News Foot Cover Author: rebellious youth

March is in its imprint, it is the seal of life and the door to permanent presence. Manuel Pinheiro Lozada was born in Matanzas on March 16, 1933, and a tragic accident endowed his legendary figure with eternal sowing on March 11, 1998, just on the day of the 40th anniversary of the Second Eastern Front of Franck Pais, a partisan front that was one of the founders under the command of the commander Raul Castro Rus. There he was the head of the personnel department and the inspection department, to which the intelligence service and the police were assigned, the roots of his later revolutionary mission, a faithful and wise executor of Fidel’s internationalist plans.

Pinheiro, Manuel, Barbarossa, El Gallego was a conspiracy wizard to advance the relationship of the Cuban Revolution, from an inclusive and unitary vision, with the political and social forces of the American continent, and as it has been going for 90 years, these stories serve to pass them on to new generations. Almost everything is taken from Stories Barbarossaby Jorge Timossi and articles published in La Tizza de Cuba. In them one can see his Creole figure, simple and cheerful, and his preferred axiom, in which his privileged mind proceeded: “Look far, short step, a lot of nose and do not burn the fountain.”

honest explanation

Fidel Castro Ruz

1st. June 2012

A few days ago, May 28 was deservedly celebrated with a fierce battle at Uvero. An elementary duty obliges me to clarify the facts.

In those weeks, Manuel Pinheiro, Barbarossa, a genius and a figure to the grave, as the phrase goes, sent a truck to Santiago de Cuba with weapons related to the attack of the Revolutionary Directorate on the Palace, which somehow ended up in her hands. . Frank Pais, the national leader of our July 26th Movement, sent an important part of this cargo to the difficult area of ​​the Sierra Maestra, where our nascent Rebel Army was rising from the ashes.

Commander Manuel Piñerio witnessed the historical events of his most important period. Photo: Museum of Memory

This apprenticeship was extremely difficult. Step by step, we fought the first victorious battles in which we built up our forces in weapons and manpower, without losses. […]. Despite the obstacles and with the support of the people and funds sent to us by Frank, we created the first partisan detachment: with the vanguard, under the command of Camilo; rear guard with Ephigenio Ameiheiras; center with small platoons; and general command. There was already a hardened group of vigilantes with valuable adaptations in the territory, when a good batch of weapons saved by Barbarossa arrived in barrels of thick fat. […].

At Mass and in Procession

Fernando Ravelo Renedo, Fermin *

[…] After 1959, the class struggle intensified… and the aggressive policy of the US government reached astronomical proportions, and the Revolution had to respond. These were years of work until four and five in the morning. Contacts, relations with leaders, parties and patriotic forces of all stripes, groups that arrived on trains, trips on false passports and fictitious routes. It was a time when visiting our country was considered a serious crime …

I have never seen Piñero faint. In difficult times, when the popular and revolutionary struggle was on the wane, he led the work with the same enthusiasm and perseverance as in the heyday.

Those who were persecuted by the dictatorship of Catello Branco or by Pinochetism, somocism or Trujillism, among other regimes, have always found support for our revolution in Barbarossa.

Democratic forces, the military-patriotic movement, social democracy in Latin America and the Caribbean had in him a reasonable interlocutor who eliminated confusion and unity of will.

The need for secret work required extraordinary efforts from Pinheiro, timely consultations without official mailings, and avoiding hasty steps that could result in a disproportionate response. The architect of the entire strategy was The Twelve, with a small, apparently disorganized team, sometimes with no exact place to work. This working group even began to be called “the people of Piñero”.

The division into parts, the unattainable nature of the organization, the aura of mystery and his personal style of dealing with each issue directly and until the early hours of the morning created the legend, the myth of Barbarossa and provoked comments about the “Pinheiro things”. “. The enemy planted the rest.

Those of us who went out with him at dawn sometimes heard light snoring in the middle of a conversation. We knew that he needed five to ten minutes of sleep to recuperate while sitting in his shabby chair. He opened his eyes and continued speaking as if he had not been interrupted. He was indefatigable and sometimes jokingly said: “I am at mass and in the procession.”

He had great intelligence and incredible communication skills. He was greatly admired by all who knew him, and also had opponents and critics. He has always maintained great confidence in the fate of our America and an unwavering loyalty to the thoughts and actions of Fidel Castro. […].

magical passes

They were like two giant conspirators who promised half the world to stop smoking. One of them was Adelaide de Juan, one of the most famous art historians in the country, and the other was Pinheiro. They both knew their respective obligations, and also that they could not fulfill them, which no one could take for granted. They had a secret pact that materialized every time they chanced to meet, at a reception, at a new book launch, at the Casa de las Americas. Adelaide approached Barbarossa as someone who didn’t want to, and when she was sure no one present would notice, she slipped a cigarette into her friend’s guayabera pocket. He, in turn, greeted her another time with a ceremonial handshake, and Adelaide received another cigarette in his hand. They were always magical passes, technically perfect, in the style of the best spy books.

beard roots

A few days after the death of Pinheiro would have turned 65 years old. But his beard had long been gray, and the nicknames he was given changed like the seasons. Sometimes he was the Ayatollah, sometimes the Old Man, perhaps in memory of John Le Carr’s character, and sometimes just Manuel. One night he was at the home of Carmen and Felix Pete Astudillo, with whom he was very close and where he often went to quench his thirst for information. Felix was, before he died of lung cancer, a well-known journalist from Granma, and many times his house became an obligatory stop to go to the famous newspaper matinees together. They were about to leave when someone approached the house, no matter who it was, and, after greeting, said:

“You cannot be called Barbarossa, because I see that your beard is very gray.

The answer was immediate.

Yes, white beard. But make no mistake, horse, the roots are very red.

* Captain de la Sierra, was the deputy head of the American department of the Central Committee.

Source: Juventud Rebelde