Parque Histórico Abel Santamaría

Santiago de Cuba

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This is the site of the former Saturnino Lora Civil Hospital, stormed by Abel Santamaría and 60 others on that fateful July day (they were later tortured and killed). On October 16, 1953, Fidel Castro was tried in the Escuela de Enfermeras for leading the Moncada attack. It was here that he made his famous History will Absolve Me speech.

The park contains a giant Cubist fountain, engraved with the countenances of Abel Santamaría and José Martí, which gushes out a veritable Niagara Falls of water.

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