 Haydée Santamaría’s death followed six months after the death of her close friend Celia Sanchez from lung cancer, and several months after a car accident left her in chronic pain.The events of the Cuban Revolution left an indelible mark on her, causing her to lose many people to whom she was close, and ultimately contributing to the lifelong depression from which she suffered.In a letter published by Casa de las Americas in 1968, she wrote to Che Guevara after his death