History of Salsa

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APPENDICES

Please note the 'What's the Matter with Salsa' article is on 'The Salsa Scene' page

APPENDIX 1

A very brief political & cultural history of Spain

APPENDIX 2

A brief political history of Cuba

2.1: 1492-1775:

Colonisation & Slavery

2.2: 1775-1868

American Independence & the Collapse of Slavery

2.3: 1868-1878

Cuban Independence Part 1: The Ten Years War

2.4: 1878-1895:

Cuban Independence Part 2: The ‘Rewarding Truce’ & Jose Martí

2.5: 1895-1898:

Cuban Independence Part 3: The War of Independence

2.6: 1898:

Cuban Independence Part 4: The Spanish American War

2.7: 1898-1952:

America & Cuba

2.8: 1952-1959:

The Cuban Revolution

2.9: 1959-2011:

Post-Revolution Cuba

APPENDIX 3

A brief history of Salsa

3.1:

Early Instrumentation

3.2:

Musical origins: Son & Rumba

3.3:

Son & Society

3.4:

Musical development

APPENDIX 4

‘The Path with Heart’

                               If you know your history
                               Then you would know where you’re coming from

                                                                           from Buffalo Soldier by Bob Marley

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APPENDIX 1: A very brief political & cultural history of Spain

When Christopher Columbus made his first voyage to the New World, in 1492, Spain was already a complex cultural mix. Prior to unification, each of the small kingdoms & principalities had their own folk traditions. These are still well preserved, not just for tourists, and can be seen at genuine local fiestas across the country. From Salsa’s point of view, there are three key eras in musical history.

The first was the arrival of Flamenco guitar along with Gypsy vocal styles and rhythms. As the name suggests Gypsies were originally, but erroneously, believed to be from Egypt! They were actually from the Balkans, and their migration along the Mediterranean was made possible by the Romans. After the sacking of Rome in 410, by Visigoths under Alaric 1, the Empire consolidated its eastern base in Byzantium: later called Constantinople, now Istanbul. The Gypsy migration began after Rome was retaken in 552, and the Goths were driven back into the Alps.

The second era began with Mohammed’s taking of Mecca in 627. This led to the spread of Islam, across North Africa, and to the taking of Seville by the moors in 712. Islamic rule in southern Spain was virtually unopposed for 800 years. Haunting prayer chants; the beautiful sound of the lute; and Islamic architecture, became part of Spanish culture.

Finally, the marriage between Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabella of Castile, in 1479, marked the birth of modern Spain. In 1492, Ferdinand unified his country by driving the Moors from Granada. It heralded an era of outward-looking optimism. In the same year, Ferdinand engaged the services of Italian navigator, Christopher Columbus, and sent him on his way to seek a New World.

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APPENDIX 2: A brief political history of Cuba

This appendix deals essentially with the chronology of political fact. For greater insight into Cuban society, see Appendix 3: A brief history of Salsa, parts 3.2, 3.3, & 3.4.

2.1: 1492-1775:		Colonisation & Slavery

2.2: 1775-1868		American Independence & the Collapse of Slavery

2.3: 1868-1878		Cuban Independence Part 1: The Ten Years War

2.4: 1878-1895:		Cuban Independence Part 2: The ‘Rewarding Truce’ & Jose Martí

2.5: 1895-1898:		Cuban Independence Part 3: The War of Independence

2.6: 1898:		Cuban Independence Part 4: The Spanish American War

2.7: 1898-1952:		America & Cuba

2.8: 1952-1959:		The Cuban Revolution

2.9: 1959-2011:		Post-Revolution Cuba

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2.1: 1492-1775: Colonisation & Slavery

Columbus set foot on the island now called Cuba, and claimed it for Spain, in 1492. The era of exploration then became the era of colonisation. Cuba was annexed by Spain in 1539, and the shameful trade in West African slaves began in 1562. It is estimated that as many as 500,000 Africans were exported to Cuba alone! They mined gold & worked on initially small homesteads. Huge industries based on sugar & tobacco developed rapidly, requiring ever greater manpower.

It would be over 300 years before white and black Cubans felt free to share each other’s cultures!

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2.2: 1775-1868: American Declaration of Independence & the Collapse of Slavery

As mentioned earlier, the development of modern Cuba would be massively inter-connected with their North American neighbours. Cuba and Florida are less than 100 miles apart!

The Americans were the first to oppose colonial oppression. In response to increasing British taxation, John Adams formed the Continental Congress of 13 colonies and asked Thomas Jefferson to draft the Declaration of Independence. Hostilities were already in progress, but the signing of this document, on 4th July 1776, was also an outright declaration of war (1775-1782).

The second line of the Declaration is a famous statement of human rights. ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.’ It would take some time, and a civil war, before these fine words applied to African slaves, particularly in the southern states. Slavery was made illegal across much of the north in 1787 but, under pressure from the southern states, the Constitution delayed Congress passing an outright ban until 1808.

The southern states demand for slave labour was actually increasing greatly, following Eli Whitney’s 1793 invention of the cotton gin: a machine for separating cotton fibres from seeds. Congress tried to resolve growing tensions between north & south with the Missouri Compromise in 1820. Slavery was permitted south of Missouri’s southern border and banned everywhere else.

In England, William Wilberforce brought forward his motion to ban the slave trade in 1791. It was banned on British ships in 1802 and parliament finally passed the Abolition of Slavery Act in 1833.

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Abraham Lincoln campaigned against slavery in the presidential election of 1860 and threw down the gauntlet by denouncing, as treason, threats of disunion from the southern states. He was supported by 25 northern states but, before he took office in 1861, 11 southern states formed the Confederate Sates of America and declared their secession from the United States. This precipitated the American Civil War (1861-1865). In 1863 the Emancipation Proclamation declared “that all persons held as slaves are, and henceforth shall be, free.” In 1865 the abolition of slavery was enshrined in the Thirteen Amendment, but Lincoln paid with his life on Good Friday of that year!

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2.3: 1868-1878: Cuban Independence Part 1: The Ten Years War

A thirty year struggle for Cuban independence was about to unfold.

It’s important to understand that most white settlers were little more than feudal servants of Spain. They were farmers & industrialists brought in to manage mining and the processing of sugar & tobacco. After 300 years of colonisation, most whites considered themselves Cubans, not Spaniards. At this time, the Spanish administration represented a mere 8% of the population, but it was pocketing 90% of the island’s wealth. This was spent on the military; on maintaining the administration; and on supporting lavish life-styles. 12% of the cash went straight back to Spain. With slavery collapsing around them, and neighbours enjoying freedom from colonial tyranny, Cubans of all colours were united in their opposition to Spain!

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In the mid 1860s, there was an economic crisis leading to a sugar mill owner, Carlos Manuel de Céspedes, declaring Cuban independence on 10th October 1868, in Manzanillo town, Oriente. This precipitated the Guerra de los Diez Años – Ten Years War (1868-1878). The declaration included an end to slavery in ‘Free Cuba’ and Afro-Cubans were encouraged to join the struggle.

Uprisings in Western Cuba were sporadic and the campaign was seriously hindered by poor organisation and by the US, who had growing economic interests. They didn’t want an independent Cuba and prevented many supply ships getting through to the insurgents. The rebellion, by some 12,000 fighters backed by around 40,000 supporters, was opposed by some 100,000 Spanish forces. The Spanish were brutal, burning many villages to the ground and with many summary and serial executions. It’s estimated that some 300,000 rebels and civilians were killed!

Civil war in Spain – the Third Carlist War (1872-1876) – finally came to an end and Spanish forces in Cuba were boosted to some 250,000. Despite the overwhelming odds, the conflict rumbled on, mostly in Eastern Cuba, with neither side able to achieve decisive victories. Finally, the Spanish offered widespread social & economic reforms, including some movement on slavery, and the Pact of Zanjón was signed on 10th February, 1878.

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2.4: 1878-1895: Cuban Independence Part 2: The ‘Rewarding Truce’ & Jose Martí

The Spanish regained an uneasy control. This so-called Rewarding Truce lasted for 17 years (1878-1895) despite further skirmishes, such as the Little War (1879-1880). This period saw major changes to both urban & rural society including the full abolition of slavery in 1886. These gestures of appeasement were ultimately too little, and too late, to save the Spanish administration.

(There’s more on social development in Appendix 3.3: Son & Society.)

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The end of the American Civil War, and war in Cuba, led to the beginnings of émigré communities, particularly in Florida. Rebel leaders from the Ten Year’s War would resurface from these communities in the War of Independence.

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Jose Martí

The most extraordinary Cuban who ever lived was about to emerge: national hero, & father of modern Cuba, José Martí (28th January 1853 - 19th May 1895). Ironically, he would live most of his life exiled from the country he loved. Crucially, he would use that exile to build support for, to plan, and ultimately lead the beginning of the Cuban War of Independence (1895-1898).

José Julián Martí Pérez was born in Havana to Spanish parents. In his short 42 years he was poet; essayist; journalist; publisher; translator; professor; political theorist; & revolutionary philosopher. Aside from his native Spanish, he was fluent in English; French; Italian; Latin; & Classical Greek. Martí is widely considered one of the truly great turn-of-the-century intellectuals.

Martí spent the whole of his life tirelessly working towards the liberty of all Latin people; he resisted US expansionism in Latin America; and he believed passionately in unique Latin cultural identities, through art & literature, quite separate from their colonial origins. Tragically, Martí was ultimately martyred to the cause of Cuban independence. Although he didn’t live to see it, Martí laid the foundations for Fidel Castro’s later revolution, and for modern Cuban society.

Martí’s name & ideas have been adopted internationally, by various organisations, & his image reproduced world wide. A striking example is Anna Hyatt Huntington’s powerful & dramatic 1959 statue in Central Park, New York. This depicts Martí on horseback and was presumably inspired by his legendary, fatal, and highly symbolic two-man charge against the Spanish.

(Martí’s ideas and cultural contribution are further discussed in Appendix 3.3: Son & Society)

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At the age of 15, José Martí was already a 2nd year undergraduate when Carlos Manuel de Céspedes declared Cuban independence on 10th October 1868, and the Ten Years War broke out. He promptly joined one of the many nationalist supporters clubs being formed and started the huge body of political writings that are now part of his legacy. 1n 1869 Martí published ‘Abdala’ in his own paper La Patria Libre – ‘The Free Fatherland’. This was an allegorical drama in verse about a struggle for independence by a fictional country called Nubia. His school magazine also published his now famous sonnet 10 de Octubre.

The Spanish authorities closed down the school and Martí, aged 16, was arrested for treason and sentenced to six years. He became very ill due to leg-iron lacerations and in January 1871, aged 18, Martí was ‘repatriated’ in the hope that completing his studies in Spain would renew his loyalties!

Martí was in Spain from 1871 to 1874 and promptly set about his ‘rehabilitation’ by rallying Cuban émigrés in Madrid and trying to build support amongst the Spanish general public. He published articles across the Spanish & New York press highlighting the brutalities of Cuba’s Spanish administration. His campaign was given serious ammunition in November 1871 when 8 medical students were executed in Havana on the trumped-charge of desecrating a Spanish grave.

In February 1873, the ruling Spanish Cortes issued the Proclamation of the First Spanish Republic based on democratic elections. This first attempt at a Republic would last less than two years and usher-in a period of Spanish history marked by profound political & social instability and violence. The document included a statement that Cuba was inseparable from Spain. Martí’s immediate response was an essay entitled The Spanish Republic and the Cuban Revolution, accusing the authorities of hypocrisy. He sent this and other writings to the Central Revolutionary Committee of New York pledging his support, and continued publishing articles in Seville’s La Cuestión Cubana newspaper. In 1874 Martí graduated in Civil Rights and Canonical (church-based) Law.

After a short stay in Paris with political writers such as Victor Hugo, and prevented from returning to Cuba, Martí embarked from Le Havre and spent 1875-1878 travelling between Mexico & Guatemala.

In Mexico, his fearless involvement in both Cuban & regional politics continued. He again rallied Cuban émigrés, meeting his wife-to-be in the process; he formed alliances among liberalist & reformist members of the intelligentsia; and published widely. On 1st January 1876, General Porfirio Díaz led a military coup in Oaxaca initiating a bloody civil war. Martí was quick to publish a series of articles condemning the armed assault on Sebastián Lerdo de Tejada’s constitutional government.

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In 1877 Martí travelled to Guatemala City, one of Central America’s most progressive places in at that time. He was quickly appointed head of department on the Universidad Nacional’s faculty of philosophy and arts where his rhetorical style earned him the nick-name ‘El Doctor Torrente’ – ‘Doctor Torrent’! He met the president and was commissioned to write his play ‘Patria y Libertad (Drama Indio)’ – ‘Country & Liberty (an Indian Drama) – and later published his book ‘Guatemala’.

Martí also taught composition classes for free at the girls’ academy, where the president’s daughter, María García Granados, apparently had a crush on him. She actually died of lung disease but was dubbed ‘La niña de Guatemala, la que se murió de amor’ – ‘the Guatemalan girl, who died of love’!

In 1878, Martí was finally able to return to Cuba where he was a signatory to the Pact of Zanjón. This ended the Ten Year’s War but didn’t change Cuba’s colonial status. Martí married Carmen Zayas Bazán in Havana and his son, José Francisco, was born later in the year. Enjoyment of his beloved Cuba, and of family life, was very short lived. He was refused a licence to practice law; became increasingly involved with the Comité Revolucionario Cubano de Nueva York – Cuban Revolutionary Committee of New York - and was inevitably exiled to Spain for the second time!

The years 1880-1890 were spent mostly in the USA. After a brief trip to New York, however, Martí initially travelled to Venezuela where he founded the Revista Venezolana – Venezuelan Review. This journal so enraged dictator Antonio Guzmán Blanco that Martí was forced to return to New York.

Back in New York, Martí stepped-up his already astonishing work-rate. He joined the Cuban Revolutionary Committee, under Ten Year’s War commanders Generals Calixto García & Antonio Maceo Grajales. He worked as a reporter and, following the 1881 assassination of 20th US President James A Garfield, achieved national recognition for his account of the murderer’s trial – ‘El ajusticiamiento de Guiteau’. Martí also worked as foreign correspondent for several South & Central American papers, and acted as consul to Uruguay, Argentina, & Paraguay. He translated novels into Spanish; wrote his own poetry, plays, and a novel; and edited both a children’s magazine &, most importantly, the newspaper Patria, which became the official voice of the Cuban Revolutionary Party.

In 1884, Martí refused to co-operate with Generals Máximo Gómez & Antonio Maceo Grajales, who wanted to invade immediately. Martí suspected Dominican-born Gómez of wanting to establish a military dictatorship, contrary to everything he believed in. He argued that time should be taken to raise adequate funds and prepare meticulous plans both for invasion and also for government.

Martí’s wife never shared the passions central to his life, a matter of extreme personal sadness to him. She joined him in New York on 30th June 1981 but returned to Havana on 27th August. Martí would not see his family again. He fell ill in September and was tended by a Venezuelan woman, who ran a New York boarding house, Carmen Miyares de Manitilla,. Her daughter María is presumed to be Martí’s, and María’s son, actor Cesar Romero, proudly proclaimed himself Martí’s grandson.

The years 1891-1894 marked the preparations for invasion, and saw Martí travelling extensively around the US and to Central America & the West Indies.

Late in 1891, Martí began a series of lectures to Cuban émigré workers in Florida, initially at Ybor City and also at Key West. The events were designed to raise funds, recruit support, and set-out the basis for revolution and for independence. The lectures led to the formation, early in 1892, of the Cuban Revolutionary Party. They were published in Spanish papers & periodicals across the US, and were crucial to the success of the War of Independence.

From July to September 1892 Martí was ‘on a mission’ to organize exiled Cubans everywhere. He travelled through Florida; Washington; & Philadelphia; and to Haiti; Dominican Republic; and to Jamaica. His organising and fundraising travels continued into 1893, but were becoming increasingly focused on actual preparations for invasion, and for simultaneous uprising in Cuba. He visited Generals Máximo Gómez, in the Dominican Republic, and Antonio Maceo Grajales in Costa Rica.

Martí had become increasingly concerned by discussions in the US congress about the possible purchase, or lease, of Cuba from Spain. He was fearful of US expansionism not just in Cuba, but also across Latin American. Whilst Cuba remained a Spanish territory politically, its economy was increasingly dependant on the US. By the outbreak of the War of Independence, US investment in mining, sugar, & tobacco, is estimated at 50 million US dollars!

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In 1894 Martí’s paper Patria published an article ‘A Cuba’ denouncing the collusion between US & Spanish interests. In July he discussed these issues with Mexican president Porfírio Díaz. In August Martí planned & arranged the armed expedition that would launch the third, & final, War of Independence.

2.5: 1895-1898 Cuban Independence Part 3: The War of Independence

The campaign didn’t start well! On January 12th 1895 three ships were stopped by US authorities at Fernandina, Florida, and arms confiscated. On January 29th, the order of the uprising was drawn-up by Martí, and signed by participating generals and organisers. He then moved to Montecristi in the Domincan Republic to finalize details with Máximo Gómez. On February 24th the uprising began.

In March 1895 Martí & Gómez declared the Manifesto de Montecrisiti, an ‘exposition of the purposes and principles of the Cuban revolution’. Key points were: the war was to be waged by blacks & whites alike; participation of all blacks was crucial to victory; Spaniards who did not object to the war effort should be spared; private rural properties should not be damaged; and the revolution should bring new economic life to Cuba.

Whether by premonition or design, Martí drew-up extremely detailed instructions for the editing & organising of all his literary works in seven volumes. He was particularly concerned that newspaper writings published in the likes of Honduras, Uruguay, & Chile would disappear over time. On 1st April he signed his ‘literary will’, entrusting the task to his life-long friend Gonzalo de Quesada. Later that day the expedition left for Cuba.

On 11th April they landed on the Maisi Cape, at the south-eastern tip of the island and joined Cuban rebels under Antonio Maceo, who had landed at Baracoa on 1st April. On 13th May they reached Dos Rios, above Santiago de Cuba. On 19th May the insurgents faced a substantial Spanish force. Gómez had ordered Martí to remain in the rearguard. Gómez recognised the strength of the Spanish position and later ordered a withdrawal. The anecdote is that Martí, separated from the Cuban forces, saw a young courier ride by and said, “Joven, a la carga.” – ‘Young man, let’s charge.’ The young trooper, Angel de la Guardia, lost his horse and returned to report what happened. Dressed in his black jacket, and riding a white horse, Martí was an easy target!

It seems inconceivable that such an intelligent man would commit suicide so wantonly. Martí was an intellectual giant but was physically slight & unimposing. It’s been suggested that Maceo and others were disdainful of Martí’s lack of military action. Reaction to his death was initially one of dismay, both inside and outside Cuba. Later it served to harden the steel and draw people into the conflict who may not otherwise have become involved. Perhaps this was Martí’s intention.

In one of his ‘Versos Sencillios’ – ‘Simple Verses’, Martí prophetically wrote


	No me entierren en lo oscuro	Do not bury me in darkness
	A morir como un traido	To die like a traitor
	Yo soy bueno y como bueno	I am good, and as a good man
	Moriré de cara al sol.	I will die facing the sun

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The War of Independence followed a similar pattern to the Ten Years War. Once again, Oriente province saw most of the early action. Here the 24th February uprising was quickly widespread. Across central Cuba the uprising was again very patchy and poorly equipped & co-ordinated. Many leaders were captured and deported or executed. In Havana province the leaders were detained before the uprising could get off the ground. Leaders in Western Cuba were ordered to wait.

Again the rebels were hugely outnumbered. In 1895 Spanish forces were thought to have numbered around 80,000: 20,000 regulars and 60,000 Spanish & Cuban ‘volunteers’. Historically, landowners had to ‘volunteer’ a number of their slaves. These were usually under local control rather than overall military command. Huge numbers of regulars were sent to the island and, by the end of 1897, Spanish forces were thought to number 240,000 regulars & 60,000 irregululars.

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Military equipment was again a serious issue for the rebels. It’s thought that few of some 60 attempts bring-in supplies succeeded, one under British protection. Most were detained by the authorities in US territory; some were stopped at sea by US & Spanish navies; and a few were wrecked or driven back by tropical storms. The revolution relied mostly on raiding Spanish facilities.

Once again, the revolutionaries’ greatest weapon was the ability to wage guerrilla-style warfare from the mountainous terrain of Oriente. Despite the overwhelming odds, the rebels and the uprising made progress. By the end of June all of Oriente and neighbouring province Camagüey were at war.

Disparate groups of rebels began to join-up, including many veterans of the Ten Years War. They organised themselves into 5 Liberation Army Corps. By mid September representatives were able to meet in Jimaguayú, in Camagüey province, and approve the ‘Jimaguayú Constitution’ establishing a government council with executive & legislative powers.

The Ten Years War had failed essentially because rebels were unable to make any impression on the Spanish power & wealth base in La Habana, and the surrounding western provinces. In October 1895 Generals Antonio Maceo & Maximo Gomez, based at Mangos de Baraguá in Oriente, launched their ‘La Invasion’ to drive the revolution to all parts of the island.

In the Ten Years War, rebels were foiled by Spanish General Arsenio Martínez Campos. Campos effectively confined rebels to the eastern provinces of Oriente & Camagüey by fortifying an 80Km railway between the ports of Júraco, on the south coast, and Morón on the north coast. Campos employed the same tactic on this occasion, but against far more organised rebel forces. The ‘trocha’ was breached by cavalry, and the revolution quickly swept through the central province of Santa Clara with a significant victory over the Spanish at Peralejo.

Three months later, on 22nd January 1896, ‘La Invasion’ reached Mantua at the western tip of the island. Most of the countryside was now in rebel hands. Cities and fortified towns were surrounded.

The Spanish replaced General Campos with General Valeriano Weyler Nicolau who set about terrorising the rural population. Farms & crops were destroyed, & there were summary executions. On 24th March 1896, and having escaped from Spain, rebel General Calixto Garcia arrived in Cuba with a well armed expeditionary force.

Spanish resources were becoming seriously stretched. Since the early 1880’s Spain was also trying to suppress a similar independence rebellion in the Philippines. On 26th August, Philippine rebellion turned into full-scale revolution.

General Weyler presumably concluded that the war was lost in the Cuban countryside and, on 21st October 1896 ordered all rural residents to move themselves and their livestock to fortified towns within 8 days. Hundreds of thousands had to move; conditions in the towns & cities were appalling; and it’s thought that a third of the rural population died at this time.

The war was at something of a stalemate. The rebels controlled most of the country, but with inadequate forces, arms, or supplies to take the cities & fortified towns. The conclusion of the war was about to be turned in the US press! Apparently there had already been secret negotiations, during the year, in which Spain had rejected a US offer to buy Cuba. Powerful people with vested interest in Cuba were getting twitchy!

2.6: 1898: Cuban Independence Part 4: The Spanish American War

It’s arguable that America would never have been drawn directly into the conflict had it not been for a ferocious struggle, of an altogether different kind, raging in New York. This one was about newspaper circulation figures!

Joseph Pulitzer’s New York World and William Hearst’s New York Journal competed with each other to run the most sensationalist stories. Their deliberate exaggeration of Spanish atrocities against the civilian Cuban population provoked the US government into issuing a formal protest to Spain.

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The revolution was still making slow progress, particularly in Oriente. General Calixto Garcia, now using canon, was able to take the fortified town Jiguani on 13th March 1897; forts at Tunas on 30th August; and forts at forts at Guisa, in the Sierra Maestra foothills, on 28th November. On 10th October a second Constituent Assembly met at Yaya, Camagüey; named their first President, & Vice President; and adopted a constitution allowing for military command subordinated to civilian rule.

In the meantime, Spanish Prime Minister Canovas was assassinated on 8th August. Prime Minister Sagasta took office on 4th October; recalled General Weyler on 31st October; announced a new liberal policy; installed a new government in Havana; and on 1st January 1898 instituted limited colonial autonomy.

The new government was immediately rejected by the rebels and it had no impact on the sensational coverage in the US press. Public US opinion was in favour of intervention. On 12th January there was a major riot in Havana against the new government. Four newspapers had their presses destroyed for printing anti-government ‘propaganda’. US Consul-General Lee cabled Washington from Havana, concerned for the treat to US lives, and the US press turned their attention to the safety of US citizens in Havana.

On 24th January 1898 battleship USS Maine was despatched, arriving in Havana the following day.

On 1st February General Garcia beat the Spanish at Rejondon de Baguanos causing them to abandon the strategically important interior of Oriente. Santiago de Cuba was now cut-off by land.

On 15th February an explosion sunk the Maine in Havana harbour, killing some 260 Americans. The US press went berserk with ever more bellicose headlines. Spain was irrationally blamed for the sinking; the ‘conspiracies’ were published; and Spanish atrocities continued to be ‘exposed’. A Naval Board of Enquiry was established on 17th February, and a Naval Court convened on 21st February. President William Mckinley, Speaker of the House Thomas Reed, and the business community, were still in favour of diplomacy. The Spanish acceded to McKinley’s demands to end enforced relocation and offer the rebels a truce and negotiations. The Cubans immediately rejected the offer and the US press lashed McKinley’s attitude by running headlines like ‘Remember the Maine, To Hell with Spain!’ Newspaper owner William Hearst hired Frederick Remington to furnish illustrations. When Remington reported that conditions in Cuba were not bad enough to warrant hostilities, Hearst allegedly replied, ‘You furnish the pictures and I’ll furnish the war.’

On 25th February Theodore Roosevelt, then Assistant Secretary to the Navy, cabled Commodore Dewey in the China Sea with his objectives, should war break out. On 6th March Spain unofficially requested the recall of Consul-General Lee from Havana. On the 8th Congress authorized a $50 million war fund. On the 14th a Spanish squadron under Admiral Cervera steamed for the Cape Verde islands. The final act happened in Congress on the 17th when Senator Redfield Proctor, having visited Cuba, delivered a speech concluding war was the only option. Business & religious leaders were won over and Mckinley & Reed were isolated.

On the quiet, the US Navy was itching to flex the muscles of their new steam-powered capabilities. On 19th March the USS Oregon was despatched from San Francisco on its ‘famous dash’ to Florida via the Tierra del Fuego, at the tip of South America.

On 25th March President McKinley received the Board of Enquiry Report that the Maine had been lost to a mine. The following day McKinley sent a note of the findings to Spain and demanded an end to the war. The report was presented to Congress on 28th March. On the same day Washington received a report from the Spanish Board of Enquiry concluding that an internal accident was the cause. In truth, the true cause remains unknown. On 30th March US Ambassador to Spain, Woodford, formally requested an end to war, and Cuban independence. The request was denied.

On 1st April the House of Representatives authorized $22.6 million for naval vessels. On 6th April the Pope told McKinley that he would negotiate with Spain and asked him not to declare war. On the following day ambassadors for the six leading European powers joined the Pope’s appeal for peace. On 9th April Spain ordered General Blanco to declare an armistice in Cuba. Consul-General Lee and other US citizens left.

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On 11th April McKinley asked Congress for authority to send American troops to Cuba for the purpose of ‘ending the civil war’. The army began mobilising on 16th April and Congress drafted the ‘Teller Amendment’ – after anti-imperialist Senator Henry Teller - stating that the US would not annex Cuba and that forces would be removed once the war was over. On 19th April Congress declared Cuba independent; the Senate & Congress passed the amendment; and an ultimatum was delivered to Spain on the following day.

On 22nd April the US navy, under Admiral William Sampson, began a blockade of Cuban ports and the first Spanish ship was taken. The following day Spain declared war and President McKinley issued a call for 125,000 volunteers. On 25th April the US declared war, retroactive to the 22nd, and started a naval bombardment of the port, and main provincial town, of Matanzas.

On 27th April the US Navy’s Asiatic Squadron, under Commodore Dewey, left Mirs Bay, China, for the Philippines. They defeated the Spanish Pacific Squadron at Manila Bay on 1st May.

On 29th April Cuban General Calixto Garcia took Bayamo, now abandoned by the Spanish, and established his headquarters. US Lieutenant Andrew Summers Rowan arrived in Bayamo on 1st April to co-ordinate Cuban & US Forces. Cuban forces were now in almost total control of Oriente province. The plan was put a significant land force onto a protected beachhead close to a now isolated Santiago. Objectives were the destruction of Linares' army and Cervera's fleet.

On 11th May, in an astonishing act of bravery under heavy fire, crews from USS Marblehead & USS Nashville cut communication cables at Cienfuegos, on the south coast, effectively cutting off Cuba from the outside world. On the same day torpedo boat USS Winslow attacked defence fortifications and a Spanish gunboat in Cardenas harbour, on the north coast. On 12th May, and without warning, Admiral Sampson bombarded San Juan, Puerto Rico. On the 13th Commodore Schley’s ‘Flying Squadron’ left Hampton Roads, Virginia, for Cuba. Having left Cape Verde Islands on 30th April, Cervera’s Spanish Caribbean Squadron arrived at Santiago de Cuba on 17th May.

On 15th May one Theodore Roosevelt began training with his own unit. Having requested front-line action, he was tasked with assembling a force. The 1st US Volunteer Cavalry were popularly dubbed ‘The Rough Riders’, and would become one of the most celebrated units in US military history. When the word went out that Roosevelt & Colonel Wood were raising a regiment, 2,300 men volunteered in the first 24 hours! Only a small percentage could be accepted and those chosen would reflect Roosevelt’s driving force; his need for ruthless fighting men; and his belief in representation. There were men from every state & territory and from all walks of life, from western frontier’s men, used to life in the saddle and the use of guns, to high-class athletic young men from the east, also familiar with horses & guns. There were foreign nationals and even 60 Native Americans. The unit was mustered between 1st and 21st May and consisted of 47 officers and 994 enlisted men.

Superficially the ‘The Rough Riders’ appeared to be a somewhat ramshackle outfit, but very ‘American’. They received derision from the ‘regulars’, but captured the public imagination. The press loved the story and the unit received much publicity and celebrity status before any active service! Roosevelt’s book, ‘The Rough Riders’, gives a graphic account of his unit’s involvement in the following battle for Santiago.

On 25th May the first army expedition left San Francisco for Manila, and President McKinley called for 75,000 more volunteers. On 28th May, after 70 days and a 14,700 nautical mile dash from the US west coast, the battleship Oregon arrived off Florida. The following day Commodore Schley blockaded Santiago harbour and, on the 31st, there were skirmishes with Spanish forts defending Santiago and with Cervera’s main Armoured Cruiser, the Cristobal Colon. On 3rd June there was an attempt to block the entrance to Santiago harbour by deliberately sinking the US navy coal supply vessel, Merrimac. The steering gear was damaged by enemy fire, and the attempt failed.

On 10th June American Marines landed east of Santiago at Guantánamo Bay. This huge natural harbour was an obvious choice of shelter for the US navy.

From 12th to 14th June Major General William Shafter’s 5th Corps, which now included ‘The Rough Riders’, embarked at Tampa, Florida. The loading of the ships was shambolic, the horses got left behind, and the ‘Rough Riders’ would have to fight as the 1st US Volunteer Infantry!

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On 15th June a Spanish Squadron was dispatched from Spain to the Philippines. On the 20th the cruiser USS Charleston landed troops on the Island of Guam, off the Philippines, who took the island on the following day.

On 20th June Calixto Garcia met William Shafter at Asseradero, in the Sierra Maestra, to co-ordinate US landings. On 21st June 530 Cuban forces, under Colonel Gonzalez Clavel, were transported by USS Leone, under the protection of warships USS Vixen & Gloucester, to Sigua, between Santiago & Guantánamo. At dawn, on the following morning, Gonzalez Clavel took the lightly fortified positions above the landing zone at Daiquiri beach. Cuban forces on shore were ‘accidentally’ shelled by US ships! A US 5th Corps force of 16,000 men, under General Lawton, landed throughout the day. From 22nd through 23rd June around 20 Cuban scouts were wounded in reporting back to General Lawton on Spanish positions.

There was fierce fighting on the way to Santiago at Las Guasimas, on 24th June, and at El Caney and San Juan Hill on 1st July. ‘The Rough Riders’ were acquitted with honour and took the highest casualty rate of any regiment involved in action in Cuba. The unit was mustered out of service on 15th September after only being in existence for a now legendary 133 days. At that time there were 52 officers and 1,185 enlisted men. The unit lost 2 officers and 21 enlisted men killed in action; 3 died of wounds received in battle; 19 died of disease; & 12 deserted. 7 Officers and 97 men were wounded. The ‘disease’ was significant for Roosevelt, who had rightfully been nominated for the Medal of Honour. Illness increased after the fighting finished and, as summer wore on, Roosevelt had to publically embarrass the War Department to get his battle-worn troops home. His Medal was withheld until 80 years after his death! Theodore Roosevelt was 26th US president from 1901-1909.

The Spanish must have concluded that the game was up and, on 3rd July, the Spanish fleet tried to do a runner from Santiago. All were destroyed.

On 8th July the Spanish squadron heading for the Philippines was ordered to return for fears of attacks on Spain.

On 10th July the US Navy began bombarding Santiago. The Spanish garrison surrendered on 17th July. US General Lawton wouldn’t allow Cuban forces to enter Santiago, claiming he wanted to avoid clashes between Cubans and Spaniards. Cuban General Calixto Garcia told his troops to hold their positions; promptly resigned; & wrote a letter of protest to US commander in chief, General Shafter.

On 25th July the US army invaded Puerto Rico and, on the following day, the Spanish asked for terms of peace via the French ambassador. On August 9th the US took Coamo, Puerto Rico, and Spain accepted President McKinley’s terms. On August 11th US troops entered Puerto Rico’s 3rd biggest city, Mayaguez. The peace protocol was signed on the following day. On August 13th US forces took the Philippines capital, Manila, after a brief skirmish.

The 12th August Peace Protocol required Spain, amongst other things, to relinquish all claim to Cuba. General Shafter would not allow Cuban involvement in surrender ceremonies at Santiago de Cuba, and he left Cuba on 25th August.

The Spanish Cortez approved the peace protocol on 10th September; the Spanish Senate followed on 13th September; and the Queen Regent of Spain signed it the following day.

The first US flag was raised in Havana, Cuba, on 20th September and Leonard Wood was appointed Military Governor of Cuba on 24th.

On 29th September Spanish & US peace commissioners met for the first time. On 12th October battleships USS Oregon & Iowa left for the Philippines and the US took formal possession of Puerto Rico on 18th October. On 28th November Spain agreed to cede the Philippine Islands.

On 30th November Spain’s official representative, General Blanco, left Cuba for Spain, just over 400 years since Columbus’ arrival.

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On 10th December the Treaty of Paris formally ended the Spanish American War. Independence for Cuba was recognised, but the US prevented Cuban participation either in peace negotiations or in signing the document. No time limit was set for US occupation and the Isle of Pines was excluded from Cuba. The US reserved the right of intervention in domestic affairs and to retained naval bases, principally at Guantanamo Bay, near Santiago, which currently houses Islamic revolutionaries!

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2.7: 1899-1952: America & Cuba

It gradually became clear to Cubans that not a lot had changed, and José Martí’s fears of American expansionism were being realized! The ‘independence’ for which so many had died, & Martí’s liberal ideals, seemed swallowed in white elite corruption around American vested interests.

Black Cubans felt especially marginalised. They had fought alongside Hispanic Cubans for independence and given many lives. Now they felt completely unrepresented. In 1912 a group of African Cubans formed a political party and began largely peaceful protests. This unleashed a hysterical slaughter of black Cubans in the most appalling circumstances. The scar across the Cuban psyche is so deep that the matter is further explored in appendix 3.3 Son & Society.

In 1920, Prohibition was introduced in the U.S.A. The so called ‘Noble Experiment’ was pushed through by Congress, in the 18th Amendment, despite a veto by then President Woodrow Wilson. This was to have a major impact on Cuba and on the development of Salsa! For the next 40 years, until the Cuban Revolution, thousands of Americans flocked to the holiday-island paradise where they could enjoy all the pleasures that were denied by austerities back home! Indigenous music gradually adapted to customer expectation. (There’s more in Appendix 3.4: Musical Development.)

(At the time of writing, this bit seems kind of familiar!) The Wall Street Crash of 1929 precipitated the Great Depression. It quickly became a worldwide economic slump with industrial output & government revenues falling, and unemployment & crime rising. In the midst of this depression democratic senator Franklin D. Roosevelt (no relation) swept away 12 years of Republican rule and became 32nd President in 1933 announcing a ‘New Deal’ for Americans. Prohibition was repealed & a serious attempt was made to roll back the tide of gangster culture. (Oi! Can we have a new deal?)

If anything, the reverse happened for Cubans! In the same year, Fulgencio Batista y Zalvídar organised the ‘sergeants’ revolt’ &, after consolidating his power-base, became president (1940-4).

Not only were Cubans fed-up with either more weak politicians or yet more military rule, they were also becoming increasingly restive about American mob rule. Their island seemed increasingly run by gangsters for the benefit of Americans, hungry for entertainment & for all the vices. With a combination of threat & bribe, The Mob simply pocketed politicians, & the economy. The faces behind the attendant ‘protection rackets’ were often literally hidden behind the frightening masks of the Abakwa deities, further demeaning local culture.

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2.8: 1952-1959: The Cuban Revolution

In 1952, on the back of growing unrest, Batista again overthrew the government of then president Prio Socorras. Batista had already shown himself to be yet another dictator in the pay of The Mob, and guerrilla activity against the government increased. This was fuelled by the ideas of two revolutionary intellectuals: Fidel Castro, who had studied law in Havana, and his Argentinian friend Ernesto ‘Che’ Guevara who had studied medicine. In 1953, Castro was imprisoned after an unsuccessful uprising. In 1954, Batista had himself re-elected president and, under an amnesty, Castro was released and exiled, firstly to the US and then to Mexico.

Curiously, in this same year the US Senate ended four years of xenophobic witch hunts for ‘communists’ with the censure of Senator McCarthy’s ‘Committee of Enquiry into Un-American activities’. They agreed, however, that the Communist Party was a menace, and banned it!

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In 1956, Castro and Guevara landed in Cuba with a small band of insurgents and began to organise anti-government forces. In 1958, the revolutionaries mounted a full-scale attack. In January 1959, Batista fled to the Dominican Republic and Castro seized power, proclaiming a ‘Marxist-Leninist programme’. He became Prime Minister (President from 1976) of a 31-member State Council appointed by a National Assembly of Peoples Power comprised of 510 deputies. Guevara, now a national hero, served as a minister under Castro until 1965 when he left Cuba to become a guerrilla in South America. In 1967 he was captured and executed in Bolivia.

After establishing his government in Havana, Fidel Castro travelled the length & breadth of Cuba giving very long speeches in town squares about how the new Cuba would work.

(there’s a profile of Castro, and his influence on Cuban society, in Appendix 3.3: Son & Society.)

More detail on the Cuban Revolution will follow.

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2.9: 1960-2011 Post-revolution Cuba

The government set about driving out The Mob and introducing wholesale agrarian, economic, and cultural reforms. Plantation estates were nationalised and land plots redistributed to peasants. In 1960, US assets in Cuba were sequestrated, Cuba aligned itself with the Communist bloc, and the US ended their so-called ‘economic aid’.

April of the following year saw an abortive US-backed invasion attempt. A force of 1300 Batista loyalists landed on the South coast at Bahía de Cochinos - The Bay of Pigs - but were rapidly overwhelmed by Cuban troops led by Castro. The revolutionaries promptly invited the Russians to establish a base on the island in return for economic support. The ‘Cuban Missile Crisis’ in October 1962 was possibly the closest the world has come to a 3rd world war with a major stand-off between Russia and the US. Russian ships laden with missiles were actually en-route to Cuba! President Kennedy ordered a naval blockade of the island. Soviet leader Khrushchev turned his ships round, at the last moment, and eventually acceded to US demands that the base be dismantled.

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For many Cubans, the whole of the revolutionary period proved too much to bear with yet more warfare; yet more austerity; and yet another invasion of foreigners – Russians this time. The US trade embargo also meant particularly hard times for the music industry, which had lost its American patronage. There was a mass exodus to the US swelling existing communities of Cuban ex-pats: in the nearest city, Miami; on the west coast, in Los Angeles & San Francisco; and particularly, from Salsa’s point of view, in New York. (See appendix 3.4: Musical Development.)

Many Cubans, however, are very proud of their government for recapturing their culture and for building a system of social welfare, which tries to be fair to all. They refer to those who left as ‘gusanos’ – ‘worms’. Cuba has notable achievements in education, health care, and transport. Civil defence, in particular, is second none. It regularly reacts to protect life and property from hurricane threat both quickly, and also on a truly awesome scale. Cuba shamed the USA in 2005 by ironically offering support after New Orleans’ devastation by hurricane Katrina. The US government’s response was a shambolic fiasco never seen in Cuba!

The downside is personal poverty resulting from the inefficiencies of communist bureaucracyand lack of personal incentive, plus being economically ostracised by their American neighbours. Despite the poverty, and unlike any other Caribbean island, there are no ghettos in Cuba.

Strong civil structures combined with personal poverty have resulted in some unique quirks within Cuban society. These are discussed further in appendix 3.3: Son & Society.

More detail on current Cuban politics will follow.

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APPENDIX 3: A brief history of Salsa

1: Early Instrumentation

2: Musical origins: Son & Rumba

3: Son & Society (part pending)

4: Musical development (pending)

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In the light of political history, the development of Salsa becomes clearer.

1: Early Instrumentation

As noted above, early Hispanic settlers already had a richly diverse musical culture comprised of classical, gypsy, Moorish, and assorted folk motifs. Their principal instruments were the Gypsy Guitar, the Arabic Lute, and the ‘folksy’ Hurdy-Gurdy organ. This extraordinary latter instrument - somewhere between a violin, a keyboard, and the bagpipes - had little influence on the development of Salsa. The ‘Tres’ began to appear, and this did have a significant role in the roots of Salsa. It is a small guitar, unique to Cuba, with six strings arranged in three groups of two.

The Africans also came from a wide diversity of tribal and cultural backgrounds, mostly from the Yoruba tribes of central West Africa. They brought their sonorous vocal styles – lead singers later being referred to as ‘soneros’ - and their powerful rhythms delivered from an array of percussion instruments. As well as Bongo, Conga, and Batá drums, the Africans were also responsible for Salsa’s basic tool: the Clave. This is the name both of Salsa’s core rhythm and also of the instrument producing it: a pair of smooth, cylindrical, hardwood blocks. These are struck together, with soft hands, to produce a clear, high-pitched sound with an almost bell-like quality of

reverberation. (more in 3: On 1 v On 2: What’s in a rhythm) Also originating in Africa was the

Marímbula: essentially a wooden box with metal prongs. This was a good substitute for a double bass, and far less expensive. Musicians often sat on the box whilst playing it!

The Africans attached particular importance to the Batá drums: an egg-timer shaped instrument, with skins at both ends. The strings connecting the skins often had beads or bells attached to provide an accompanying rattle. The drum has a wider head, and longer barrel, at one end. Originally, these drums were only used in religious ceremony: a Bembé. Each deity had their own main rhythmic pattern, or ‘Toque’ – ‘Touch’, plus variations for each of their many manifestations.

The Spaniards originally tried to ban these religious ceremonies. The Africans became so miserable that their work suffered, so the Catholics came to an accommodation. The Africans twinned their deities with Catholic saints, and the Spanish provided the original ‘Buena Vista’ Social Clubs. They turned a blind eye to whatever went on inside and excused themselves by calling the African religion ‘Santeria’: the religion of the ‘Saints’!

The lives of the native Indians were indivisible from their environments so their musical mark was made with natural objects, particularly gourds. Small ones became Maracas: seed-shakers when dried and attached with handles. Long woody ones, like the Cuban Güiro, were serrated and became the original scrapper-boards when stroked with a stick. The Quijano, nothing more than a dried donkey’s jawbone with loose back teeth, made a soft shuffling sound when shaken.

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2: Musical origins: Son & Rumba

Two early forms of popular Afro-Cuban music have impacted on modern Salsa.

Musical collaborations between white and black culture didn’t really surface until after the War of Independence, at the turn of the 20th century. The earliest of these was called the ‘Son’ – simply meaning the ‘Sound’ in Spanish. Son is the first truly indigenous Afro-Cuban music: a rolling song and dance medium fusing the lyricism of the Spanish guitar with the rhythms of Africa and the pulse of the native Caribbean.

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The development of Son is inextricably interwoven with Cuban history. The crucible of that history has ever been the mountains & countryside of Oriente province – Spanish for East - surrounding the sea-port cities of Santiago & Guantanamo. More specifically, it was the Sierra Maestra mountains – Spanish for Master Range. Sierra Maestra is also the aptly chosen name of an internationally popular Son-revival band. The mountains’ cultural significance is further explored in 3.3: Son & Society, and the band are discussed in 3.4: Musical development.

The turbulent struggle for independence meant early music was based on instruments that could be easily carried, either in pockets or slung across the back. The earliest camp-fire combos are likely to have been very rudimentary. The small Cuban ‘Tres’ guitar and voice are likely to have provided the lyricism, or ‘song’ part of it, with small percussion instruments like clave & maracas providing the rhythm part of it. Some trace Son’s origins to a particular song, Má Teodora, about two slave sisters who sang around Santiago in the 1550s.

The catchphrase ‘Salsa is Son’ is repeated like a mantra by all the musical greats; by musicologists; and by historians of Salsa music. The statement is a little simplistic because it ignores the later input from American Swing Band, and it glosses over the complexities of its African content. Nevertheless, Son is certainly the bedrock on which Salsa is built.

When talking about the ‘rhythms of Africa’, as a component of Son, the importance of Afro-Cuban Rumba can’t be overlooked. Rumba is not considered to be the true origin of Salsa because it is entirely African in origin. Nevertheless, Rumba provides some of Salsa’s essential components.

(Note that the music associated with the Latin American dance, called Rumba, is entirely different and has its origins in Bolero-Son, not in Afro Cuban Rumba.)

Unlike the religious ceremonies, Rumba is the Africans at play. In fact the word may simply mean a ‘frolic’. Rumba Guaguancó was the most popular of 3 main styles. Whilst having nothing to with ballroom Rumba, the dance does have overtly sexual content, and was often suppressed. The woman uses her skirt both to entice the man with suggestive movements, and then to repel his advances: the worldwide game of ‘come-on’, and ‘hard to get’. The man tries to catch her off-guard with a symbolic impregnation, or ‘vacunao’. He does this by jerking his pelvis, or by flicking a scarf, handkerchief, arm, or foot towards her private parts!

Rumba grew in popularity in the provinces of Havana and Matanzas shortly before full independence. Pure Afro-Cuban Rumba is now considered to be ‘folkloric’, and often has little instrumentation beyond a percussion accompaniment to the fabulous harmonic singing of the Africans. In Rumba, and its later derivative Timba, even the singing is strongly rhythmic, if not actively percussive. Check-out modern exponents like Clave y Guaguancó.

By the 1930’s & 40’s, ‘Rumba’ was being used as meaninglessly as ‘Mambo’ is today. It was then a general term for popular, fast, Cuban music and even to Son classics such as El Manisero – The Peanut Vendor. True Guaguancó roots can still be heard in Salsa classics like Celia Cruz’s Quimbara, and in more modern & urban dance-floor scorchers like Yerba Buena’s La Candela.

Afro-Cuban Rumba’s main contribution to modern Latin music is the rocked-up version they call Timba. This is further discussed 3.4: Musical Development.

The essential contributions to Son, and therefore to Salsa, of African religious music, and of Rumba, are the ‘clave’ rhythm structure and the ‘call & response’ vocal style. Curiously, the same sort of call and response exists in Catholic ceremony, but without the gusto; natural harmonies; and the celebratory & life-affirming mood of the Africans!

Musical structure is discussed further in the section ‘On 1’, or ‘On 2’: What’s in a rhythm? (p.10)

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3: Son & Society

Son came at a pivotal time in Cuban history, and it had a pivotal role in the course of that history. Not only were the Africans now ‘free men’, after the collapse of slavery, but also everyone was now free of an oppressive colonial régime. How would they all relate to one another?

Son was the first artistic collaboration between white & black culture and defined a new model for social interaction: a new place to belong. It seems astonishing that the process of racial integration, post slavery, only dates from around the turn of the 20th century and is little more than 100 years old. It’s interesting to see how far Cuba has come in those 100 years, and how far it still has to go.

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The proportions of black, white, indigenous, & mixed-race people vary wildly around the Caribbean. You hear two expressions for mixed-race. Mulatto describes someone with white & black parents, and Mestizo describes a mix with indigenous Indian people. Most Caribbean countries are predominantly mixed race, such as Colombia; Venezuela; Mexico; & Dominica. A few countries are predominantly black, such as Jamaica & particularly Haiti, almost 100% following the slave revolt in 1793. Most countries actually have a surprisingly low proportion of black people, at around 10 to 13%, such as Venezuela; Cuba; Dominica; Puerto Rico; & USA. Most countries are less than 25% white! An interesting aside is that a recent genetic study in Brazil discovered that the ‘average white’ was only 70% European!

Puerto Rico, & Cuba have similar ethnicity, and are unusual in having majority white populations.

Cuba’s ethnic mix is 65% white; 10% black; & 25% mixed race.

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The Sierra Maestra

As mentioned earlier, the birthplace of Son was the mountains & countryside of Oriente province – Spanish for East. More specifically, it was the Sierra Maestra – Spanish for Master Range. This is also the aptly chosen name of an internationally popular Son revival band. (more in appendix 3.4)

The Sierra Maestra, now a national park, is Cuba’s most imposing mountain range. It rises straight from the sea, to almost 2000 metres, and dominates the South coast at the island’s eastern end.

Crucially, the mountains stand above the region’s principal city – Santiago de Cuba – and above the only valley leading to the interior. The Sierra Maestra has ever been the crucible of Cuban history.

As Hitler discovered in Yugoslavia during World War II, and we are currently discovering in Afghanistan, relatively small numbers of determined guerrillas can cause a lot of problems for quite large armies in this type of terrain. The mountains provide cover; are perfect for ambush; and make an excellent base from which to launch raids on military installations in more urban locations.

All crucial turning points in Cuban history have originated in the Sierra Maestra. The significance is social as well as political. The mountains saw the first multi-cultural co-operation, initially to resist a mutual enemy, so they were consequently also the melting pot of race relations and future society.

The original Spanish ‘settlers’ were essentially expeditionary forces. They came as single men, and took indigenous Taíno Indian girls for wives. Aside from leading to Cuba’s first Mestizo offspring, the barbaric practices of ‘civilized’ Europeans triggered the Sierra Maestra’s first rebellion. Indian chief Guamá sadly perished in 1532 leading an uprising against Spanish rule.

The mountains were a favourite bolt-hole for escaped slaves, where they would hide-out with the Indians & later with sympathetic revolutionary whites. This naturally led to further ethnic diversity.

The Sierra Maestra then presided over 30 years of conflict leading to Cuba’s independence in 1898. Son isn’t formally recognised by history until after this period but it’s highly probable that white-black collaboration existed well before 10th October 1868 when Céspedes declared Cuban independence, an end to slavery in ‘Free Cuba’, & Afro-Cubans were encouraged to join the struggle.

The declaration in Manzanillo was also a call for radical social reform & separate Cuban identity. (Manzanillo is now home to Sierra Maestra International Airport)

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The Pact of Zanjón ended the Ten Years War and began 17 years of so-called Rewarding Truce (1878-1895), before the War of Independence, & saw major changes to both urban & rural society. Many sugar mills and smaller plantations were closed in a move toward a more corporate & more efficient economy. Many wealthy Cubans lost their property and joined the urban middle class. Slavery was finally abolished by the Spanish in 1886 and a new working class began to emerge. In the countryside there was a considerable increase in campesinos – literally peasants – and in small-scale tenant farming. The urban working class became more organised and the Cigar Makers Guild, the first of many labour movements, was formed in 1895.

José Martí was signatory to the Pact, but the independence movement would not be satisfied by belated concessions from the Spanish. During this period, as discussed earlier, Martí developed his vision for a free Cuban constitution. Martí died in the foothills of Oriente but his ideas lived on, forming the basis of the Jimaguayú Constitution, signed by Cuban leaders shortly after his death.

The most successful Cuban General, Calixto Garcia, gradually forced the Spanish to abandon the countryside of Oriente from his base in the Sierra Maestra. It was here that the future of Cuba was discussed with senior Americans prior to the Spanish American war.

(Note) Race War 1912

Later, the mountains were a base for Fidel Castro’s failed uprising of 1953, and the launch pad for the Cuban Revolution from 1956.

(Note) detail

People wouldn’t forget! Extracts from Martí’s ‘Versos Sencillos’ – ‘Simple Verses’ - were set to music and broadcast on the radio by one José Fernandez. ‘Guantanamera’ – ‘Girl from Guantanamo’ - is synonymous with the struggle for independence, & a virtual national anthem!

Whilst Cuba remained a Spanish territory politically, its economy was increasingly dependant on the US. By the outbreak of the War of Independence, US investment in mining, sugar, & tobacco, is estimated at 50 million US dollars.

(Note) Martí & Castro

(Note) Personal reflections on Modern Cuba