Focusing on a period of history rocked by four armed movements, Lillian Guerra traces the origins of Cubans' struggles to determine the meaning of their identity and the character of the state, from Cuba's last war of independence in 1895 to the consolidation of U.S. neocolonial hegemony in 1921. Guerra argues that political violence and competing interpretations of the "social unity" proposed by Cuba's revolutionary patriot, Jose Marti, reveal conflicting visions of the nation--visions that differ in their ideological radicalism and in how they cast Cuba's relationship with the United States. As Guerra explains, some nationalists supported incorporating foreign investment and values, while others sought social change through the application of an authoritarian model of electoral politics; still others sought a democratic government with social and economic justice. But for all factions, the image of Marti became the principal means by which Cubans attacked, policed, and discredited one another to preserve their own vision over others'. Guerra's examination demonstrates how competing historical memories and battles for control of a weak state explain why polarity, rather than consensus on the idea of the "nation" and the character of the Cuban state, came to define Cuban politics throughout the twentieth century.

All Cubans agree on one thing: José Martí is the "Father of Cuba." He was and remains Cubas national hero. Cubans from all walks life simply call him "The Apostle." Poet, political philosopher, statesman, novelist, journalist, translator, and firebrand revolutionary, Martí was the driving force behind the final Cuban insurrection against Spanish rule in the late nineteenth century. This young adult biography begins with Martí's origins in the mid-nineteenth century Cuba, which was then among the last of Spain's New World possessions. Next, the narrative traces his one-track mission into adulthood as a firebrand, intellectual radical who dies a martyr's death while fighting in Cuba. Martí's remarkable talents emerged in his boyhood. A revulsion against slavery in Cuba and Spains oppressive rule evoked powerful moral response in him. Havana's revolutionary circles drew him in and turned him into a radical in his early teens. Unjustly convicted, imprisoned, and exiled for treason against Spain at 17, he dedicated his life to the ousting Spanish from in Cuba. As an adult, he lived as an expatriate in four nations, honing his skills as journalist, poet, political thinker, and organizer of revolution. More than any other Cuban he motivated the Cuban émigré population, especially in Florida, to take up arms against Spain. He conducted much of the war planning, fund raising, and troop-recruiting in Florida, including cities such as Key West, Tampa, Jacksonville, and Ocala. The book relates Martí's personal story—both his strengths and weaknesses—culminating in a depiction of how at 42 he was killed in action and became a martyr. His legacy remains powerful. Today, both Castro's regime and his opponents in exile claim Martí as their own. For the past 120 years, his standard for leadership has endured. No other Cuban reaches his stature. No one probably ever will.

This book is a critical study of visual representations of José Martí The National Hero of Cuba , and the discourses of power that make it possible for Martí's images to be perceived as icons today. It argues that an observer of Martí's icons who is immersed in the Cuban national narrative experiences a retrospective reconstruction of those images by means of ideologically formed national discourses of power. Also, the obsessive reproduction of Martí's icons signals a melancholia for the loss of the martyr-hero. But instead of attempting to "forget Martí," the book concludes that the utopian impulse of his memory should serve to resist melancholia and to visualize new forms of creative re-significations of Martí and, by extension, the nation.

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Hunt the Devil explains the origins and processes of the repetitive American reflex to demonize and then wage war against perceived opponents as well as ways to break the cycle.

In 1961, at the height of the Cold War, the United States severed diplomatic relations with Cuba, where a momentous revolution had taken power three years earlier. For more than half a century, the stand-off continued--through the tenure of ten American presidents and the fifty-year rule of Fidel Castro. His death in 2016, and the retirement of his brother and successor Raúl Castro in 2021, have spurred questions about the country's future. Meanwhile, politics in Washington--Barack Obama's opening to the island, Donald Trump's reversal of that policy, and the election of Joe Biden--have made the relationship between the two nations a subject of debate once more. Now, award-winning historian Ada Ferrer delivers an ambitious chronicle written for an era that demands a new reckoning with the island's past. Spanning more than five centuries, Cuba: An American History reveals the evolution of the modern nation, with its dramatic record of conquest and colonization, of slavery and freedom, of independence and revolutions made and unmade. Along the way, Ferrer explores the influence of the United States on Cuba and the many ways the island has been a recurring presence in US affairs. This is a story that will give Americans unexpected insights into the history of their own nation and, in so doing, help them imagine a new relationship with Cuba. Filled with rousing stories and characters, and drawing on more than thirty years of research in Cuba, Spain, and the United States--as well as the author's own extensive travel to the island over the same period--this is a stunning and monumental account like no other. --

Jose Marti contributed greatly to Cuba's struggle for independence from Spain with words as well as revolutionary action. Although he died before the formation of an independent republic, he has since been hailed as a heroic martyr inspiring Cuban republican traditions.