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

Introduction

INTRODUCTION Revolution and exile. This book is about a man and his exile community in Key West struggling against the odds during thirty years to achieve revolution and an independent Cuban republic dedicated to the welfare of all its citizens.“Adelante la revolución”(Forward the revolution) was his mantra; immediate armed action is what he meant.José de los Dolores de la Encarnación Poyo y Remírez de Estenóz (1836–1911) died a little over a century ago,but his political career as a revolutionary nationalist and the history of his insurgent community remind us during this era of global rebellion and upheaval about the power of grievance, ideology, leadership, and popular aspirations to mobilize people and communities for radical action and change. Cuban independence required upheaval and violence and involved a leap of faith informed with ideals and convictions, particular historical circumstances , personal pain and sacrifice, and the patriotic fervor of religious intensity . Optimistic and acting with an aura of certainty, though not without distracting bouts of self-doubt and pessimism, Poyo took a leap of faith that ultimately translated into practical methods of revolutionary action. Too much intellectual pondering threatened paralysis, which he avoided at all costs. This revolutionary imperative defined Poyo’s nationalist career in Key West as a newspaper editor, cigar factory reader, activist, orator, social critic, Freemason, and even as a husband and father. Poyo lived during an era of nationalism and political and socioeconomic change in Latin America, a period when nations struggled to emerge from the remnants of the Spanish and Portuguese empires.Thousands of Hispanics were exiles during the nineteenth century, unexpectedly torn from their homelands by political disruption, violence, or civil war. Many sought refuge· 1 · 2 · Exile and Revolution in the United States—especially Mexicans, Puerto Ricans, Dominicans, and Cubans. Poyo was one of those exiles. In their new places of residence, they participated in building communities that reflected their traditions and heritage. Often they converted immigrants who arrived for economic reasons into exiles, demonstrating that the circumstance of departure was not the only factor in the creation of exile mentalities and communities. They created political organizations, newspapers , strategies for insurrection, and even clandestine armies, all the while finding ways to make a living. Although the exile community was ideologically and socioeconomically diverse, its members generally desired to influence events in their countries of origin and return home. Estimates of the number of Cubans living in the United States during the nineteenth century vary from a low of 20,000 to perhaps a more realistic 100,000,though many more came for business trips,vacations,or short-term residence. Smaller Cuban communities also formed in Venezuela, Central America, Mexico, Peru, Colombia, Jamaica, Haiti, and the Dominican Republic . In Europe they gathered mostly in France and to a lesser extent in England, but the favorite destination remained the United States. Cuban contacts with the Anglo-American colonies began with a brief British occupation of Havana in 1762 during the Seven Years’ War. This encounter laid the foundation for trade between Cuba and the American colonies that expanded throughout the nineteenth century after Cuba replaced Haiti as the dominant sugar export economy in the Caribbean.Cuban communities in the United States included many white and upwardly mobile immigrants who were merchants, intellectuals and writers, journalists, doctors, dentists, lawyers, and entrepreneurs. Others worked in a variety of enterprises common to large cities.Thousands had come to the United States for their education, eschewing the traditional European destinations. They attended elite schools such as Harvard and Columbia; business, commercial, and technical schools; and even boarding schools where they completed secondary education. These new generations took advantage of business contacts and networks, learned English, and generally expanded the economic opportunities and ties of the Cuban community. After the Civil War, a booming Cuban cigar industry in the United States broadened the social and racial composition of the migratory flow. Cigar workers traveled on a circular loop between Havana, New York, New Introduction · 3 Orleans, and Florida, taking advantage of changing economic circumstances and employment possibilities. Cubans of all classes and races established vibrant communities, became citizens, practiced democracy, participated in a dynamic capitalist economy,and integrated and transformed their traditional cultural ways in new community settings. Cubans worshipped in a variety of religious traditions, produced a distinguished body of literature, supported theatre and musical arts, and...