# Pedro Manuel   Betancourt Viamonte

**Date of birth:** July 15, 1827

**Date of death:** April 26, 1870

**Categories:** Society, Patriot, independence soldier, Science, military

===BODY===
One of many Cuban dentists incorporated into the War of Independence following the fruitful cry of Independence or Death, uttered by the "Father of the Homeland", Carlos Manuel de Céspedes.

He was born in the city of Camagüey. His parents were Francisco Betancourt and Ana Viamonte.

He enrolled in the dentistry career (practicing dentist) at the Royal and Literary University of La Habana on October 8, 1863, for which he presented a certificate from his own brother Gaspar (incorporated since 1858), in which he certified that Pedro Manuel was practicing dental surgery with him; for the pertinent purposes he also practiced with Federico Peyrellado.

He was issued his dentist certificate on May 12, 1867. The degree examination was conducted by the doctors: dean Fernando González del Valle, Rafael Cowley and Valdés Machado and José Cristóbal Durán.

He moved to his native city and practiced together with his brother and Peyrellado. In 1864 the authorities brought him to trial; he was accused of the crime of insurrection for the slave uprising, for which he was imprisoned and held incommunicado in the Puerto Príncipe Prison in Camagüey.

Participation in the 1868 War
He invested a large part of his fortune in separatist propaganda. When the Yara Movement broke out on October 10, 1868, he prepared for the campaign and in November he launched himself into war with the rank of captain of the Liberating Army, since he held a university degree.

He was promoted to the rank of commander by military action, as he was brave and industrious, and combined with his command ability all the virtues of the "professional military man".

Spanish troops surprised him during a stay at the estate La Ciega de los Quesada Aguiar, located in the middle of an extensive savanna, and he was taken prisoner and tried by a War Council on April 25, 1870, which condemned him to the death penalty.

On April 26, 1870 the Spanish executed Pedro Manuel by firing squad from behind along with his son, Manuel Betancourt Santos, at the location behind the General Hospital; he marched to his execution with firm step, serene, without affectation and died as a man who knows that To Die for the Homeland is to live.