14ymedio, Pedro Corzo, Miami, 28 January 2024 — To mark an anniversary of the birth of the most notable of all Cubans, Jose Martí (January 28, 1853), many of us who honor that gentleman do everything possible to remember such a great date, based on an unwritten commitment that we have contracted.
That tradition was partly carried out by the Pen Club of Cuban Writers in Exile, chaired by the writer Luis de la Paz, celebrated with the participation of Santiago Cárdenas and Emilio Sánchez, two notable intellectuals who have a profound knowledge of Martí’s work. Both were assisted by two other great admirers of the apostle, Julio Estorino and Sara Martínez Castro, who read Martí’s poems.
Martí’s first action in his struggle for independence is not associated with war, as happened with most of our heroes. His activities began by publishing writings against Spain and by calling a fellow student who had enlisted in the Spanish Army to fight the Mambises of the Ten Years’ War a traitor. For that reason he went to prison and was later exiled to Spain.
It must be recognized that most of the notable personalities who fought for the independence of Spain, members of a glorious and abundant heritage in which Simón Bolívar and Jose de San Martin stand out, patricians of strong national convictions, leadership and indisputable military talent, left indelible traces by establishing the foundations of several republics in the hemisphere.
Martí, we all know, was not a warrior but, by far, the most important promoter of Cuba’s independence from Spain
That glorious group is mainly made up of men of arms. However, we must include other heroes who, alt
