Both fighters were leading a group that was waiting in El Morrillo fort, on the banks of the Canimar River, for the Amalia yacht to take them to Mexico, where they would prepare an expedition that would contribute to the fight against Cuba’s regime.
The two fighters were betrayed and were killed in an unequal clash. In the area where they fell, on the outskirts of this city, about 100 kilometers east of Havana, an obelisk was built to perpetuate the incident.
El Morrillo fort was built in 1720, as part of the Matanzas bay defensive belt and has been a Memorial Museum and a National Monument for more than four decades. The remains of the two revolutionary fighters are buried there.
Guiteras (1906-1935) lived a short but intense life as a revolutionary leader who stood out for his liberating and anti-imperialist national thinking.
Aponte (1900-1935) was born in Caracas, participated in the fight against the dictatorship of Gerardo Machado (1925-1933) in Cuba, and fought alongside General Augusto Cesar Sandino in Nicaragua where he reached the rank of Lieutenant Colonel.
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