On October 10, 1868 Cuba began its independence struggle with what would be called the Ten Year War. That morning, 143 years ago, the bell of La Demajagua sugar mill rang —not to begin milling, as usual— but to call its peoples to arms to begin the fight for independence. It was a long struggle, weighed down due to disagreements within the revolutionary movement. Despite their marked purpose of freedom, they had inherited schemes imposed by colonial rule for centuries.

To understand the factors that led to the Ten Year War, as well as to foster the unity and coordination of different elements and contradictions, was the agonizing work of our national hero Jose Marti, who later launched what was called “the Necessary War.”

Aside from the antagonism between the civilian and military leadership, ingratitude inherent to all kind of human and historical existence, no matter its cause, colonial status marked its imprint related to the purposes of the fight that had been initiated. The elements to be highlighted are:  the eastern region of Cuba as the driving force of the struggle and the lack of support of the western region of the Island, although there were some outstanding thinkers and determined people from that region, who initially maintained a less belligerent position and tried to achieve some arrangements such as reformism and autonomously under the Spanish rule.

One of the great contradictions in Cuba was the economic factor, due to the unequal exchange existent in the island. The Spanish fleet arrived once a year to the port of Havana, which was only received in that port of the Spanish colony. That meant a great advantage for Havana’s stores, which were mostly property of the island’s settlers, while it was a disadvantage for the producers and traders from the Central and Eastern regions, whose profits were reduced due to the high costs of transportation and storage. In the western part of the country there was a less awkward situation, although painful, due to the commercial monopoly imposed by the metropolis.

The aforementioned was a key element for the elimination of the independence sentiment in the eastern region through the use of arms. That separatist spirit was a legacy of those imposed colonial authorities, which resulted in disputes regarding the struggle methods to be used among all the forces likely given to the independence of Cuba.

The Cuban reality of those times was also the apple of discord that separated the Latin American continent during many years; hindering its unity, integration, and full independence and dividing the territories, victims of war mongering. The irruption of other powers —England first, then the United States— in the economic and political development of Latin American peoples.

So, after 143 years of “the Cry for Independence or Death” in La Demajagua sugar mill by Cuban leader Carlos Manuel de Cespedes, Cubans should remember those who gave everything for the homeland, including their lives, under their leader’s command, as well as continue to read about the premises and consequences of that bloody but glorious stage in Cuban history. Great figures from that era include Perucho Figueredo, Antonio Maceo, Francisco Vicente Aguilera, Ignacio Agramonte, Maximo Gomez, and Calixto Garcia. With their ideas and actions, they nourished the Necessary War organized by Marti in 1895 and were the instigators of the civil strife of the 1930s in the pseudo-republic. La Demajagua, with its successes and failures later turned into the inspiration for others combats like those of the Moncada Garrison, the Granma yacht and the Sierra Maestra mountain range. Now, it is also an inspiration to strengthen the independence we have conquered and to never lose it.

A translation by: Silke Paez Carr

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