James Feldkamp, world traveler explores Cuba part 1. Learn more about Havana and Cuba from James Feldkamp's travel in March of 2019

1. Havana

2. History of Cuba
(aka El Cocodrilo)

3. República de Cuba

4. Cuba:
750 miles in
length
and
58 miles wide
Geographically: Nation comprises
Cuba, Isla de la Juventud and minor
archipelagos (90 miles from Florida)
Cuba: Largest island in Caribbean,
and is the most populous after
Hispaniola
Highest elevations exceeds 6,000
feet in the Sierra Maestra mountains
Western lowlands range below 600’
elevation and covers 60% of the
Island

5. Pre- Columbus: Inhabited by three tribes;
1. Taíno
2. Guanajatabey
3. Ciboney
 Cuba: multi-ethnic country
 500 years of history provided a well-
defined sense of culture
 People, culture and customs derive from
aboriginal peoples, Spanish colonialism
and African slaves
 15th Century until 1898, colony of Spain
 Independence as de facto U.S.
protectorate in 1902
Background

6. Discovery
1492: Christopher Columbus landed near Bariay Key on 28 October
 Named: “Isla Juana” after Juan, Prince of Asturias
 Finally called Cuba (variant of aboriginal name: Cubanascan)

7. 1493: Papal Bull of 1493, Pope Alexander VI commanded Spain to
conquer, colonize and convert pagans to Catholicism.
1494: Treaty of Tordesillas divides world between Spain and Portugal
(along a north-south line 270 leagues west of the Cape Verde).
God & Gold

8. Diego Velázquez de Cuéllar
(1465-1524)
 Hating manual labor Diego, decided to become a conquistador
 Joined Columbus 2nd expedition (1494)
 Original conquistadors (Columbus, Ponce de León, Juan de Esquivel)
 Granted authority by Spanish crown to explore/settle New World
 Founded towns that remain important today, and made Cuba
economically prosperous
 Indirectly responsible for conquest of Aztec Mexico and Mayan
Yucatán

9. Conquest of Cuba
1511: Under orders of Viceroy of the Indies, Diego Columbus, led
conquest of Cuba (three-year undertaking)
 Founded first settlement at Baracoa
 Appointed governor of Cuba, Velázquez seized the first
opportunity to break away from authority of Columbus and
hold Cuba directly for the Castilian crown
 Indigenous people virtually wiped out due to Eurasian diseases,
and aggravated by harsh conditions of colonial subjugation
1513: Authorized importation of slaves from Africa
1515: San Cristobal de la Habana founded (6th city founded by Spain)
Panfilo de Narvaez

10. San Cristóbal
de la Habana
 August 25, 1515
San Cristóbal de la Habana
founded by Pánfilo de Narváez
 Combined:
 San Cristóbal, patron saint of
Havana
 Habana
o Possibly derived from
Habaguanex, a native chief
who controlled the area

11. King Francis I: Desired to weaken Spain / Portugal's trade monopolies
 Offered Letters of Marquee (aka Privateer);
 England, and other countries, joined to attack and rob Spanish
galleons, and raze Spanish colonial cities and towns
 Privateers, soon became pirates
1520 – 1560: French privateers
 François Leclerc, Jean Fleury, Jacques de Sores
 Pirates formed fleets that roamed the Caribbean Sea, mainly around Cuba
1538: Santiago de Cuba endured 24 years of successive pirate attacks
 Piracy Museum, Castillo del Morro, Santiago de Cuba (Tue - Sun: 9 -6)
Mare Nostrum of Piracy

12. Pobre Havana
Havana: Final port of call for treasure fleets
returning to Europe
1527: Havana’s harbor had been attracting
Spanish trade ships…and enemies
1537: Pirates attack and capture Havana
1550: Value of Spain’s New World trade
was $400 million per year, rising to
$1B per year by 1575 ($275 B. today)
1555: Jacques de Sores, plunders Havana
1556: François le Clerc sacks Havana
1558: Construction of Castillo de la Real
Fuerza was begun to protect Havana

13. Defense Against Pirates
1577: Immediately criticized: Moat too deep, courtyard too small
 Worse, considered too far in the harbor to deter invaders
 After Castillo de la Real Fuerza, two larger forts were built
 Castillo de San Salvador de la Punta on the western bank
 El Castillo de los Tres on the eastern bank. “El Morro,” is one of the
largest fortresses Spain ever built
 Nearly 40 years to fully construct
 So important were these fortresses to Havana’s identity they were
incorporated into the city’s official coat of arms
 Three towers and a golden key—signifying Havana’s status as
“The Key to the Indies”

14. Habana, Cuba

15. 18th Century
 Cuba: Developed as an urbanized society to support the Spanish empire
1754: Seven Years' War: Spain's alliance with France put into direct
conflict with Britain
1762: British expedition (5 ships/4,000 troops) set out to capture Cuba
 Havana surrendered; British opened trade with their colonies
o Importing food, horses and other goods, as well as thousands of
slaves from Africa to work on under-developed sugar plantations
 London sugar merchants forced negotiations with Spanish over colonial
territories (feared a decline in sugar prices)
1763: Britain signed the Peace of Paris with France and Spain
 Treaty gave Britain Florida in exchange for Cuba

16. 19th Century
1817: Population of Cuba was 630,980
 291,021 were white
 115,691 free people of color (mixed-race)
 224,268 black slaves
 Due to Cuban slaves working in primarily urbanized settings, the
practice of coartacion was developed “buying oneself out of slavery”
 "uniquely Cuban development"
1820s: Latin America rebelled from Spain, and formed independent states
 Cuba remained loyal to Spain (it’s economy was to serve the empire)
1875: Slavery abolished, but completed only in 1886

17. Desire for Independence
 October 10, 1868: Carlos Manuel de Céspedes (aka Father of the Nation)
Freed his slaves and incited them to struggle for independence
 1869: Declared independence from Spain
 Rebels from La Manigua, (the Mambisa Brigades), already identified
themselves as Cubans who sought to break away from Spain
 Prolonged conflict was known as the “Ten Years” War
o 200,000 Spanish troops outnumbered the rebel army
o Spaniards: Campaign of suppression
• Herded rural population into reconcentrados - prototype for
20th-century concentration camps
• Estimated over 200,000 civilians died from starvation and
disease

18. Virginius Affair
(aka the Fry Affair)
Diplomatic dispute between the United
States, UK, and Spain
(Oct 1873 – Feb 1875)
Virginius: American ship hired by
Cuban insurrectionists to land men in
Cuba to attack the Spanish regime.
Remarkable use of international
diplomacy for a peaceful settlement,
rather than opting for a costly war
between the United States and Spain.
Virginius Affair started a resurgence in
the US Navy. After the Civil War; its
fleet had been inferior to the warships
of Spain.

19. “Fry Affair”
After the Virginius left the harbor of
Kingston, Jamaica, Spanish warships
capture her - October 31, 1873
After a short trial, four resistance leaders
were executed on November 5th.
Fry and 48 of his passengers/ crew were
executed by firing squad on the 7th (only
Fry died on the first volley: rest were
bayoneted to death).
US consul Caleb Cushing ended episode by
negotiating $80,000 in reparations to be
paid to the families of the Americans who
were executed
Captain Joseph Fry at age 47 left behind a
wife and seven children

20. Demand for Independence
1878: Pact of Zanjón ended the conflict, granting greater autonomy
 2000 Cuban Chinese, imported as indentured laborers joined the rebels
o Monument in Havana honors the Cuban Chinese who fell
 José Martí, Antonio Maceo and Máximo Gómez, succeeded in mobilizing
peasants and extending the rebellion across the Island
 Martí was a journalist, poet and philosopher and is regarded by Cubans
as the apostle and national hero of independent Cuba
1892: Martí and, other exiles in Miami, founded Cuban Revolutionary Party
1895: New uprising against Spain
 Martí was killed in the early stages of the fighting
 Máximo Gómez, Antonio Maceo and others continued the fight

21. Spanish-American
War

22. Spanish-American War
 Main issue was Cuban independence
 U.S. backed revolts against Spanish prior to Spanish–American War
 U.S. battleship Maine was sent to protect U.S. interests
o 2/15/1898 at 9:40pm, ship exploded killing ¾ of the crew
 Publishers Joseph Pulitzer and William Randolph Hearst used
yellow journalism to call for war
“You furnish the pictures and I'll furnish the war.” ~ Hearst
 April 20, 1898: President McKinley signs Congressional resolution
 April 25, Congress declares war on Spain
o One of five wars to have been formally declared by U.S. Congress
 1898 Treaty of Paris: Favorable to the U.S.
 Temporary control of Cuba
 Ceded ownership of Puerto Rico, Guam and Philippine islands

23. Rough Riders: Name given to 1st U.S. Volunteer Cavalry, one of three regiments
raised for the Spanish–American War, and only one to see action
 Mostly college athletes, cowboys, ranchers, miners, and outdoorsmen
Teddy & the Rough Riders

24. 1898: Strength of the Regular U.S. Army was just 25,000 men
 President William McKinley called up 125,000 volunteers
 Colonel Leonard Wood - Regiment first commander
 Wood’s 2nd in command was former Assistant Secretary of the Navy,
Theodore Roosevelt
 When Colonel Wood became commander of the 2nd Cavalry Brigade,
the Rough Riders then became "Roosevelt's Rough Riders.”
 Pressure from D.C., Forced General Shafter to dispatch troops early
 May 29, 1898: 1,060 Rough Riders and 1,258 horses headed
to Tampa, Florida where they would set off for Cuba
T.R. & the Rough Riders

25. T.R. & the Rough Riders
 8 of 12 companies were permitted to
leave Tampa
 Horses and mules were left behind
 Rough Riders: Not infantry and not
conditioned to do heavy marching, in
hot, humid, and dense jungle
 ¼ who received training had been
lost to malaria and yellow fever
(significant loss in men and morale)
 Three battles
 Las Guasimas
 San Juan Hill
 Siege of Santiago

26. Battle for San Juan Hill
 San Juan Heights: San Juan and Kettle hill separated by small
valley and pond
 General Lawton's division would be main fighters and take El Caney, a
Spanish stronghold, a few miles away
 Roosevelt: No specific orders; just told to march to San Juan Heights
o Over 1000 Spanish soldiers held the area
o Cavalry was to simply serve as a distraction while artillery fired
o Battle of San Juan Heights began with artillery at Spanish location
 Roosevelt, recognizing no senior officer, declared himself ranking
officer and ordered a charge up Kettle Hill
o Roosevelt drew his sidearm and promised he would fire if they
turned back from charging up the hill
o Kettle Hill taken in 20 minutes; rest of San Juan Heights taken
within the hour

27. President’s 1898 to Present
1902: Estrada Palma to take office as Cuba's first president
1909: Jose Miguel Gomez
1913: Mario Garcia Menocal; reelected in 1917
1921: Alfredo Zayas
1924: General Gerardo Machado
1933: Carlos Manuel de Cospedes
Revolt of the Sergeants
1934: Carlos Hevia
1934: Manuel Marquez Sterling
1935: Carlos Mendieta Montefur
1936: Jose A. Barnet y Vinageras
1936: Miguel Mariano Gomez Arias
1936: Fredrico Laredo Fru
1940: Fulgencio Batista y Zaldivar Batista
1959: Fidel Alejandro Castro
2016: Raúl Castro
2018: Miguel Díaz-Canel

28. Ernest Hemingway
(aka “Papa”)
 Hemingway was a notorious lover, fighter,
boozer, and hunter.
 Perhaps the manliest man to ever
walk this planet!
 Hemingway preferred to be drunk
o “Not drunk in any positive sense….
But just enough to be careless,"
~ The Sun Also Rises

29. Hemingway’s first home in Cuba:
Lived for seven years in the 1930’s
Room #511
While living in Ambos Mundos wrote:
For Whom the Bell Tolls
Now a museum
Hotel Ambos Mundos

30. Finca Viga (lookout farm)
 9 miles from Havana, first purchased by Ernest Hemingway in 1940
Finca Vigia and the Hemingway Museum are located in the
town of San Francisco de Paula
Hours: 10am to 4pm, Monday thru Saturday; 9am to 1pm, Sunday
 Wife convinced him to move here so he wouldn’t be in so close proximity
to the Floridita, and La Bodegita

31. Papa in Havana
(Daiquiri)
Restaurante Floridita
Obispo
557 esq a Monserrate
Habana Vieja,
Havana 10100, Cuba
+53 7 8671300

32. La Bodeguita del Medio
Empedrado No. 207 | e/
Cuba y San Ignacio,
Havana, Cuba
+53 7 8671374
(Mojito)

33. Papa’s Quotes on Drinks
Wine: "Wine is a grand thing," I said. "It makes you forget all the bad."
~A Farewell to Arms
Daiquiris: “This frozen daiquiri, so well beaten as it is, looks like the sea
where the wave falls away from the bow of a ship when she
is doing thirty knots.” ~Islands in the Stream
Whiskey: "Never delay kissing a pretty girl or opening a bottle of
whiskey."
Mojito: "My mojito in the Bodeguita del Medio and my daiquiri in
the Floridita."
Champagne: "The half bottle of champagne is the enemy of man."
Tequila: Papa, lovingly referred to tequila as "the steering liquor."

34. The “Walk”
"My mojito in the Bodeguita del Medio and my daiquiri in the Floridita."

35. Other Sites to See
 No internet: Buy book or map!
• MAP.ME
• Morro castle
• Old Havana
• Malecón (seawall)
• Paladares – “self run restaurant”
• Hotel Nacional’ (i.e. Rita Hayword)
• Museum of the Revolution
• The Citadel
• Colon Cemetery
• El cañonazo de las nueve: 9 pm at La Cabaña,
 cannons fire to close the city gates
 José Martí Mausoleum- Founded
Cuban Revolutionary Party
• To achieve independence from Spain
• Died at the Battle of Dos Ríos, 1895

36. Useless Male Trivia

37. Useless Male Trivia I
 Huracán
 Taínos words we use today:
 Hamaca
 Canoa
 Barbacoa
o Hammock
o Canoe
o Barbecue
o Hurricane: aka Big Wind or God of Storms

38. Useless Male Trivia II
1783: Last naval battle of American Revolution took place off Havana
 Involved the USS Alliance and two British frigates and a
sloop-of-war
 Four U.S. Presidents have tried to buy Cuba from Spain
 1808: Thomas Jefferson for an undisclosed sum
 1848: James Polk for $100 million
 1854: Franklin Pierce for $130 million
 1898: William McKinley for $300 million

39. Useless Male Trivia III
 Rough Riders also called "Wood's Weary Walkers" in honor of
its first commander Colonel Leonard Wood
 Aptly named since the rough riders, leaving their horses in Tampa had
to fight on foot in Cuba
 Spanish – American War Tax: 1898 – 2006
 Luxury tax to help pay for the Spanish-American War
 3% surcharge was calculated on length of call; distance of connection
 First levied – only 681,000 phone subscribers in U.S.
 Annual charge for phone in 1890's was about $100 ($2,200 today)
 3-minute call: New York to Chicago in 1902 cost $5.45 ($120 today)
 When “unlimited” long-distance calling plans became commonplace,
tax was applied to a flat monthly fee

40. Useless Male Trivia IV
 No animals or plants in Cuba that are poisonous or lethal to humans
1950: First Latin American country to have television
 Singer Gloria Estefan, Queen: Empress of the Sea
 Born in Havana September 1, 1957
 Father was a bodyguard for President Fulgencio Batista
2000: Fidel Castro erected a statue of John Lennon from The Beatles
 Castro admired Lennon: Believed he was a true music revolutionary
 Located in John Lennon Park, Vedado, Havana
 Glasses have been stolen so many times that there is now a guard to
hold them. They only get placed when tourists arrive for photos!

41. Question’s ??

42. Back up slides

43. Castillo de la Real Fuerza
Oldest Stone Fort in the Americas

44. Castillo de la Real Fuerza
 Castillo de la Real Fuerza: West side Havana harbor, near Plaza de Armas
1555: Jacques de Sores, French Privateer, wrecked Fuerza Vieja (Old Force)
1558: Bartolomé Sánchez, began work on fort Fuerza Nueva (New Force)
1577: Completed with slaves and French prisoners providing labor
 Closer than Fuerza Vieja, still too distant from the mouth of
the harbor to serve effectively
1634: Weathervane, La Giraldilla, in honor Inés de Bobadilla,
Havana's only female gov: Assumed control when husband
Hernando de Soto undertook expedition to Florida
 Spent years scanning horizon for his ship (unknown that he died)
 Figure became symbol of the city of Havana and is now held
in the Palacio de los Capitanes Generales in the Plaza de Armas

45. Castillo de la Real Fuerza
1959: Housed offices of National Commission of Monuments and
Centre of Preservation, Restoration and Museology
1977: 400th anniversary of completion, inaugurated as museum and display
exhibitions of Cuban contemporary and international art
1990: National Museum of Cuban Ceramics
2010: Opened as Cuba’s premier maritime museum
o Ancient navigational instruments
o Underwater archaeological artifacts
o Gold and silver from the colonial era
 Features model of the Santisima Trinidad
o Launched 3/2/1769 was largest ship in the world
o One of four Cuban-built ships at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805

46. François Le Clerc
(aka "Pie de Palo")
1st Pirate in modern era to have a "peg leg"
#13 Forbes Top-Earning Pirates /$8.2 million
 Lost his leg while fighting the English in 1549
1554: Sacked Santiago de Cuba (1st capital of Cuba), which was so
devastating that the capital was moved to Havana
1563: Pie de Palo was killed in Azores while hunting Spanish treasure ships
Useless Male Trivia I

47. República de Cuba
 Considered part of Latin America
 Cuba encompasses one large island and several small islands
 Climate: Semi-tropical or temperate
 Coastline is marked by bays, reefs, keys, and islets
 Southern coast stretch lowlands and swamps
 ½ Cuba consists of flat/rolling terrain, remainder is
mountainous
 Eastern Cuba is dominated by the Sierra Maestra mountains
 Central Cuba contains the Trinidad (Escambray) Mountains
 Western Cuba contains the Sierra de los Órganos

48. Conflicts & Commodities
1521–1526: Italian War (aka Four Years' War):
1585- 1604: Anglo-Spanish War: Trade disputes in the New World
1618 – 1648: Thirty Years' War: Series of wars in Central Europe
Anglo-Dutch wars: 1652–1654; 1665–1667; 1672–1674, and 1780–1784
English vs. Dutch for control of trade routes and colonies
1688–97: Nine Years' War (aka War of the Grand Alliance):
1701-1713: War of Spanish Succession (aka Queen Anne’s War)
1739: War of Jenkins Ear
1756-1763: The Seven Years' War
* European Wars facilitated piracy and privateering throughout the Caribbean

49. The Spanish Main

50. Spanish Empire circa 1600’s

51. The situation for the conquerors became very difficult in Baracoa. They hoped to find a
docile and peaceful population, but soon they had to face the attack of their inhabitants.
In 1511, Diego Velázquez set out from Hispaniola to conquer the island of Caobana
(Cuba). He was preceded, however, by Hatuey, who fled Hispaniola with a party of four
hundred in canoes and warned the inhabitants of Caobana about what to expect from
the Spaniards.
The people of Caobana (Cuba) could not believe Hatuey's message, and few joined him
to fight. Hatuey resorted to guerrilla tactics against the Spaniards, and was able to
confine them to their fort at Baracoa.
Hatuey was able to gather about 300 armed men with macanas, stone axes and wooden
lances, to confront the conquerors.
The Spaniards had firearms, lances and swords of steel. They were protected by shields,
helmets and meshes of metal, and they counted, also, with the horse and the tracker
dog.
This cacique knew the enemy's superiority that should face, hence he put in practice the
tactics used by the Indians in The Spaniard, that is to say, to attack the Spaniards for
surprise and to disappear quickly. Lacking in experience in military actions, these
attacks were made with great shouting, alerting the Spaniards who responded with the
fire of their weapons and they caused them great number of low.

52. Background
 República de Cuba
 Pre- Columbus: Inhabited by three tribes; Taíno, Guanajatabey and
Ciboney; estimated population of 150,000
 Cuba: Largest island in the Caribbean, and second-most populous after
Hispaniola (over 11 million).
 Major cities: Havana (Capital), Santiago de Cuba and Camagüey
 Cuba is considered part of Latin America
 Multi-ethnic country whose people, culture and customs derive from
aboriginal peoples, Spanish colonialism and African slaves
 15th century, until Spanish–American War (1898), colony of Spain
 Gained nominal Independence as a de facto U.S. protectorate in 1902

53. Economics
War of Spanish Succession
1701-1713
 Indian decimation forced Spain to rely on African slaves operate
Creation of the Transatlantic Slave Trade: Europe, Africa, New World
 1713: Treaty of Utrecht - Spain gave permission “Asiento” to Great Britain
to supply African slaves to Spanish territories in the Americas
 Surplus of sailors drive wages down coupled with poor living conditions
due to desire to maximize profits
 Increase in shipping trade increased pirates preying in the Caribbean
 Piracy flourished because of pirate friendly seaports such as Port Royal,
Tortuga, and Nassau
 Especially as gold and silver became less important, and replaced by
cash crops that could make men very rich (i.e. sugar, tobacco, and coco)

54. Slave Trade
 The growth of Cuba's commerce in late eighteenth and early nineteenth
century was due to the Haitian Revolution
 When the enslaved peoples of what had been the Caribbean's richest
colony freed themselves through violent revolt, Cuban planters
perceived the region's changing circumstances with a sense of fear
 However, planters also saw opportunity as they could transform Cuba into
A slave society and sugar-producing "pearl of the Antilles" that Haiti had
been before the revolution
 As slavery and colonialism collapsed in Haiti, Cuba’s transformations
were almost the mirror image of Haiti’s
 1790 -1820
o 325,000 Africans were imported slaves
(4 X the amount 1760 - 1790)

55. “Wracke & Ruine”of Havana
1577: Castillo de la Real Fuerza completed
 Oldest building still standing in Havana
 Bad construction:
o Moat too deep
o Central courtyard was too small
o Located too far into the harbor to deter invaders
 Nearly 40 years to fully construct these defenses; once completed, Havana
was the most heavily fortified city in the Spanish Empire
 So important were these fortresses to the city’s identity that they were
incorporated into the city’s official coat of arms, which consists of three towers
and a golden key—signifying Havana’s status as “the key to the Indies.”
To a large degree, Havana owed its early success to the rise of piracy in the
sixteenth century. Faced with a host of external enemies, Spain retrenched and
concentrated its efforts into making Havana an impregnable fortress. Once
secure, the Havana became the Caribbean’s leading center for ship building
and commerce, eclipsing rival cities and becoming one of the largest, most

56. 18th Century
 Cuba: Developed as an urbanized society to support the Spanish empire
 mid-18th century - held 50,000 slaves,
 British - Virginia (300,000); Barbados (60,000)
 French - Saint Domingue (450,000 - large sugar cane plantations)
1754 - Seven Years' War: Spain's alliance with France put into direct
conflict with Britain
 1762 - British expedition (5 ships/4,000 troops) set out to capture Cuba
 Havana surrendered; British opened trade with their colonies
o Importing food, horses and other goods, as well as thousands of
slaves from Africa to work on under-developed sugar plantations
 London sugar merchants forced negotiations with Spanish over colonial
territories (feared a decline in sugar prices)
 1763 - Britain signed the Peace of Paris with France and Spain
 Treaty gave Britain Florida in exchange for Cuba

57. Spain’s & Portugal’s Mare Clausum!

58. Rums of the Caribbean

59. Slave Trade
 1513 -1763: Slaves imported into Cuba approximately 60,000
 1713: Treaty of Utrecht - Spain gave “Asiento” to Great Britain
 1763 -1865: Number imported slaves reached about 600,000
 19th century-vast expansion of immigration into Cuba from Europe
 1861: Twice as many white males in Havana as white females
 Black and Mulatto population was approximately same number
 Thus, immigration led to a continued mixing of the races
 Major effect on the demographics of Cuba

60. Fry’s Letter to His Wife
Letter to wife: On Board the Spanish Man of War La Tornado
Santiago de Cuba, November 6, 1873
Dear, dear, Dita: When I left you I had no idea that we should never meet
again in this world; but it seems strange to me that I should tonight, and on
Annie’s birthday, be calmly seated, on a beautiful moonlight night, in a most
beautiful bay in Cuba, to take my last leave of you, my own dear, sweet wife!
and with the thought of your bitter anguish my only regret at leaving.
I have been tried today and the President of the court martial asked the favor
of embracing me at parting, and clasped me to his heart. I have shaken hands
with each of my judges; and the secretary of the court and interpreter
promised me, as a special favor, to attend execution, which will, I am told, be
in a very few hours after my sentence is pronounced. I am told my death will
be painless: in short, I had a very cheerful and pleasant chat about my
funeral, to which I shall go in a few hours from now. How soon I cannot yet
say. It is curious to see how I make friends. Poor Bambetta pronounced me a
gentleman, and he was the brightest and bravest creature I ever saw.
The priest who gave me communion on this morning put a double scapular
about the neck, and a medal, which he intends to wear himself. A young
Spanish officer brought me a bright, new silk badge, with the Blessed Virgin
stamped upon it, to wear to my execution for him, and a handsome cross in
some fair lady’s handiwork. These are to be kept as relics me. He embraced
me affectionately in my room with tears in his eyes…
Dear sweetheart, you will be able to bear it for my sake, for I will be with you
if God permits it. Although I know my hours are short and few, I am not
sad. I feel I shall always be with you right soon, dear Dita, and you will not be
afraid of me…
Pray for me and I will pray with you…There is to be a fearful sacrifice of life

61. Background
 República de Cuba
 Unrest and instability led to Batista's ousting in January 1959
 July 26 Movement, which afterwards established communist rule
under the leadership of Fidel Castro
 Cuba is one of the world’s only planned economies and its economy is
dominated by the exports of sugar, tobacco, coffee and skilled labor