Julio Antonio Mella's ashes returned to Cuba

Ninety-three years ago, on September 27, 1933, the ashes of revolutionary leader Julio Antonio Mella arrived in Cuba from Mexico City. Mella, a prominent student leader, communist, and anti-imperialist, was assassinated in Mexico on January 10, 1929, by agents serving the then-dictatorial Cuban regime of Gerardo Machado.

Mella's remains had stayed in Mexico for four years due to Machado's continued hold on power. Following Machado's overthrow by a general strike in August 1933, Mella's comrades in the Communist Party arranged for his return to Cuba. His arrival in Havana was met with massive public demonstrations.

Attempts to hold a formal burial on September 29 were met with violent repression by the police and army under General Fulgencio Batista. During this period, Rubén Martínez Villena, then Secretary General of the National Workers' Confederation, delivered a significant public speech in honor of Mella. To protect the remains from being seized by the Batista regime, Juan Marinello kept the ashes in secret custody.