Tranquilino Valdés

Native of La Esperanza, a town near Santa Clara, where he received his education according to the possibilities of that time in this locality, he was dedicated to commercial activities in which he stood out for his honesty, earning public consideration.

Linked to the patriots of Santa Clara who conspired against Spanish colonial power, he joined these activities and became a member, at the end of 1868, of the Revolutionary Board of Villa Clara.

On January 5, 1869, the conspiracy organized by Tranquilino and one of the sergeants of the Infantry Battalion Isabel II is discovered. This conspiracy sought to assault the battalion that would attend in formation the festivities on the eve of Epiphany, to initiate the uprising and take Trinidad. Tranquilino is warned and flees to the countryside.

He rose up together with the members of the Board on February 6, 1869, participated in the concentration of Villa Clara forces at Cafetal González and became part of the Government Board constituted there. He was delegate from Las Villas to the Assembly of Guáimaro and member of the Chamber of Representatives. Years later, the patriot José Martí would express of him that he was a man of substance and composure.

Like other members of that governing body, Valdés had to endure the hardships of staying in the fields, and the constant movement of the nomadic travels of the Chamber. The difficulties of life in the field weakened his health. Ill, and with his legs covered in sores, he was recovering in a hut in the area of Iguará, Sancti Spíritus, when he was surprised by a guerrilla band and murdered. The date of his death has not been able to be determined.