Echeverría was the President of the Federation of University Students (Federación Estudiantil Universitaria - FEU) and a founding member of the militant organization Directorio Revolucionario 13 de Marzo.

Echeverría attended Champagnat primary school, belonging to the Congregation of the Marist Brothers, and later graduated with a Bachelor of Science from the Secondary Education Institute of Cárdenas in 1950.

[2] In Havana, Echeverría lived in several guest houses, private homes that rented rooms at affordable prices for students and people from the interior of the country.

[5] A memorial plaque now stands at the site.To prevent a public funeral and potential protests, the Batista regime kept Echeverria's body in the morgue until the afternoon of March 14.

Around 6 pm, the regime authorized the transfer of the coffin to Cárdenas, but with strict conditions: only the parents' car could accompany the hearse, and the rest of the procession had to depart immediately and wait at Calzada de Managua, El Calvario, Arroyo Naranjo.

Upon arriving at Calzada, they were ordered to proceed directly to the cemetery, which was surrounded by police and agents of the Military Intelligence Service, a repressive body of the dictatorship.