Cuba - Lonely Planet [318]
Celia Sánchez Manduley had been a revolutionary activist long before the ill-fated Granma ran aground off Playa Las Coloradas in 1956. In 1953 she and her left-leaning father had dragged a bust of José Martí to the summit of Pico Turquino, Cuba’s highest mountain, and by the mid-’50s she was an active member of the M-26-7 Movement in Manzanillo. In November 1956 it was the stalwart Sánchez who camped patiently near Niquero in the Oriente with transport and supplies waiting for the stricken Granma to arrive. Undeterred by its delay, she returned to Manzanillo where she continued coordinating the dangerous underground resistance, providing the lifeline that ultimately ensured Fidel’s survival and subsequent triumph over Batista.
In February 1957 Sánchez played an integral role in the organization and transport of American journalist Herbert Matthews up into the Sierra Maestra to interview Fidel. The next day, she came face to face with Castro for the first time at a revolutionary ‘summit’ at La Montería farm, a meeting that included Frank País (leader of the Santiago resistance), Moncada veteran Haydee Santamaría, and Vilma Espín (future wife of Raúl Castro).
Celia’s skills and loyalty were quickly recognized by the savvy Castro and, by July 1957, she was living permanently in the Sierra Maestra where she helped form the revolutionary Mariana Grajales brigade, a rebel combat unit made up entirely of women. Utilizing her hard-won contacts in the Manzanillo underground, Sánchez worked hard coordinating supply drops and dispatching crucial messages to leaders in the llano (flatlands), often concealing tiny telegrams inside the petals of a mariposa, Cuba’s national flower.
After the Revolution Sánchez was appointed secretary to the Council of State and Council of Ministers. But, far more important was her role as Fidel’s primary confidante and unofficial adviser. Unfazed by his legendary pigheadedness, it was said that only Celia could tell Cuba’s famously stubborn leader news he didn’t want to hear – and she often did.
When Sánchez succumbed to cancer, aged 59, in January 1980, the whole nation mourned and a small piece of Fidel Castro (and Cuba) died with her.
Celia Sánchez’ legacy is plastered all over her native Granma province. Check out the beautiful terra-cotta staircase in Manzanillo, her quaint clapboard birth house in the sugar town of Media Luna (opposite), and the Casa Museo Celia Sánchez Manduley in the south-coast settlement of Pilón Click here.
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Ostensibly, there isn’t much to do in Niquero, but you can explore the park, where there’s a cinema, and visit the town’s small museum. Look out for a monument commemorating the oft-forgotten victims of the Granma landing, who were hunted down and killed by Batista’s troops in December 1956.
Niquero makes a good base from which to visit the Parque Nacional Desembarco del Granma. There’s a Servi-Cupet gas station in the center of town and another on the outskirts toward Cabo Cruz.
Sleeping & Eating
Hotel Niquero (Islazul; 59-24-98; Esquina Martí; s/d CUC$22/29; ) Nestled in the middle of the small town, this low-key, out-on-a-limb hotel situated opposite the local sugar factory has dark, slightly tatty rooms with little balconies that overlook the street. The service here is variable, though the affordable on-site restaurant has been known to rustle up a reasonable beef steak with sauce. Better hunker down because it’s the only accommodation in town.
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AND THEN THERE WERE THREE…
It seemed like an ignominious defeat. Three days after landing in a crippled leisure yacht on Cuba’s southeastern coast, Castro’s expeditionary force of 82 soldiers had been decimated by Batista’s superior army. Some of the rebels had fled, others had