cubaninsider: Cuba's Female Martyrs

19.9.18

Cuba's Female Martyrs

Revolutionary Heroines Remembered!!

To a very large extent, as Fidel Castro often stressed, the Cuban Revolution was a female-powered revolution that began in earnest in 1953 when extremely brave mothers took to the streets with huge placards accusing the Batista-Mafia dictatorship of murdering their children as warnings not to dissent. From the outset of the guerrilla war to overthrow the U.S.-and-Mafia-backed Batista, omnipotent Cuban women were on the front-lines of the war as fighters, recruiters of rebels and supplies, and as decision-makers. Those famed women included...Celia Sanchez, Haydee Santamaria, Vilma Espin, Tete Puebla, and thousands like them. Although she died of cancer at age 59 on Jan. 11, 1980, there remain in Cuba today many statues of Celia Sanchez but none of Fidel Castro, who wanted it that way.

With that being said, this week in September-2018 there were special ceremonies honoring the lives of two of the Revolution's greatest heroines -- Lidia Doce and Clodomira Acosta. Their images, courtesy of Radio Rebelde, are depicted above.

Lidia and Clodomira were Mountain Messengers during the war. They took vital messages from battlefield to battlefield and from rebel strongholds to the Commanders, working directly under and reporting to Celia Sanchez, Fidel Castro, Raul Castro, and Che Guevara. Their work was considered the most dangerous because they had to constantly maneuver between Batista check-points and, yes, Batista's bounties for their capture were huge and paid in cash. Batista's goons wanted the Mountain Messengers captured, not killed, because they wanted to unmercifully torture them as long as possible before they died from the extreme torture. Such was the historic fate of Lidia and Clodomira.

Lidia was 20 years older than Clodomira, who was mentored by Lidia. Lidia was born on August 27, 1916, in Vetazco in Holguin territory; Clodomira was born on February 1, 1936, in Manzanillo, the city on the southeastern tip of the island where the doctor's daughter, Celia Sanchez, began the war's most vital early recruitments of rebels and supplies. Two of Celia's most important recruits turned out to be Lidia and Clodomira.

In 1958, as the war began to heat up and -- incredibly -- turn in favor of the rebels, Batista's huge bounties on the heads of the Mountain Messengers were paying off, and the two largest bounties were for the capture of Lidia and Clodomira. The two precious women, so vital to the war effort, were in a safe-house coordinating their missions with four young male rebels. They were betrayed and Batista's soldiers surrounded the house, capturing the six rebels. The young men were tortured and then quickly murdered and they were: Alberto Alvarez, 21; Leonardo Valdes, 23; Anelio Dampier, 22; and Reinaldo Cruz, 20.

The four young rebels after they were executed the day Lidia Doce and Clodomira Acosta were also captured.

Lidia and Clodomira were spared only so, as the most famed Mountain Messengers, they could be tortured as long as possible before they died.

By 1958 Batista's most infamous murderers included Esteban Ventura. He was in charge of torturing Lidia and Clodomira.

The details of how Lidia and Clodomira died are known because of the accounts of their heartless captors. For days they were tortured as punishment but also to induce them to reveal vital information about the rebel offensive that Batista and Ventura knew they possessed.
But to the consternation and amazement of Ventura, based on data his aides reported directly to Batista, never -- NOT ONCE -- did either Lidia or Clodomira utter a single word to their torturers, NOT to plea for mercy and NOT to reveal a single word about the vital information that knew would harm the war efforts of Celia Sanchez, the Castro brothers, and Che Guevara.
Based on the Batista-Ventura records, it is believed that Lidia died just a few agonizing minutes before Clodomira succumbed to the relentless torture. Clodomira's very last smile in Cuba was when she at last knew that her beloved friend and mentor Lidia had finally died and could be punished no more.
It is believed, based on Ventura accounts, that their deaths occurred on September 17, 1958. Thus, on that date each year -- INCLUDING THIS WEEK IN THE YEAR 2018 -- ceremonies honoring two of the all-time greatest rebels are commemorated. NO ONE DESERVES IT MORE.
After they were tortured to death, Batista ordered that their bodies be thrown into the sea, and they were never recovered.

Clodomira Acosta and Lidia Doce.

Batista's Colonel Esteban Ventura.

The Cuban Revolution's incomparable Celia Sanchez in 1965, almost seven years after overthrowing Batista, told Bohemia Magazine:

"In September of 1958 we began winning the war...capturing cities and holding them as our forward units, led by Che and Camilo, were on a direct path to Havana, hoping to get there before the Batistianos fled. But I remember in the Sierra it was on September 24 when we got confirmation that four of our young rebels had been executed at the home where Lidia and Clodomira had been captured. I've never been a crier but after hearing that I cried for two whole days and nights. Then we learned Lidia and Clodomira were being kept alive so they could be tortured as long as possible. Finally, in the end two reliable sources informed us that Clodomira, just before she died, managed a smile because she had learned that Lidia had died and could no longer be tortured. I'm trying to say, despite all of the tragedies of the war and the tragedies that caused the war, most of the tears from my eyes were for Lidia and Clodomira. And I will never apologize for that...NEVER. They meant that much to me and to the war."

The photo above was taken in August of 1958 by Celia Sanchez herself. The lady in the middle in the white shirt is Lidia Doce about a month before she was murdered. The lady next to Lidia is Grizelda Sanchez, Celia's lookalike sister. And, of course, at Lidia's left shoulder is Fidel Castro. Lidia had just turned to Fidel and happily said, "Estamos ganando ahora, verdad?" {"We're winning now, aren't we?"}. The Commander on the left is Juan Almeida, who also reviewed Lidia's latest messages.