Exile and Revolution: José D. Poyo, Key West, and Cuban Independence

5. Persistence

· 118 · 5 PERSISTENCE I think that if through a discrete, prudent, and cautious plan we decided to take from Spaniards in Cuba the money needed to commence, we would save time and prevent difficulties that today seem insurmountable. José D. Poyo, 1888 One evening in late August 1887, José D. Poyo and Ten Years’ War veteran General Juan Fernández Ruz, a newcomer to Key West, met with a group of conspirators and made final preparations for a small expedition. In the name of the Key West revolutionary committee, Poyo and Ruz commissioned Manuel Beribén (aka Quiebra Hachas, a hardwood tree known colloquially in Cuba as“axe-breaker”) and Manuel García as commanders of around forty-five fighters. Few in Key West contributed to this small operation, but funds arrived from Cuba. Although the Spanish consul tried to monitor the group’s comings and goings, all he could tell his superiors in September was that an expedition had left for Cardenas.Hearing that yet another contingent was preparing to depart, concerned authorities in Cuba dispatched a warship to patrol the waters around Key West. A Spanish vessel was also docked at Key West, and rumors circulated that it brought agents intending to kidnap Cuban American citizens involved in the latest activities. However, these rumors proved to be false. Key West Cubans persisted in fomenting revolution despite difficult circumstances .In addition to the disastrous fire that destroyed the community’s financial base,NewYork Cubans remained opposed to insurgency,the autonomist liberals in Havana continued to seek accommodation, workers seemed disengaged from nationalism,and military leaders had not yet recovered from their latest defeat. Gone were the days of patriotic enthusiasm when manufacturers and workers conspired together and donated funds to the cause. Persistence · 119 One correspondent in New York declared that patriotism was on the decline and that financial contributions had dried up. However,the local nationalist leadership in Key West adjusted. El Yara and La Propaganda continued the nationalist drumbeat, and Manuel Beribén and Manuel García offered new ways of challenging Spanish power. Poyo pursued these strategies with his usual determination. Politicized Bandoleros During the mid- to late 1880s, difficult economic and social conditions in rural Cuba gave rise to a grave problem with marauding bands that the Spanish government referred to as bandoleros (bandits). Dozens of independent bands roamed the countryside,forcing the Spanish government to establish a Civil Guard that was capable of tracking them down. But not all were purely bandits.Many were bandits turned patriots who justified their activities with nationalist rhetoric and financial donations to the independence cause. Regardless of their motivations,the bands shared a similar modus operandi that included attacking military outposts,farms,plantations,and small towns and confiscating supplies and livestock. Kidnapping and ransoming prominent plantation owners or their family members proved the most lucrative. For example, in 1885 and 1886, abductions in Matanzas produced 70,000 gold pesos. Plantation owners even paid annual levies to avoid kidnappings or having their fields torched. In 1884, authorities provided the Rural Guard with permanent garrisons, especially in the sugar zones, forcing many of the marauders to depart for Key West, a close and hospitable safe haven. Others took advantage of a Spanish policy that provided safe passage if they agreed to cease operations. Key West authorities bitterly complained about this policy. Among the fighters being organized by Poyo and Ruz to embark for Cuba in 1887 were veterans of Carlos Aguero’s guerrilla operation and a number of recent bandit arrivals to Key West. Some, like Aguero’s and Bonachea’s men in the early part of the decade had clear nationalist credentials and goals and were seen by many Cubans as patriots. Perico Torres, Rosendo García, and José Alvarez Arteaga (Matagás), members of Carlos Aguero’s expedition, remained in Cuba after their leader’s death. Torres and Rosendo García joined Lengüe Romero, a notorious bandit in Havana Province, and 120 · Exile and Revolution Matagás established his own group in Matanzas. Before joining Aguero in 1883, Matagás had traveled around Cuba’s countryside robbing travelers, but he soon committed to the separatist cause. He remained in action until he was killed in 1896. Throughout 1885 both groups participated in kidnappings and robberies, all the while proclaiming“Viva Cuba Libre,” presumably waiting for the arrival of M...