The Homeland honored the Motherland

Every second Sunday of May is distinguished by the traditional homage to Cuban mothers and, especially, by the well-deserved tribute to the Mambisa Mariana Grajales Cuello, parent of the Maceo family and recognized as Mother of the Homeland.

"To Cuban mothers, capable of sustaining and transforming the most difficult reality, with sensitivity, courage and beauty, Congratulations!" wrote in his X account the First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba and President of the Republic, Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez.

The tribute to Mariana, at the Santa Ifigenia patrimonial cemetery, was attended by a representation of the people of Santiago de Cuba, headed by Beatriz Johnson Urrutia, First Secretary of the Provincial Committee of the Party; and Manuel Falcón Hernández, Governor of the province, as well as other authorities.

The laying of a wreath on behalf of the Cuban people, after the ceremony that the Guard of Honor performs to the nation's top figures, was followed by displays of affection, while flowers were laid to other heroines and mothers of combatants who rest in this cemetery, National Monument.

The impetus of Mariana Grajales was immortalized in the manigua and also in the article La madre de los Maceo (Maceo's mother), by José Martí, in which he narrates that, after receiving her son Antonio badly wounded, and seeing the crying of the other women, she exclaimed: "Get out of here, I can't stand tears!"; then, she turned to her little son Marcos with determination: "And you, get on your feet, because it's time for you to go to the camp!".

Such a high sense of patriotism, and her imperishable example, made her deserve the title of Mother of the Homeland.