By: Daniel Nardini
On February 27, Cuban exile and patriot Huber Matos passed away at the age of 95. For most of his life, he had fought not just for an independent Cuba, but for a free and democratic Cuba. Born in Yara, Cuba, on November 26, 1918, Matos eventually became a teacher and taught in Manzanillo before pursuing a doctorate in Havana. When Cuban General Fulgencio Batista overthrew the elected Cuban government and made himself dictator in 1952, Matos joined the Orthodox Party in opposition to the new dictatorship. It was in this party that Matos met one of the party’s leading members Fidel Castro.
Eventually Matos was forced to flee for his life from Cuba in 1957 and settled in Costa Rica. From the very beginning, Costa Rica impressed him as a democratic and peaceful, stable country that Cuba should emulate. When Fidel Castro led a group of armed men to Cuba and eventually into the Sierra Mountains, Matos helped organize weaponry supply routes from Costa Rica to Cuba to help arm the Castro rebel force. As Batista’s rule became more unpopular, more people began to join Castro’s forces. In 1958, Matos joined Castro in Cuba where Castro gave Matos command of the ninth column which would later capture the city of Santiago de Cuba. In fact, Matos was one of the senior rebel commanders who would ride into Havana on the same tank that Fidel Castro and Che Guevara would be on January 1, 1959.
Matos believed that Castro would eventually restore democracy and hold elections in the country. This never happened. Instead Castro had joined the Communist Party of Cuba and all facets of Cuban society had become militarized. Matos, horrified at this, spoke out against the rise of the Communist infiltration of Cuba. For this he was arrested and sentenced to 20 years in prison. Many times he was nearly starved to death, and on many occasions he was badly tortured. But he managed to survive, and when he was finally released in 1979 he immediately fled to Costa Rica. Later he and his family, which had managed to flee before Matos’ arrest, had settled in Miami, Florida. Matos would later found the Huber Matos Foundation for Democracy, and he wrote about his experiences in his memoir How the Night Came. Huber Matos requested that his remains be buried in Costa Rica until they can be transported to a new and free Cuba. Even in death Huber Matos is a true revolutionary dedicated to bringing freedom and democracy to Cuba. He leaves a very valuable legacy behind.
A True Cuban Revolutionary
By: Daniel Nardini
On February 27, Cuban exile and patriot Huber Matos passed away at the age of 95. For most of his life, he had fought not just for an independent Cuba, but for a free and democratic Cuba. Born in Yara, Cuba, on November 26, 1918, Matos eventually became a teacher and taught in Manzanillo before pursuing a doctorate in Havana. When Cuban General Fulgencio Batista overthrew the elected Cuban government and made himself dictator in 1952, Matos joined the Orthodox Party in opposition to the new dictatorship. It was in this party that Matos met one of the party’s leading members Fidel Castro.
Eventually Matos was forced to flee for his life from Cuba in 1957 and settled in Costa Rica. From the very beginning, Costa Rica impressed him as a democratic and peaceful, stable country that Cuba should emulate. When Fidel Castro led a group of armed men to Cuba and eventually into the Sierra Mountains, Matos helped organize weaponry supply routes from Costa Rica to Cuba to help arm the Castro rebel force. As Batista’s rule became more unpopular, more people began to join Castro’s forces. In 1958, Matos joined Castro in Cuba where Castro gave Matos command of the ninth column which would later capture the city of Santiago de Cuba. In fact, Matos was one of the senior rebel commanders who would ride into Havana on the same tank that Fidel Castro and Che Guevara would be on January 1, 1959.
Matos believed that Castro would eventually restore democracy and hold elections in the country. This never happened. Instead Castro had joined the Communist Party of Cuba and all facets of Cuban society had become militarized. Matos, horrified at this, spoke out against the rise of the Communist infiltration of Cuba. For this he was arrested and sentenced to 20 years in prison. Many times he was nearly starved to death, and on many occasions he was badly tortured. But he managed to survive, and when he was finally released in 1979 he immediately fled to Costa Rica. Later he and his family, which had managed to flee before Matos’ arrest, had settled in Miami, Florida. Matos would later found the Huber Matos Foundation for Democracy, and he wrote about his experiences in his memoir How the Night Came. Huber Matos requested that his remains be buried in Costa Rica until they can be transported to a new and free Cuba. Even in death Huber Matos is a true revolutionary dedicated to bringing freedom and democracy to Cuba. He leaves a very valuable legacy behind.