CubaPLUS Magazine

Cuba is paying tribute this Monday to National Hero José Martí on the 130th anniversary of his death in combat during the struggle for the island's independence from Spanish colonial rule.

Referred to as "The Apostle," Martí was an eminent thinker, renowned for his journalistic work and as a poet, a legacy collected in texts such as The Golden Age (1878-1882), Simple Verses (1891), and Our America (1891).

He was the founder of the Cuban Revolutionary Party and organizer of Cuba's war of independence, an offensive against Spanish rule in which the teacher fell in combat on Sunday, May 19, 1895, in Dos Ríos.

Also known as "the most universal of Cubans," Martí lost his life when, in his first engagement, he was struck by a volley of enemy gunfire and sustained multiple wounds.

Despite the recommendation of the Commander-in-Chief of the Liberation Army, Máximo Gómez, that he remain in the rear, Martí marched to the front accompanied by his aide, as his ethics and sense of duty did not allow him to lag behind those he had summoned to battle.

Martí's body was identified and recovered by the enemy, who withdrew under constant attacks from Cubans determined to retrieve it, and he was buried in the nearby town of Remanganaguas.

His mortal remains were eventually laid to rest in the Santa Ifigenia Cemetery in Santiago de Cuba, in the east of the island.

In a letter written by the Apostle of Cuban independence to his Mexican friend Manuel Mercado, a day before his death in combat, he stated:

"I am now in daily danger of giving my life for my country and for my duty (...) to prevent in time, with the independence of Cuba, the United States from extending through the Antilles and falling, with that additional force, upon our lands of America."

In the letter, unfinished due to the arrival of General Bartolomé Masó and his troops at the camp, Martí stated that "everything I have done to this day, and will do, is for that," in reference to his concern about the danger that Washington represented for the region.

The letter has been considered by scholars of the National Hero as his political testament and demonstrates his marked anti-imperialist stance and his opposition to annexationist currents.

More than a century after his death, José Martí remains a central figure in the collective historical memory of Cuba and an intellectual reference point for humanity.

Currently, various initiatives are being organized in Cuba and in other countries around the world to commemorate the life and work of the Apostle.

(Taken from Prensa Latina)