[1] At the end of the Ten Years' War, Periquito was already showing admiration and respect for the mambises, for which he was convinced by Colonel Silverio del Prado, to join the independence cause.

In December 1879, during said war, he was taken prisoner after an enemy attack on the camp where he was staying and was sent to Santiago de Cuba, where he escaped spectacularly by swimming across the bay.

[citation needed] Incorporated to the troops of Guillermón Moncada, Periquito was promoted to the rank of Commander, degree with which the war ended.

During the so-called Fertile Truce, Periquito continued to conspire with others in favor of the independence of Cuba, to the point that he was appointed leader of the Guantanamo Mambises.

Periquito's troops searched intensively for the expedition members of the schooner "Honor", who had landed at Duaba in April 1895.

In January 1899, in response to an old proposal from Calixto García, Pedro Agustín Pérez was promoted to Major General of the Liberation Army.