ARTICLE
ON THE 150TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE EXECUTION OF THE EIGHT MEDICAL STUDENTS
BY: JULIO A. LARRAMENDI
Loved corpses, those that one day
Dreams you were from my homeland
This is how José Martí begins his verses dedicated to “To my brothers who died on November 27”.
Today Cuba, from Havana, paid multiple tributes to the eight medical students who in 1871, despite being innocent of the crimes they were accused of, were tried, convicted and shot for the simple "crime" of being Cubans, in the middle of a liberating feat that fueled hatred, resentment and fear of defeat for the defenders, Creoles and Spaniards, of colonialism.
Much has been written about those embarrassing events, from "El 27 de Noviembre de 1871", an essential text by Fermín Valdés Domínguez, also accused in those tragic days and a great vindicator of his companions, to the investigations of the historian Luis Felipe Le Roy Gálvez, in particular, "The innocence of the students shot in 1871", a lecture that synthesizes his meticulous book A hundred years of 71. The shooting of the students. Beyond specific contradictions, both authors demonstrate and defend the innocence of the victims, the first university martyrs in Havana and Cuba.
The thousands of Havana students and workers who gathered on the steps of the University were equally young and marched, with President Miguel Díaz-Canel at the fore, along San Lázaro Street to the monument that commemorates the crime, in the place where occurred. There was a lot of energy in that sea full of dreams, which with rapid pace takes over History.
Later, on the Sidewalk of the Louvre, at the entrance of the Inglaterra hotel, the historian Félix Julio Alfonso, following a tradition started by Eusebio Leal, paid tribute to the students and Nicolás Estévanez, captain of the Spanish Army who publicly protested against the shooting. He gave up his career and returned to the Peninsula, where he never regretted his attitude, because for him, "Humanity and Justice are before the Homeland."
In another less publicized but equally meaningful tribute, the Abakuá, with their songs and dances to the rhythm of drums and cowbells, remembered five young members of their fraternity who in an almost desperate act tried to save the condemned students. In a discreet corner of the Parque de los Mártires, with floral offerings, poetry and harangues, they presented their proposal for a monument to remember their brothers murdered that same day.
Finally, in the portal of the Museum of the City, former Palace of the General Captains, where the then Second Corporal, in the absence of the Count of Valmaseda, signed the sentence of the execution, the book With a hymn in the throat was presented. November 27, 1871: Historical Research, University Tradition and Inocencia, by Alejandro Gil, a volume coordinated by José Antonio Baujín and Mercy Ruiz that brings together the extensive documentation that served to develop the script for the moving film by Cuban filmmaker Alejandro Gil about those unfortunate facts.
Day of tributes, meditation and gratitude.
Dreams you were from my homeland
This is how José Martí begins his verses dedicated to “To my brothers who died on November 27”.
Today Cuba, from Havana, paid multiple tributes to the eight medical students who in 1871, despite being innocent of the crimes they were accused of, were tried, convicted and shot for the simple "crime" of being Cubans, in the middle of a liberating feat that fueled hatred, resentment and fear of defeat for the defenders, Creoles and Spaniards, of colonialism.
Much has been written about those embarrassing events, from "El 27 de Noviembre de 1871", an essential text by Fermín Valdés Domínguez, also accused in those tragic days and a great vindicator of his companions, to the investigations of the historian Luis Felipe Le Roy Gálvez, in particular, "The innocence of the students shot in 1871", a lecture that synthesizes his meticulous book A hundred years of 71. The shooting of the students. Beyond specific contradictions, both authors demonstrate and defend the innocence of the victims, the first university martyrs in Havana and Cuba.
The thousands of Havana students and workers who gathered on the steps of the University were equally young and marched, with President Miguel Díaz-Canel at the fore, along San Lázaro Street to the monument that commemorates the crime, in the place where occurred. There was a lot of energy in that sea full of dreams, which with rapid pace takes over History.
Later, on the Sidewalk of the Louvre, at the entrance of the Inglaterra hotel, the historian Félix Julio Alfonso, following a tradition started by Eusebio Leal, paid tribute to the students and Nicolás Estévanez, captain of the Spanish Army who publicly protested against the shooting. He gave up his career and returned to the Peninsula, where he never regretted his attitude, because for him, "Humanity and Justice are before the Homeland."
In another less publicized but equally meaningful tribute, the Abakuá, with their songs and dances to the rhythm of drums and cowbells, remembered five young members of their fraternity who in an almost desperate act tried to save the condemned students. In a discreet corner of the Parque de los Mártires, with floral offerings, poetry and harangues, they presented their proposal for a monument to remember their brothers murdered that same day.
Finally, in the portal of the Museum of the City, former Palace of the General Captains, where the then Second Corporal, in the absence of the Count of Valmaseda, signed the sentence of the execution, the book With a hymn in the throat was presented. November 27, 1871: Historical Research, University Tradition and Inocencia, by Alejandro Gil, a volume coordinated by José Antonio Baujín and Mercy Ruiz that brings together the extensive documentation that served to develop the script for the moving film by Cuban filmmaker Alejandro Gil about those unfortunate facts.
Day of tributes, meditation and gratitude.
