Trip to Santiago - Part 1
Arrival in Cárdenas
After our trip to Santiago in Oriente (more about that below), students arrived at the Christian Center for Reflection and Dialogue (CCRD) in the city of Cárdenas, where they'll stay for the second half of the SST term.
We
arrived in driving rain. At left, Pedro rushes in from the bus. The
horse-cart taxi drivers had
broken out full raingear.
GC students have now started on their routine in Cárdenas. More
about that in a future Web update.
Trip to Santiago
We
left Havana on Monday, June 9 for a major field trip to the Santiago,
on the eastern side of the island. At right, Anna and Andres pose against
the skyline: The city is in the foothills of the Sierra Maestra mountains,
from where Castro and his band launched their revolutionary forces.
Santiago, Cuba's second largest city, was briefly the capital
of the country. In what follows we'll organize things by Cuban history,
rather than the order we took to look around the city.
Colonial Santiago
Christopher
Columbus was the first Spaniard to set eyes on Cuba, but Diego
Velázquez first took control of Cuba in 1511. His house,
on Parque Céspedes, was forgotten for many years, but re-discovered
when a strange hearth, which turned out to be a smelting oven for gold
and silver was unearthed. The house is now being restored, and contains
a fine collection of Cuban furniture.
- Simon in the Casa de Diego Velázquez
- At Parque Céspedes: The cathedral | twins Lisa and Beth | Pete
Later
in the 16th century the Morro Castle (at left with
Ann) was built to protect the narrow
mouth of the bay of Santiago from pirates.
French landowners flee Haiti
Shortly
after the French revolution, slaves in Haiti revolted. The coffee and
sugar growing elite fled a little west to Santiago, bringing their expertise
with them. With huge numbers of African slaves, Cuba became the world's
third-largest sugar producer by 1860.
Independence from Spain
Cuba was the last country in Latin America to be liberated from Spain.
The names of famous fighters from the two wars of independence, such
as Manuel de Céspedes, Antonio Maceo and Máximo Gómez
adorn streets, schools and parks all over Cuba. A huge statue of the
black general Antonio Maceo with the machetes that
came to symbolize the mambisos (Cuban independence fighters)
dominates the huge Revolutionary Square in Santiago.
But
without a doubt the most beloved nationalist from this period was not
a warrior (or at least not a very good one... he died in his first battle)
but rather a poet: From New York José Martí
organized the forces which began the second war of independence in 1895.
His grave is at the Santa Ifigenia cemetery in Santiago, where we saw
the changing of the guard at
his tomb.
Independence, but on U.S. terms
The
U.S. joined the war (remember the Maine?) in 1898. Near the
end of that year, the U.S. navy routed the Spanish Armada anchored at
Santiago, and joint U.S. and Cuban forces overcame the Spaniards at
San Juan hill (at right). Our guide was Pastor Elmer Lavastida,
whose grandfather fought at San Juan with the Mambís.
The monuments speak eloquently of the blood of the two nations mixing
as they struggled together against the Spaniards on the battlefield.
But the Cubans were not invited to the signing of the peace treaty at
the Árbol de Paz
where Spain ceded Cuba and Puerto Rico to the Americans.
Within a few years, Cuba had its own constitution, but one that allowed U.S. intervention. This no doubt provided nationalist fuel for the revolution of 1959 that brought Fidel Castro to power.
- The plaques at the Árbol de Paz commemorate in English both U.S. soldiers killed (in battle) and those who died (of yellow fever and other diseases).
- Deep holes at the
top of San Juan Hill are ventilation shafts for bomb shelters built
against feared U.S. attacks in the 1960s. (In the background,
a ceiba tree).
