On Twitter, the president shared a phrase by Historic Leader of the Revolution Fidel Castro, which stressed the importance of that event led by Major General of the Liberation Army, Antonio Maceo.

“Our history, thanks to which we became an independent nation one day, in spite of Spanish armies first and Yankee armies later, was not marked by the Pact of Zanjon, it was marked by Baragua!,” This is how #Fidel synthesized the meaning of this day,” Diaz-Canel tweeted.

After 10 years of waging a war for independence (1868-1878), the Pact of Zanjon, promoted by Spain, sought a ceasefire and peace without true autonomy, just as Cuban fighters (mambises) were resuming the war for freedom in eastern and central Cuba.

According to historical documents, Maceo and other Cuban officials refused to accept the pact in a locality near the eastern province of Santiago de Cuba on March 15, 1878.

To historian Ernesto Limia, this event was an example of revolutionary intransigence that saved the independence spirit from giving in.

Cubans continued fighting, but it was not until the Necessary War (1895-1898), organized by Jose Marti, that victory over Spain would seem imminent.

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