As a prelude to the anniversary, the day before thousands of people paid tribute in Havana to Cienfuegos, who was also known by the Cuban people as the Vanguard Lord.

A pilgrimage departed from the José Martí Revolution Square to the capital’s coastline, where participants threw flowers into the sea as a tribute.

Cienfuegos physically disappeared on October 28, 1959, when the plane in which he was returning to Havana fell into the sea.

After days of intense search, the historic leader of the Revolution, Fidel Castro, said: “Men like Camilo Cienfuegos come from the people and lived for the people. Our only compensation for the loss of a comrade so close to us is to know that the people of Cuba produce men like him. Camilo lives and will live in the people”.

His remains were never found, hence the tradition of the Cuban people to throw flowers into the sea.

Once the liberation war began, the Vanguard Lord – born on February 6, 1932 in Havana – began to stand out as one of the most relevant soldiers of the Rebel Army, in which he gained the rank of commander.

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