On the morning of August 17, 1870, in Santiago de Cuba, the dawn was shattered by the roll of drums. The Regiment of the Crown, with their polished boots and Remington rifles, assembled in the Plaza de Dolores. Their mission was clear: the execution of the insurgent leaders at the old slaughterhouse, a site that had witnessed the demise of many independence dreams. Among the condemned was Major General Pedro Felipe Figueredo Cisneros, known as Perucho, a key figure in the Cuban independence movement and the composer of the Cuban National Anthem, ‘La Bayamesa.’
Perucho, suffering from ulcerated feet that rendered him unable to walk, was bound in handcuffs but not in spirit. When ordered to walk to his execution, he retorted with dignity, ‘Can’t you see I can’t? Bring me a car.’ In a mocking gesture, the Spanish officer sent for a donkey instead. Perucho, with a touch of irony, remarked, ‘I will not be the first redeemer that rides on an ass.’ The donkey, seemingly aware of its symbolic burden, carried Perucho slowly and gallantly to the execution site.
At 6:20 a.m., a 25-man platoon stood ready. Beside Perucho were Rodrigo and Ignacio Tamayo, father and son, standing erect. In a poignant moment, Rodrigo extended his handcuffed hands to bless his son before the shots rang out. The officer’s command cut through the humid air: ‘Prepare!… Aim!… Fire!’ The thunderous discharges felled the three men, their bodies falling like flags unfurled for the last time. Perucho’s blood, the patriot who had ignited the spirit of the Bayamo revolution, bathed the earth.
155 years later, the echo of that morning still resonates. The bullets may have silenced Perucho’s body, but his words, immortalized in the Cuban National Anthem, continue to inspire. Perucho, serene in the face of death, rejected cowardly forgiveness and, with his final verses, ‘To die for the Homeland is to live,’ transformed lead into seed, sowing the enduring spirit of Cuban independence.