2023-07-11 14:30:00
As fate would have it, an adoptive son of Guanajay was born on July 26, but 24 years before that date marked a glorious page in the history of this country.
Pastor Valente Hernández Rojas is brought to these pages by a combatant who extols his fidelity to his fellow fighters, since “the commitment to history is to tell it,” he summons us, “and the current generations must know the effort of those who made it possible the triumph of the Cuban Revolution”, insists Roger Corrales Montano, bringing us part of the life of this Illustrious Guest of Guanajay in his own handwriting.
A native of Cabaiguán, from the Pedro Barba neighborhood, in the former province of Las Villas, now Sancti Spíritus, he lived in a poor area, with unproductive land, planted with sugar cane, tobacco and cattle, where he was able to go for only one year. to school: he learned to read and write at home with his mother.
At the age of 14, he came to live in Havana with a sister. He worked as a cleaning boy, a pharmacy messenger, a grocer, a gardener and even a boxer.
At a very young age, he joined the clandestine struggle in the capital city, participating in sabotage actions, attacks and other missions that led him to brutal interrogations and atrocious torture.
In the first months of 1957 he officially participated in the July 26 Movement (M-26-7), before he had fulfilled missions as a cooperant or on his own initiative.
He arrived in these parts by decision of the M-26-7, to protect his integrity. Due to his capacity, he was Head of Action in the territory that included the municipalities of Guanajay, Mariel, Bahía Honda, Candelaria, San Cristóbal and Artemisa, then belonging to Pinar del Río.
At that time he was Chief of the Guerrilla to act in El Jobo, La Gobernadora hill, Zayas, Guanajay, El Esperón. He was promoted to lieutenant, and he assumed the support of Camilo Cienfuegos to lead the invasion to Pinar del Río.
When the Revolution triumphed, he performed various tasks in the FAR. They promoted him to the rank of colonel, and he was a founder of the PCC.
In January 1959 he was appointed head of the Artemisa barracks, where at noon on the 17th he received Fidel and the Freedom Caravan. He also exchanged many times in the barracks with the Commander of the Revolution Ramiro Valdés Menéndez, and had as subordinates, among others, two Moncadistas from Artemisa: Severino Rosell González (Vero) and Ricardo Máximo Santana Martínez.
In Artemisa, he married in 1960 with Olivia Margarita Rodríguez Cobo; with whom he had two children: Vilma and Augusto César.
At the origin of the October Crisis in 1962, he was the head of Operations in the Guane division; he was then promoted to chief of the Bahía Honda division and gradually rose from first lieutenant to colonel.
In 1982, in the Republic of Guinea, he was appointed Chief of the Cuban Military Specialists, until July 1985, and when he returned he went to reserve military service, with the willingness to continue serving the Homeland.
At the end of his working life, he dedicated himself to fulfilling his tasks as a Party militant, a member of the CDR, and participated in the creation of the Association of Combatants in Guanajay, being elected as a member of its provincial leadership, first in Havana and then in Sagebrush.
He died on June 21, 2019, to leave us the summary of a life to continue multiplying, never to forget.
Pastor Valente and Olivia Margarita with their children Augusto César and Vilma in Bahía Honda, Pinar del Río. June 1973
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