He was one of José Marti’s great friends, whom he considered as a brother. He studied medicine and later practiced that profession. In May 1895, he decided to give his direct contribution to the development of the struggle for the independence of Cuba. Due to his medical condition, he was initially appointed chief of health of the fourth corps of Las Villas. Months later he participated in the Constituent Assembly of Jimaguayú. He was a member of the Patriotic Board of Havana, founded on October 10, 1907. He opposed the annexationist current that certain sectors promoted during the second U.S. military intervention in Cuba.  He died in Havana on June 13, 1910.

Las Villas

It was a territory that covered the central zone of Cuba. Initially since 1689 it existed as a department of the colonial Captaincy General of Cuba. In 1878, six provinces were established in the Cuban territory, one of which was Las Villas. It functioned as a province until November 1976, when another political-administrative division was applied in Cuba. Las Villas then became three provinces: Cienfuegos, Villa Clara and Sanctí Spíritus. The Ciénaga de Zapata, which was once part of Las Villas, became part of the territory of Matanzas.

Constituent Assembly of Jimaguayú

Several months after the struggle for independence was restarted in 1895 in Cuba, the deputies of the five Corps of the Liberating Army met in the area of Jimaguayú, in the province of Camagüey, to analyze a draft constitution and thus legally structure the Republic in arms. Three days later, the Jimaguayú Constitution was approved, which was expected to be in force for two years, if the war of independence was not concluded before.  The Constituent Assembly of Jimaguayú proclaimed Cuba as a democratic Republic separated from Spain. Also in this meeting of the Cuban patriots that took place until the 18th of that month, the establishment of a centralized regime composed of a Government Council with legislative and executive powers was approved. This council would be composed of a President, a Vice President and four Secretaries of State who would attend to matters of war, interior, foreign relations and finance.