JOSE MARTI: The Life and Legacy of a Cuban Revolutionary Ico

JOSE MARTI – CUBAN STORY

Unlike men with political ambition, Jose Marti was a man with political ambition with a difference: a difference that propels a political activist, poet, journalist and teacher to attain national heroic status in the Republic of Cuba. Born in 1853, Jose Marti became a known activist against established foreign institutions and powers that dominated Cuba. He suffered and labored for the people notwithstanding the level of oppression by colonial powers against him and his people. No wonder he wrote that "Men of action, above all those whose actions are guided by love, live forever. Other famous men, those of much talk and few deeds, soon evaporate." His love for his people is immeasurable and profound, without form and shape and not bounded by any potential personal gain.

Jose Marti’s dedicated and zealous pursuit of freedom resulted in many incarceration with authorities right from an early age of 17 when he was exiled to Spain for being vociferously against the colonial rule suppression of the people of Cuba and exploiting the natural resources of Cuba. Jose Marti selflessly took up the task of educating the people of Cuba to contradict the political system of the colonial powers in order to raise awareness with the generality of the people of Cuba to stand up for their rights. He used his expertise in poetry, and journalistic edge to advance his fight for the freedom of the Republic of Cuba from foreign domination.

Most interestingly, Jose Marti was very plain in denouncing the lack of spirituality and arrogance in the colonial powers’ approach to the manipulation of Cuba. He was strongly in support of democratic principles that will provide and assure ordinary Cubans the greater national security, respect of dignity of being a Cuban. His zeal for the development of Cuba and freeing Cuba from the domination led him to leave the shores of the US (where he had flee to avoid the retribution of colonial masters) to join the war in Cuba for the independence of Cuba. Jose Marti was a man with courage to leave his comfort in the US to fight for his people without concern of his personal safety, but with vision of the future of the free Republic of Cuba.

Against advice from friends and well-wishers for his welfare and safety and his lack of military training, Jose Marti valiantly went to Cuba to fight the war in favor of his beloved country, which resulted in his death. This conforms to his philosophy that "just as he who gives his life to serve a great idea is admirable, he who avails himself of a great idea to serve his personal hopes of glory and power is abominable, even if he too risks his life. To give one's life is a right only when one gives it unselfishly.”

Jose Marti was one of the most prolific writers in the Hispanic world that helped to transform Cuban arts and cultures. He was a man of great ideas and philosophy that was ahead of his peers. His vision and thoughts were innovative and constructive to help the development of democracy in Cuba, as he wrote in one his famous quote that ”like stones rolling down hills, fair ideas reach their objectives despite all obstacles and barriers. It may be possible to speed or hinder them, but impossible to stop them."

The Bahamas is not torn between the United States and the Republic of Cuba regarding the two Doctors detained at the Carmichael Detention Center. The Bahamas is a country of law and order and is signatory to international treaties with various countries such as the United States and Cuba, and the government has the obligation to uphold these treaties. The two Cuban Dentists should be prosecuted and fined for entering the Bahamas illegally, regardless of the fact that they are Cubans and have resident documents enabling them to reside in the United States.

We must be very careful with the United States, because they are the ones that brought these two Cubans to the Bahamas detention centre. We have to ensure that the US does not use this strategy to create confusion in our relationship with the Republic of Cuba. If we comply with the US requirements to send the two Cubans to the US, we would be breaking the treaty between the Bahamas and Cuba, and in addition, it will result in mass travel illegally through the Bahamas by Cubans who have US visas but without Cuban exit permits that would allow them to leave Cuba legally.

In the views of Jose Marti, “the struggles waged by nations are weak only when they lack support’…wisdom and the ability to insist on agreement as guided by treaty between the Bahamas and Cuba. We must not forget that Cuban delegates were kicked out by US imposed conditions to a Sheraton Hotel in Mexico as a result of the US Helms-Burton Act. These Cuban gentlemen were minding their legitimate business, but the hotel was threatened to be fine up to $300,000 against the Hotel for accepting these Cuban delegates.

This is not political - it's perversity.  It is not even the Superego judging the Ego.  It is our own capacity for hate, increasing until it becomes a kind of compulsion - neurosis where reverence and destruction alternate and we reverently destroy.  We falter and faint and deny him thrice.  We develop sympathy at the expense of loyalty.   I don't like it.  It just ain't right. 

          Where is the outcry?  We have become silent spectators, eagerly awaiting our daily dose of public scandal, noisy expulsions and excommunications.

          ''A man must swallow a toad every morning if he wishes to be sure of finding nothing still more disgusting before the day is over.''  (Morley)

          We must stop this.  It's not right.  There is no honour in this battle.  There is no dignity in this death.  There are no victors on this battleground of shame.  Only a man with the shield of Perseus against the ghosts of character assassination.  ''Whatever you blame, that you have done yourself.'' (Groddeck)  There is no hate without fear.  Hate is the consequence of fear.  We hate what we fear and so where hate is, fear is lurking.

We must stop this moth-and-candle preoccupation with hate, this triumph of resentment, this abuse of intellect, this perversion of the heart that obliterates our knowledge of the purpose of life; that denies the God within us, wantonly exterminated.   I don't like it.  It just ain't right. 

The world failed to respond to this abhorrent issue, neither did Wall Street or any major US authorities.  According to E. M Forster:”if I had to choose between betraying my country and betraying my friend, I hope I should have the guts to betray my friend”. It is imperative that our Cabinet Minister understand the significance of this game that the American has instigated against the Bahamas and Cuba. Let’s not forget that our greatest friend is our greatest nightmare: that is the United States of America. They enjoy the art of propaganda and manipulation. As President Fidel Castro said in an address on the celebration of the 51st Anniversary of the Attack on the Moncada and Carlos Manuel de Cedspedes Fortresses, “I shall address a sinister character that keeps threatening, insulting and slandering us. This is not a whim or an agreeable option; it is a necessity and a duty”.

About the Author:

 “Deo adjuvante, non timendum.”

“With God as My Helper, I have nothing to fear”

Dr. Kevin J Turnquest-Alcena 

Chairman of the Board of Governors

Rector, Michael University

LLB (Hon-1st Cl.), LLM (Hon-1st Cl.)

Ph.D. in Economics / Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology- MD/ Ph.D in Biogenetics

Ph.D. in Pharmacy (Pharm D) 

Ph.D. in Public Health / Ph.D. in Herbal and Holistic Medicine

Titular Professor Lawyer & Fellow-FCILEX; AClArb; & Snr. Fellow-AMLA