CAMAGÜEY.- It was a Sunday like most, quiet, resting, being with the family. Perhaps calmer than desired because this COVID-19 has imposed an anguished stillness on us. It was a Sunday like most for Rolando and Iván until after noon they received a call summoning them. They heard of a group of people who were demonstrating against the Revolution, and there they headed.

Those who warned them were very clear: "there can be no violence." And with flags, photos of Fidel, of heroes and martyrs of the homeland, they went out to defend the Cuba that we have, perfect and immense, also the one we want, with a better quality of life and less hardships. The objective was clear: defend, not to confront.

Rolando González Hernando is a major in the Ministry of the Interior (Minint), is 51 years old and works as a logistics company. He was among the first of a group that climbed the Triana bridge, which connects Palma Street with Avenida 26 de Julio, to meet the protesters.

“There were people shouting offenses and we carried flags and posters, unarmed. They pretended to withdraw, and we advanced. We were at a point where you couldn't easily go backwards. Then they began to throw stones. I don't know where they got so many of all sizes. A big one hit me on the right side of my face and knocked me down. My colleagues took me to the hospital and there they explained that they had fractured my septum. I thought I would lose my eye because I couldn't see, but it was the inflammation. On Thursday they removed my plugs and I have not had any more bleeding.

"Violence is not the solution to the problems that Cuba is experiencing," says this official that he believes that dialogue is a better way to reach a consensus. “People's lives must be taken care of, we are all human beings. My story would have been different if the stone hit me on the forehead. There is no need to vandalism. Those who reacted in this way should be judged, without repression, but apply the Law. You do not have to hurt others to show that you have a different opinion.

“I cannot assure you that they all threw stones, but they agreed with what was happening. We were several wounded ”.

When Rolando fell to the ground, Iván Córdova Salas ran to help him and at that moment he received a blow to the head. He does not know if it was a stick or a stone, he alone felt the impact and immediately afterwards the blood that ran down his face. They gave him 14 points at the Manuel Ascunce Domenech provincial hospital. After the suture he returned to the scene of the fighting.

“With that attitude, no ideology is defended. What they did was create chaos and insecurity on the street. There was nothing peaceful about it, at least where we were; that seemed like a reckoning, ”says this 49-year-old driver, a civil worker for the Minint.

“Here we have always fought to maintain citizen tranquility. We are sure that our children go to and from school alone. We can never renounce that conquest, which is peace ”.

Rolando points out that he is very grateful for the solidarity of his neighbors in the La Esperanza neighborhood. “I don't have a very active social life because I go to work early every day and come back late at night, which is why I was surprised how so many have come to ask how they can help, if I take my blood pressure or if I need an antibiotic . I did not imagine that so many people beyond my family would support me.

“My mom, who lives in Senado, she doesn't know anything yet. I did not want her to find out about it to avoid her disgust and concern because she is older and she is hypertensive, but people need to know that on Sunday there was also physical aggression ”.

These days many defend the truth based on what they saw on social networks or what they were told. Rolando and Ivan were there. Their bodies have the irrefutable traces of the damage caused by violence, the truth that the direct ones on the Internet did not tell.

Translated by Linet Acuña Quilez