A Fascinating Peek at Cuba From 1492 till 2016

A Continuous Fight for Independence

      On October 27, 1492, Columbus discovered Cuba and pronounced it "the most beautiful land" he had ever seen. The depiction has had its pluses and minuses, almost on a daily basis, from that day to this day.

      Beginning on Oct. 27-1492 every imperialist nation in the world has cast its eager eyes on the island of Cuba, creating the continuous struggle for independence. Cubans massively crave sovereignty. 

      Cuba's incomparable beauty and its strategic location in the New World -- along with its size [the largest island in the Caribbean] -- made it a supreme imperialist prize and target from the 15th century till this very day. Near the end of the 19th century, Spain was barely clinging to its most appealing and most gorgeous colony, Cuba. The U. S. noticed. And that look would alter the history of both Cuba and the U. S. forever.

     The U. S. emergence as a world power began in the first half of the 1800s after the Monroe Doctrine was out-lined in President James Monroe's 7th annual address to the U.S. Congress on December 2, 1823. Monroe warned European powers not to mess with the U. S. sphere of interest. It was this doctrine that set the stage for Manifest Destiny, which gave the U. S. what it considered "its right" to, for example, annihilate native Indians for the purpose of expanding its borders westward from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean. By the end of the 1800s, the U. S. had established its dominion throughout the Western Hemisphere and well knew that the plush, neighboring island of Cuba was easy pickings under the mantras of the Monroe Doctrine and Manifest Destiny. But even a weakened Spain refused to give up the island via a sale or a trade. That left one option for the U. S. -- War. And the war-mongers were winning the narrative! 

     By 1898 long-time imperialist superpower Spain had become extremely over-extended and was down to just two New World colonies -- Cuba and Puerto Rico. The United States, which had once offered Florida to Spain in exchange for Cuba, saw a golden opportunity to pounce on Spain and just take Cuba [and Puerto Rico] as war prizes. But in order to justify a Spanish-American War, the U. S. needed a pretext to start it.

    In the halls of the U. S. government, goaded by newspaper rabble-rousers, American plans to take Cuba from Spain had gone from the sublime to the outrageous in the last half of the 19th century. But by 1898 it was well known that even a tiny U. S. army could easily defeat weak, over-extended Spain. But, hey, that still involved war and, you know, a pretext is needed for war because, otherwise, it, uh, might look like the U. S. was just stealing Cuba from Spain. The strident war cacophony hit a discordant tone, at least briefly.

      William Randolph Hearst [above] in 1898, on his way to building America's greatest newspaper chain, owned the New York Journal. It was an era when newspapers had enormous power and the Journal was in a fierce battle with Joseph Pulitzer's World for supremacy in New York. Hearst, aiming to achieve one million readers a day, fabricated many things to attract paying customers and advertisers. He had long advocated America's ownership of Cuba. He was willing to fabricate or even create a war to achieve that goal.

       Teddy Roosevelt [above] was a close friend of William Randolph Hearst in 1898. Teddy direly wanted to be President of the United States. His powerful friend, Hearst, direly wanted Teddy's wish to come true. And both men wanted Cuba. "Uh, let's see...." If the U. S. captured Cuba in a war with Spain, and Teddy Roosevelt was the war hero, William Randolph Hearst could attain two goals, Cuba and the White House, with one little war! But, tuh, what about that pretext...? War DEMANDS a pretext, doesn't it?

      The U. S. war-mongers knew that a prized warship, the USS Maine, had sailed into Havana Harbor on January 25, 1898, for an extended "friendship" visit. The above photo shows the old Morro Castle fortress in the upper-right with the USS Maine entering Havana Harbor in the upper-center. Uh, guess what?

Powoooooooooooooo...!!!

      The USS Maine exploded in Havana Harbor at precisely 9:40 P.M., February 15, 1898!  It killed 266 men.  SURELY SPAIN DID THE DIRTY DEED! And, wow! What a pretext for war! WHAT A PRETEXT FOR WAR!!

    The New York Journal immediately fanned the flames of war against the "SPANISH TREACHERY" with the quick conclusion [sub-headline on the left above] that the USS Maine was "DESTROYED BY AN OUTSIDE ATTACK!" In subsequent issues the Journal published pictures and diagrams showing how Spanish saboteurs had fastened an underwater mine to the Maine and had detonated it from shore.

     The battle-cry "Remember the Maine" feverishly entered the American lexicon, thanks to William Randolph Hearst and his New York Journal! A newspaper publisher had effectively declared war on America's behalf. It didn't matter that less powerful media outlets were pointing out that the last thing Spain wanted was a war far from its shores with the far more powerful United States. So, the question remains to this day: Did the U. S. blow up its own ship as a pretext to declare war on Spain or was the explosion an accident? But in 1898 William Randolph Hearst had his war. He sent his top writer, the author Stephen Crane, and his top artist, Frederick Remington, to Cuba to cover the war.  

      Frederick Remington, thanks to such iconic paintings as the one above, was America's most famed artist, but William Randolph Hearst could afford him or anyone else, Congressmen included.

     So, the great Frederick Remington [above] went to Cuba to paint sketches of William Randolph Hearst's splendid little Spanish-American War. But, after a few days on the island, Remington reported back to Hearst: "There is no war. Request to be recalled."

      William Randolph Hearst [above] immediately contacted the White House and then famously cabled this order to Frederick Remington in Cuba: "Please Remain. You furnish the pictures. I'll furnish the war." And...so he did. The rest is history, minutely and unabashedly reported by William Randolph Hearst.

      The New York Journal rushed out an "Extra" edition with the blaring headline "CONGRESS DECLARES WAR" to herald the start of the Spanish-American War. It perhaps would have been more accurate to proclaim "HEARST DECLARES WAR" but he was never known to let facts get in the way of a good story.

        Of course, William Randolph Hearst made sure that Teddy Roosevelt was not only in Cuba for the Spanish-America War but Hearst, with his reporters and artists meticulously covering the war, made sure that Teddy was acclaimed the supreme war hero.

       Like the rest of the Spanish-American War, San Juan Hill in Cuba was like an ant hill when it came to Spain resisting the American soldiers. But on July 1, 1898, Teddy Roosevelt astride a magnificent horse led his Rough Riders on the charge up San Juan Hill [above] that William Randolph Hearst easily exaggerated into the minds of Americans as the greatest, most courageous battle charge in America's history. Hearst was not only getting Cuba, he was indeed molding his own President! 

        The P. R. promotions of "The Storming of San Juan Hill" were quite different from historic narratives but guess which version had the most political effect in the U. S.? 

    Theodore Roosevelt served as America's 26th President from 1901 till 1909. 

Yes, the charge up San Juan Hill made Teddy Roosevelt a two-term President.

         Disclosure: This essay was inspired by a rumor that Senator Marco Rubio of Miami [above right] was sent a copy of the book "Teddy Roosevelt at San Juan: The Making of a President" by today's equivalent of William Randolph Hearst, Rupert Murdoch. Murdoch's vast media empire -- which includes Fox News, the New York Post, the Wall Street Journal, 20th Century Fox, HarperCollins Publishers, etc. -- will use a good chunk of its considerable resources to ram Sen. Rubio down America's throat as a 2016 Presidential candidate. Hearst-Roosevelt, defined by history; Murdoch-Rubio, defined by...well, stay tuned! 

        And, oh yes, Teddy Roosevelt received America's highest military citation, the Medal of Honor, for his "Charge up San Juan Hill." It was awarded posthumously in 2001 [above] by President Bill Clinton.

     The History Channel produced a superb documentary explaining how the Spanish-American War gave birth to a superpower -- America. Since Columbus discovered both Cuba and the U. S. in 1492, both the history and the topicality of the two neighbors have been inextricably intertwined, in peace and in war.

       The Treaty of Paris signed on December 10, 1898, officially ended the Spanish-American War. In the above photo, Jules Cambon, the French Ambassador to the U. S., is signing the treaty on behalf of Spain. Cuba, of course, was not consulted or represented. The Treaty of Paris marked the defeat and collapse of the Spanish Empire because Spain's last four colonies -- Cuba, Puerto Rico, the Philippine Islands, and Guam -- were ceded to the United States. Cuba had been a pawn in the reconfiguration of the world order.

Cuba became the "Holiday Isle of the Tropics" after the Spanish-American War.

       Cuba and the United States were "Good Friends" once upon a time, at least according to self-serving posters such as the one above that featured a "Before Castro" caption in the lower-right. "Before Castro" meant the U. S. - backed Batista-Mafia dictatorship in Cuba, 1952 - 1959, when the U. S. and Cuba were "Good Friends" because a handful of elite people in each country shared in the wholesale looting of the island. "Since Castro" -- 1959 till the present -- the two neighbors have not been very friendly because of a slight difference of opinion concerning such nagging items as imperialism and sovereignty.

        Beyond doubt, the seminal event in Cuba's long history was and is the Cuban Revolution that, behind Fidel Castro's "July 26" banner and battle-cry, startled the world by overthrowing the U. S.-and-Mafia-backed Batista dictatorship on January 1, 1959. Just as remarkable is the amazing longevity of both Fidel Castro and the Cuban Revolution, both of whom remain alive in the closing days of 2012. The Guinness Book of World Records states that Fidel Castro has survived 638 assassination attempts. When you consider that two of history's all-time best assassins -- the CIA and the Mafia -- account for most of those assassination attempts, then Fidel Castro's niche in the annals of history will never be threatened or toppled, no matter what happens from this point on.

     Beyond doubt, the second most seminal event in Cuban history was and is the CIA-directed U. S./Cuban exile attack on Cuba at the Bay of Pigs [above] in April of 1961. Just as the triumph of the Cuban Revolution made history, the Fidel Castro-led victory at the Bay of Pigs solidified both his and the revolution's unique mark on history. On one small island, he had amassed two achievements -- the triumph of the revolution and the victory at the Bay of Pigs -- fighting as the quintessential David vs. Goliath.

      The sheer fact that the Batistiano and Mafia leaders [Photo above: Masferrer brothers flanking Rafael Diaz-Balart at a Batista rally in 1958] fled the Cuban Revolution and reconstituted their dictatorship on U. S. soil [namely Miami, Florida, and Union City, NJ} beginning in January of 1959 and lasting till this day, crowns the Cuban Revolution as one of the all-time phenomenons of history. The basic fact that -- from 1959 till today -- the Cuban government-in-exile has continued to have the backing of the strongest nation in the world, the U. S., in a furious effort to regain control of Cuba, speaks to the incredible longevity of the Cuban Revolution. For example, the three men above, and many like them, all quickly created in South Florida no-holds-barred military units that repeatedly attacked Cuba. And all three of the above men, and many like them, left behind second generations that remain just as determined to regain control of Cuba. Why are such facts both foreign to and anathema to the majority of Americans in 2012? Good question. The answer: In this rare instance, the losers and not the winners, for the most part, have written the history of the Cuban Revolution. And that's what a tiny nation gets for scoring victories over the world's all-time most powerful and influential nation. Oh, well! You can't win 'em all, can you?

         Fidel Castro considers himself the second most important guerrilla fighter and revolutionary leader in the Cuban Revolution and in Revolutionary Cuba. His choice for #1 in both categories has always been the incomparable Celia Sanchez, history's all-time greatest female guerrilla fighter and revolutionary leader.

       It's fitting that Celia Sanchez uttered and wrote the most definitive quotation and proclamation related to the Cuban Revolution. Beginning in February of 1959 and repeated in at least three venues prior to her death from cancer on January 11, 1980, Celia Sanchez stated: "The Batistianos will never regain control of Cuba as long as I live or as long as Fidel lives." No one believed her then. Everyone believes her now.

         A long line of great Cubans, such as Jose Marti, died on various battlefields fighting foreign domination. [Jose Marti died on May 19, 1895, at the confluence of the Contramaestre and Cauto rivers while fighting the Spanish]. Celia Sanchez and Fidel Castro bucked that trend because they have or will die of natural causes on Cuban soil. And that coda represents their crowning achievement.

 

       In the closing days of 2012 even the 86-year-old, very ill Fidel Castro is pondering what "After Castro" will entail for the island. For sure, it looms ominously on the horizon. "Before Castro," "Since Castro," and "After Castro." Three epic periods in the fascinating history of an island whose standing on the regional and international stage is far out of proportion to its size, population, wealth, and power. 

         Future sunrises over Cuba, like this one looking out on the horizon from Varadero Beach, portend as much fascination as the island's many sunsets have chronicled since 1492, including the sunset over San Juan Hill on July 1, 1898, after Teddy Roosevelt's, uh, scintillating charge.

       Meanwhile, William Randolph Hearst is known for things other than the Spanish-America War, such as the Hearst Mansion in LA that was once valued at $165 million.

       And the Orson Welles' classic "Citizen Kane," in which the title character is based on William Randolph Hearst, is generally considered the greatest movie of all time.

     Above is a commemorative rifle to honor Teddy Roosevelt's famed charge up San Juan Hill.

Changing the subject, the little guy above is the most beautiful bird I've seen this week.
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