Wilfredo Pagés Pérez, is a marthyr of the Cuban Revolution. He was born in the city of Manzanillo on May 21, 1935. Very young he began working in a mechanical workshop at a very young age. Soon his intelligence, interest and vocation led him to master the difficult technique, specializing in lathe work with the praise of his teachers.
He was a handsome young man, with a pleasant character, attentive and gentlemanly, and friendly to all who knew him. He was above all, an exemplary son and brother, he liked sports, being his favorite distraction the ball. To all these traits of his character he united a great modesty, a virtue inherent to every honest revolutionary. Because in that affable and affectionate boy who adored his parents and carefully cultivated friendship, Wilfredo was an exemplary fighter.
He was an orthodox militant when he decided to join the 26th of July Movement, a radical organization founded by Fidel Castro. When he learned of the need for a mechanic in the Sierra Maestre, he immediately volunteered.
And on March 19, 1958, he left his home and his loving mother and went to the Sierra Maestra to join the active struggle. But his knowledge and technique made him more necessary in the rearguard and in spite of will he was placed in the armory workshop of the Liberation Army, under the orders of the then Captain Luis Crespo, chief of the column # 1 José Martí in the Santo Domingo camp.
That mechanic with the soul of a combatant did not feel well if he was not going to fight in the battle front, so he made it known to his bosses, who finally approved his intention and marched with a group of comrades to the assault of the BANFAIC of Maffo, Contramaestre (In the former Oriente province), the last stronghold of the Batista dictatorship in the east of the country.
He took part in this battle known as the Battle of Maffo (December 10-30, 1958) led by Fidel Castro. In the middle of combat, a bullet pierces his body, his comrades believe him dead, but he gets up, draws strength from his extraordinary courage, stands up with his submachine gun and opens fire against the enemy. A burst of machine gun fire cut short his life as a combatant on December 27, 1958, only 4 days before the triumph of the Revolution, he could not enjoy what happened on January 1, 1959.
His legacy of heroism remained in the heart of the Cuban people, and it constitutes one more beacon that illuminates the always victorious path of the Cuban Revolution.