Manolo López López

Manolo Lopez was into a village family in the Chambas region of Camagüey Province, at the age of 16 he was arrested on charges of involvement in the anti-Castro rebel movement. He was sent to Torrance, Havana's juvenile prison^[1] to serve his sentence and receive political indoctrination.^[2] There he injured himself with a knife in order to get to the hospital. He escaped from the hospital through the window, climbing down the sheets. With almost no resources, he was sought by the police and reached his birthplace.^[1]

During adolescence, he developed political views based on an implacable hostility toward Fidel Castro's government and a strong anti-communism. In Camagüey he joined the rebel movement led by Arnoldo Martínez Andrade, a former commander of the revolutionary army who participated in the overthrow of Fulgencio Batista. López participated in many battles with forces and the National Revolutionary Militias, in actions such as the assault on the Perea Mines, the capture of the towns of Río and Centeno and numerous ambushes in the plains of the Province.^[2] For his bravery, and bordering on recklessness, he received the nickname El Loco (The Madman).

In early 1962, 18-year-old Manolito Loco López commanded a rebel detachment in northern Camagüey. He was considered one of the most daring partisan commanders. Moreover, his madness was combined with composure and military skills, particularly on June 29, 1962, Loco's militants stopped a bus on the highway, took out two uniformed police passengers, shot them and set the bus on fire.^[3]