MAIMON, PUERTO PLATA, on June 20, 1959, arrived from Maimon and Estero Hondo, in the province of Puerto Plata, the members of the second group of expeditionaries of the June 1959 gesta.

From the group in charge of José Horacio Rodríguez, only part of its members could disembark, because the others died in waters of the Atlantic Ocean, in Maimon, when the Carmen Elsa boat was gunned down by the Navy.

Another group arrived on the La Tinima boat, and was able to disembark through Estero Hondo, but like his Carmen Carmen companions, they were decimated by the bombing of Military Aviation aircraft and the attacks by the National Army. Some were shot at the place of arrest.

They came to the country with the purpose of joining the expeditionaries on June 14 that six days earlier arrived by plane and entered the mountainous area of ​​Constanza, but since the intelligence services of the Trujillo dictatorship were aware, they managed to annihilate the group quickly. Even José Horacio Rodríguez, commander of the Carmen Elsa boat, fell a few minutes after the landing.

But the expeditionaries in spite of the unequal struggle maintained resistance in the first hours that followed the landing.

The expeditionaries arrived in the boats Carmen Elsa and La Tinima, which had sailed from the bay of Nipe, Cuba, on June 13, 1959. On the trip there were multiple difficulties and at the time of departure the two ships were at crashing point

On June 16 they lost contact with Tinima, the fuel ran out, there was little food and the water ran out. They feared sabotage and tried to lynch the captain of Carmen Elsa, Stelio Bellelis (The Greek), as some suspected they might be conspired to prevent the trip.

The intervention of Commander José Horacio Rodríguez, prevented Ercilio García from firing his gun to kill the helmsman. Then a review was made and it was found that the engines of the boat had damage that endangered the trip to the Dominican Republic.

After hours of trying to communicate with the Cuban Navy, they made contact with an amateur radio station in Camagüey, Cuba, who would enable communication with the Cuban Navy. In fact, they were helped by the crew of the José Martí Frigate, who towed Carmen Elsa to the islet of Gran Iguana, where those most affected by hunger and lack of water received medical assistance.

Despite the difficult moments, most were determined to follow their route. Consequently, on the night of June 19, they resumed the route to Puerto Plata.

The journalist Juan Delancer, in his work Desembarco de la Gloria, points out that at that moment “La Tinima had appeared shortly before and returned to the tail of Carmen Elsa escorted by frigates José Martí, Antonio Maceo and Máximo Gómez, who protected the boats up to few miles off the Dominican coast ”.

The security services of the Trujillo dictatorship were aware of the expedition and were intended to sink the two boats. General José Arturo Espaillat, published the version that on June 18 the agents of the dictatorship in Cuba reported that a Cuban invasion fleet had sailed from the Cuban port of La Chiva.

From Sosúa to Montecristi, surveillance was carried out by the frigate F-103 and the coast guard GC-101. Delancer notes that the latest intelligence reports obtained by the Trujillista regime indicated that expeditionary vessels would sail parallel to the north coast, and that, located the landing point, they would descend perpendicularly at night. ”

The Navy and the Joint Chiefs of Staff remained in communication. On land everything was prepared to proceed against the expeditionaries.

"The main troop contingents were ready in Santiago and Mao, as well as the fighter squads in San Isidro, General Andrews Airport, Barahona, Dajabón and Santiago."
The forecast allowed the Armed Forces of the Trujillo dictatorship to annihilate the expeditionaries. At 5:30 in the morning of June 20, the Carmen Elsa boat was detected half a mile from Puerto Plata, by the CG-101 Coast Guard crew, named Sánchez, whose commander failed to achieve the Carmen's identification signal Elsa, attacked her with gunshots.

The expeditionaries answered immediately, they killed a member of the Navy, but the attacks prevented the captain from diverting the ship to the bay of Maimon. Quickly Dominican Aviation went into action.

Carmen Elsa, ran aground in La Pava cove. It was shattered and a part of the expeditionaries died at the scene. The others managed to take land. The fact that the area is very clear, facilitated the attacks that were carried out from P-51 and Vampire fighter planes.

Deláncer says that “Before a contingent of