Abel Santamaría (1927 - 1953)

Thu Oct 20, 1927

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Image: Abel Santamaría (right), with a young Fidel Castro (left)

Abel Santamaría Cuadrado (shown right), born on this day in 1927, was a Cuban communist, second in command within Fidel Castro’s revolutionary movement. Abel was the brother of Haydée Santamaría Cuadrado (1922 - 1980), also a Cuban revolutionary communist and a founding member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba (PCC).

In 1947, Abel Santamaría moved to Havana and began reading Marxist texts. On May 1st, 1952, he met Fidel Castro, and they began organizing revolutionary activity together.

Abel and Haydée participated in the Moncada barracks assault on July 26th, 1953 that was intended to start the revolutionary overthrow of Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista. Fidel Castro had assigned Santamaria with the mission of taking the Saturnino Lora Hospital as part of the assault, taking on a more dangerous mission himself.

Santamaría protested in a now often-quoted exchange, saying: “You are going to the most dangerous spot and sacrificing yourself, when you are most needed by everyone.” Castro responded, “I am going to the garrison and you go to the hospital, because you are the soul of this movement, and if I die, you will take my place.”

The assault ultimately failed, and both Abel and Haydée were captured, alongside many other revolutionaries. Abel was tortured to death while in captivity to find out where Fidel was, and one of his eyes was reportedly presented to Haydée as a form of intimidation. Neither Haydée nor Abel gave away Castro’s location.