The July 26th March was written by a Young fellow
Agustín Díaz Cartaya did not have the opportunity to grow up with his family, he was raised in the Charity and Maternity Home
Félix Rubén Aloma
Agustín Díaz Cartaya did not have the opportunity to grow up with his family, he was raised in the Charity and Maternity Home. Born in Marianao municipality of Havana, Cuba in 1929. His mother came from a humble family so his childhood was as hard as that of all the poor children of his day.
The revolutionary told that he met his mother through the fences, when he was three years old and he was in the Charity home until the age of 11. Despite all this he reached a great cultural level, he became a poetry-lover.
Like many young fellows, upset by the existing situation which pounded him since his birth, he dreamed of a better world and joined the revolutionary movement led by the young lawyer Fidel Castro Ruz.
In the Santa Elena farm, they practiced shooting, a few weeks before the attacks on Moncada Barracks, in Santiago de Cuba; and Carlos Manuel de Céspedes, in Bayamo.
Fidel knew about Díaz Cartaya’s interest in Music and that he got by at singing and composing, that’s why he entrusted him with a mission. He only needed three days to compose the lyrics who immortalized him and took him within the pages of the history of Cuba, with only 22 years of age.
Following Fidel’s orders, the July 26th March was recorded underground by Faustino Pérez on February 15th, 1957. Musician Carlos Faxas broadcasted the march on the Cadena Habana radio station.
Almost two years later after the attackers were released, following the amnesty on May 15, 1955, and when the struggle was active in the east of Cuba, the recording reached the Sierra Maestra. From La Plata Command, the Radio Rebelde waves were broadcasted to the people of Cuba for the first time, which marked a watershed in the history of Cuba.
Translated by ESTI