Cubans frequently visit the mausoleum erected in the Second Front, at the foot of the Micara hills, to commemorate the heroic feat that helped forge the Revolution’s victory in that place, and where there is a constant tribute to the heroes and martyrs who gave their lives for it.

From the path carved out atop the Micara hills by the column of Commander Raul Castro, who 68 years ago founded the Frank País Second Front under Fidel’s orders, 78 palm trees sway their fronds as a symbol of that guerrilla group, composed of seasoned combatants.

Organized into columns and companies, and with the Rebel Air Force established, the Front gave the enemy no respite across the 12,000 square kilometers it controlled, in the territory of the current provinces of Santiago de Cuba, Guantanamo, and Holguin, where, over a campaign that lasted nine months and 22 days, it carried out more than 250 combat operations, captured 31 barracks, and liberated several cities and towns.

In the midst of the war, Commander Raul Castro, just 27 years old at the time, established there the departments of Justice, Rebel Health, Public Works, Treasury, Education, Propaganda, and Inspection, as well as the Agrarian and Workers’ Bureaus; he organized 20 hospitals and medical posts, and some 400 schools, among other benefits for the mountain population.

«Now we are like a small revolutionary state within another,” Raul said of that experience, which Fidel described as a “model of organization.”

We will never forget the participation of the women who joined the guerrilla group in dangerous missions, among whom Vilma Espin, the heroine of the mountains and plains, and Asela de los Santos stood out as symbols.

The triumph of the Revolution brought about the transformation of this rugged region, and its municipal capital, named in honor of the Second Front, now boasts a robust socioeconomic infrastructure and modern buildings.

The Second Eastern Front Historical Complex represents an entire armed struggle led by the guerrillas in the mountains and pays tribute to all those who fell to help write the history of the Revolution with their blood.