Porfirio Remberto Ramírez

Porfirio Remberto Ramírez Ruiz (1933 – 12 October 1960) was a Cuban revolutionary, student activist, participant in the overthrow of the Fulgencio Batista regime, and a member of the armed resistance against Fidel Castro's regime. He was executed during the Escambray rebellion.

Student leader Born into a peasant family in the province of Las Villas, he dedicated himself to agricultural work from adolescence. He received his primary education in a rural school. Later, he moved to Santa Clara, where he graduated from a commercial school and entered the Marta Abreu University. He studied to become an economist. He was president of the University Students Federation in Las Villas. Porfirio Ramírez adopted democratic views and was a strong opponent of the Fulgencio Batista regime. He openly opposed the authorities and led a clandestine antigovernmental group associated with the Authentic Revolutionary Organization and the Revolutionary Directorate 13th of March. After leaving his studies, he headed to the Escambray Mountains, where he led an anti-Batista partisan detachment. He demonstrated leadership qualities of "charisma and recklessness." Due to his dark complexion, he was known by the nickname El Negro, although he was not Afro-Cuban. He held the rank of captain in the revolutionary army. Upon entering Santa Clara, he personally liberated the political prisoners who were held there.

Rebellion After the victory of the Cuban Revolution, Porfirio Ramírez returned to university. He continued his studies and worked as an accountant in Santa Clara. He was elected President of the University Student Federation (FEU) of the Province of Las Villas. "When Porfirio Ramírez took up arms with Castro, he was a guerrilla fighter. When he turned his weapon against Castro, he became a bandit." – Guillermo Fariñas.

Execution The main rebel camp was established in the mountain town of Nuevo Mundo. This concentration attracted the attention of government troops and militias, who were sent to the Escambray to suppress the uprising. After the death of militia lieutenant Obdulio Morales Torres (nephew of a prominent figure in the Castro regime, Félix Torres González) in a gunfight with Vicente Méndez’s group, government forces under the command of Manuel Fajardo and Juan Vitalio Acuña Núñez launched a massive offensive in Nuevo Mundo. The rebels retreated separately in small groups. During the retreat, several commanders were captured. Porfirio Ramírez was captured in a brief skirmish near Pico Tuerto; his location had been betrayed by one of his captured comrades.

Students from Santa Clara demonstrated in support of Porfirio Ramírez. The protests were dispersed by police and militias, but Fidel Castro promised Ramírez’s family that his life would be spared. However, on 12 October, a court in Santa Clara issued five death sentences, including that of Porfirio Ramírez. Around sixty ordinary rebels were sentenced to long prison terms. He was shot three times in the face. A student from a rural background and a staunch democrat, he fought against two dictatorships without resorting to violence against civilians, symbolizing, in his own way, the original ideals of the Cuban Revolution. The protests against Ramírez's execution were the first acts of peaceful protest in Cuba. In 2019, dissident Guillermo Fariñas sent an open letter to Cuban Minister of Higher Education, Ramón Saborido, defending professors and students persecuted for political reasons. Fariñas specifically highlighted Porfirio Ramírez's role in the Cuban student movement.