Camilo Cienfuegos Camilo Cienfuegos Gorriarán ( ; February 6 , 1932 – October 28 , 1959 ) was a Cuban revolutionary born in Lawton , Havana . Raised in an anarchist family that had left Spain before the Spanish Civil War , he became a key figure of the Cuban Revolution , along with Fidel Castro , Che Guevara , Juan Almeida Bosque , and Raúl Castro . Political awakening . In 1940 Camilo enrolled in the Escuela Nacional de Bellas Artes " San Alejandro " , but soon after had to quit his studies due to financial problems . During this period he started working as an apprentice in the " El Arte " fashion store in downtown Havana . Around 1948 he started to get involved in political issues , taking part in the popular protests against the rise of the bus tariffs . In 1954 he became an active member of the underground students movement against Dictator Fulgencio Batista . This involvement led him to be wounded by firearm on December 7 , 1955 , during a popular protest organized to honor Cuban independence hero Antonio Maceo . After being harassed by police and without a job , he decided to leave Cuba and travelled again to the U . S . , in particular to New York . He was later expelled from the U . S . , when his residence permit expired , and relocated to Mexico . During his stay in Mexico , Camilo met Fidel Castro , who was organizing a revolutionary expedition that would return to Cuba to fight Batista . Thereafter Cienfuegos was one of the 82 revolutionaries who set sail aboard the boat " Granma " in November 1956 . Allegedly , he was the last one to board the boat and was only allowed to join because of his thinness . Guerrilla activities . The " Granma " arrived in Cuba on December 2 . After a three day nightmare of swamps and mangroves , the rebels were surprised by the Cuban ( Batista ' s ) army at Alegría de Pío . The surviving rebels escaped in small dispersed groups , wandering for weeks in the Sierra Maestra mountains . Camilo was one of the twelve who survived the attacks and executions carried out by Batista ' s forces not long after they landed . He was able to rejoin Castro in the Sierra Maestra a month later . In 1957 he became one of the top leaders of the revolutionary forces , appointed to the rank of " Comandante " . In 1958 , with the defeat of Operation Verano ( Summer ) , Cienfuegos was put in command of one of three columns which headed west out of the mountains with the intention of capturing the provincial capital city of Santa Clara . Che Guevara was in command of another column and Jaime Vega was in command of the third . Jaime Vega ' s column was ambushed and defeated by Batista ' s forces . Cienfuegos and Guevara ' s two columns reached the central provinces , where they joined efforts with several other groups . Cienfuegos ' s column fought the Battle of Yaguajay in December and , after a fight , forced the garrison to surrender on December 30 , 1958 . This earned him the nickname " The Hero of Yaguajay " . With Yaguajay captured , Cienfuegos ' s column was able to advance against Santa Clara in conjunction with Guevara ' s forces , and the other non - Castro forces from the Escambray front . Together , the two columns captured Santa Clara on December 31 ; most of the defending soldiers gave up without shooting . Batista fled Cuba the next day , and the guerrillas were victorious . Later , Cienfuegos would serve in the Cuban Army ' s high command , fight anti - Castro uprisings , and play a role in agrarian reforms . Politics and death . There has been debate as to Cienfuegos ' s political leanings . He came from a Spanish anarchist family and believed strongly in the tenets of Anarchism . Cuban author and historian Carlos Franqui suggests otherwise in his book , " Family Portrait With Fidel " . Franqui , one of Cienfuegos ' s closest friends during the Cuban revolution , asserts that Cienfuegos " sympathized with socialism " and that he followed the Marxist Che Guevara politically . Other sources tend to agree with Franqui . Both Cienfuegos ' s father and his brother , Osmany , were , and in Osmany ' s case still are , radical leftists . What we do know from their own writings , statements , and deeds is that many leaders of the 26th of July Movement , including Raul Castro and Che Guevara , is that they were in the far left of the political spectrum . Both Camilo and his brother Osmany were on that side of the spectrum , but not dogmatic in their political beliefs . Several days before his death , Cienfuegos arrested his former revolutionary comrade Huber Matos on Castro ' s orders . Comandante Matos had complained to Fidel Castro that the 26th of July Movement was being rapidly infiltrated by communists , who were assuming positions of power . Receiving no response , Matos sent a letter to Fidel relinquishing his position as military chief of Camaguey province ( October 20 ) . Cienfuegos was under the impression that Matos was leading an open revolt , but he found that was not the case . Nevertheless he carried out the arrest . On October 28 , 1959 , Cienfuegos ' s Cessna 310 ( ' FAR - 53 ' ) disappeared over the ocean during a night flight from Camagüey to Havana . An immediate search was called which lasted several days , but no plane could be found . By November the search was called off and Cienfuegos was presumed lost . He quickly became a new hero for the Cuban revolution . Rumors concerning Cienfuegos ' s disappearance have been rife . Some have speculated that Cienfuegos was killed on the orders of Fidel Castro ; These rumors have been difficult to uphold , however , as Cienfuegos had appeared exceptionally loyal to Castro throughout his involvement , and had vigorously supported the arrest of Matos only days earlier . Che Guevara , who was also close to Cienfuegos ( naming his son Camilo after the fallen revolutionary ) , dismissed any rumors of Castro ' s involvement . Another rumor circulating was that a Cuban air force fighter plane shot Cienfuegos down mistaking his plane for a hostile intruder . Historians seem to agree that Cienfuegos ' s death is more likely to have been an accident , and not the result of foul play . Museum . A museum to Camilo Cienfuegos was built after his death in Yaguajay , at the site of the barracks defended by Batista ' s forces during the 1958 battle . The army base is now a hospital . The museum includes a diorama of the battle , as well as artifacts relating to Cienfuegos ' life before , during and after the revolution . A large statue of him is on top of the museum , which is similar in size and design to the Che Guevara Mausoleum in Santa Clara . Remembrance . Cuba has named a socialist order , the Order of Cienfuegos after Camilo Cienfuegos .