia he left for posterity the following lines: (…) I am writing these lines already in Holguin lands, as much ours as all I have seen, and with its 500 armed men, listening to the fervent Miro and the devoted Rafael Manduley, brilliant and impetuous in Holguin (…) 100 huddled men breathe in the casucha where I am writing, with the candle in a jar. I have to finish. Great affection I have found in Holguín (…)

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