This month we bring you a little taste of
Cuba, recounting of its strong history and how “La
Raza Cubana” came to be here. Nowadays when you
say you are Cuban or Cuban American people immediately assume
you come from the long line of Cuban refugees that entered
the USA after Castro’s Communist takeover on January
1, 1959, 44 years ago. When they hear “Little Havana”
Miami or Union City, NJ comes to mind, but Cuban heritage
and culture go back over a century in the Key West and Tampa
Bay area.
Cuba, our closet neighbor to the south,
is just 90 miles off the coast of Key West, Florida. The
Gulf of Mexico and the Straits of Florida are the 2 bodies
of water that command entrance from Cuba. This proximity
to Florida made it the ideal place for Cubans to flee to
when Spanish rule became increasingly repressive, and a
widespread movement for independence took hold. They came
to find ways to fund their revolt and to organize it. The
ensuing ten-year War resulted in a truce granting many important
concessions by Spain to the Cubans. Discontent came to a
head again 2 years later and the revolution again took hold
under the leadership of writer and patriot Jose Marti and
General Maximo Gomez.
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Un
poquito de Café, con un poquito de Cultura…this
is what Latin Village Magazine brings you each issue! We invite
you to sit down and enjoy a cup of café as you read
our culturally enriching articles featuring one culture per
month and sharing in the warmth and beauty that makes us Latinos!