He inherited the verve of a fighter reservist soldier of Santa Cruz del Sur
Félix Santos Valdés González met the sour sips of poverty early. Like his brothers, he also took shape in the hustle and bustle of the countryside. For the guajiros of Santa Beatríz, an area located on the coast of the old Francisco sugar mill, currently municipality of Amancio Rodríguez in the province of Las Tunas, misery was their unparalleled companion. But honesty did not have limits.
Already something in years, Rafael Valdés Calvo joined column number 13 Ignacio Agramonte. The young Felix saw in his father an example to follow.
Che’s troops passed through that intricate place. During the four days that the rebels and their leader were uprooted, the mother of the interviewee and other peasants washed their uniforms and cooperated in the cooking of the food.
Days later column 11 Cándido González in command of Jaime Vega passed through Santa Beatríz. The history of the bearded ones left its mark.
When the time elapsed, when the interviewee was a worker of the livestock enterprise of the locality, he was selected to be part of the special destination company, of which he was head of one of his squads.
Together with three more Santa Cruz citizens, he was selected to receive tactical training in the Sierra de Mícara, a hill located in Mayarí Arriba, belonging to the eastern municipality of Segundo Frente.
It was three months of the year 1985, hard to forget. Valdés González commented that 14 people from Camagüey were mobilized but there were also from other provinces of the Island. The professors were Vietnamese; Affectionate people, while being demanding in the field.
They prepared us, above all, to deactivate minefields to sabotage enemy military bases, as they did with their people when that brother country was attacked by the United States Army.
Everything learned, even to stay several days without bathing to complete the missions directed by the heads of oblique eyes, are in the black and white photos placed on one of the walls of the living room of his house.
In the personal sample seeks to pay tribute to his parents, who inherited the verve of combat. Félix Santos felt the pride to be a soldier of the reserve of the Territorial Troops Militias (MTT) of this region.(Translated by Jesus Mazorra / Radio Santa Cruz)