On his Twitter account, the head of Government wrote that the life and work of this patriot are sources of inspiration for new generations of Cubans.

Villena (1899-1934) was a Cuban intellectual, writer and revolutionary leader in the 1920s and 1930s, who was linked since an early age to the struggle against corruption and the surrender of Cuban republican governments.

In 1923, he led the young people’s denunciation against the corrupt government of President Alfredo Zayas (1921-1925), known as the Protest of Thirteen, and founded the so-called Grupo Minorista, which brought together artists, writers, musicians and creators in general around the cause of patriotism and anti-imperialism.

As a leader of the Communist Party of Cuba, he led the revolutionary general strike that overthrew the Gerardo Machado dictatorship in August 1933.

Villena died of tuberculosis in January 1934 at the age 35.

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