Carlos Coello Coello

Fighter of the Rebel Army. Internationalist in the Congo.

He was born on the farm La Caridad, near the City of Manzanillo in the current province of Granma, on December 2, 1940. His mother, Ángela Coello, faced alone the upbringing of the boy and his older sister, in a home of poor agricultural workers. From the age of eight, Carlos began to work in the farm's dairy, helping with the transport and care of livestock.

He had no schooling; as a young man he cut rice and cleared fields in long workdays for little more than a peso a day to help his mother who worked as a domestic employee in a private home in Manzanillo.

In November 1957, at only 16 years old, along with several armed friends carrying shotguns and revolvers, he joined a rebel group to subsequently join a platoon of the Rebel Army under the command of captain Luis Alfonso Zayas Ochoa. During the summer offensive of 1958, he participated in military actions in San Lorenzo and Providencia, as a supplier of provisions to commander Camilo Cienfuegos. He later participated as a fighter in the actions of Vegas de Jibacoa and Las Mercedes.

At the end of August 1958, when the Invading Column No. 8 Ciro Redondo was organized, the Che assigned him to the platoon of captain José Ramón Silva as an aide to a caliber 30 machine gun. He also participated in the battles of Fomento, Cabaiguán, Remedios and in the Battle of Santa Clara.

In March 1959 he became part of the escort of commander Ernesto Che Guevara. Together with the Che he traveled throughout the country on visits to work and study centers, political events, mobilizations, in voluntary work and on his trips abroad.

Starting in April 1965 he joined the group of 120 Cubans who, under the command of the Che, supported the guerrilla struggle in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It was there that Carlos Coello acquired the nickname "Tuma," derived from the Swahili word "tumaini," which means "hope," which is what the Congolese guerrillas began to call him. After the mission failed, in mid-May 1966, Pombo and Tuma moved to Prague, at the request of the Che. Later both traveled on July 14, 1966 from Prague to Bolivia. They arrived on the 25th of that same month in Santa Cruz, where the Cuban Ricardo (Mbili) was waiting for them, and they settled on the 27th in La Paz, with the mission of promoting the preparations for the armed struggle that the Che intended to begin in that country.

Tuma worked with Pombo and Ricardo in various clandestine activities of the urban network that was being formed, as well as in the transport of weapons, ammunition, campaign supplies, medicines, and in preparing the farm where they would receive the fighters. On November 3, 1966, the Che arrived in La Paz, and two days later, Ramón (the Che), Tuma and Ricardo left for Ñancahuasú, where they arrived on November 7, after midnight, to begin a new stage in the struggle for the liberation of Latin America. In the files that the Che prepared for each fighter, Tuma was number three in the guerrilla. His mission continued to be the same as in Cuba and the Congo: to be responsible for the personal security of the Heroic Guerrillero, a task that he now shared with the Cuban Leonardo Tamayo Núñez (Urbano).

Tuma participated in all the activities of the detachment, making caves, paths and trenches, carrying out explorations, hunting, guard duty and the transport of weapons, ammunition and equipment to the central camp. He took part in the training and exploration march and attended cultural classes. He faced with stoicism and good cheer the sacrifices of a guerrilla fighter and fully carried out his main mission.

On June 26, 1967, Tuma was mortally wounded in a confrontation with Bolivian military forces. Transported to the Command Post, all efforts to save his life were in vain. The Che paid him tribute, remaining silent all night next to his body. Tuma's remains were found on June 16, 1996 and transported to Cuba along with those of the Che and the Reinforcement Detachment.

The Che, in his Campaign Diary, wrote on June 26, 1967: "A black day for me. (...) news arrived of two wounded: Pombo and Tuma in the belly. (...) Pombo's wound is superficial and will only bring headaches due to his lack of mobility, Tuma's had destroyed his liver and caused intestinal perforations; he died in the operation. With him went an inseparable companion of all these last years, of proven loyalty whose absence I feel from now on almost like that of a son."