1966. The poet Manuel Navarro Luna dies in Havana.

From a very young age he evidenced his qualities as a poet.

In 1915 he published his first verses in publications in the city of Manzanillo. He later joined the local literary group and on May 1, 1915, in an event organized in Manzanillo, he read a sonnet entitled "Socialism" in which the revolutionary vocation of the poet is reflected. When the revolutionary triumph took place in 1959, he began to carry out different activities. He joined the militias and used to go to different places saying his patriotic verses. Despite his deteriorating health, he continued to offer talks, recitals, conferences and continued to collaborate on different publications until his death. One of his most significant poems is the one titled “El General Antonio”.

His birth took place in the town of Jovellanos, province of Matanzas, on August 9, 1894.

2002. Commander in Chief Fidel Castro delivered a speech in Cacahual, in Havana, in the solemn act of homage to the birthdays of Antonio Maceo and Ernesto Che Guevara

He pointed out: “Today we pay tribute to two extraordinary men, who have left a deep mark on the history of our country: Maceo and Che.

“From the first, I avidly read everything that referred to him. I always saw him as a legend. The 26 wounds he received and the more than 800 war actions in which he participated exceeded the limits of the fantasy of an adolescent or a young man, appearing before our eyes as a god of war.

“The second I saw him take the first shot and his first feats. Doctor and intellectual turned reckless soldier, always the first when a volunteer was needed for difficult missions, I had the privilege of getting to know him more closely. If I wanted to find a word that was synonymous with austerity, integrity, spirit of sacrifice and ethics, that word would be Che”.

Fidel described Antonio Maceo and Ernesto Che Guevara as insurmountable symbols of courage and revolutionary intransigence and also assured:

"The Cuban revolutionaries, in the midst of the battle of ideas that we are waging today and engaged in the arduous and heroic defense of the Homeland, the Revolution and Socialism, on a day like today we pay special tribute to our two great heroes, with a firm and unwavering decision: we will all be like Maceo and Che!”