The US finally intervened in April 1898, which precipitated the American War. Fuel was added to the fire when the Spanish sank the battleship Maini in Havana Harbor on Feb. 15, 1898. The Cubans entered through Key West and established themselves in Tampa as well. They funded their revolution by making their world famous hand made Cuban cigars that had already achieved an unmatched reputation and was valued the world over. The tobacco was imported from Cuba whose soil produced a high quality tobacco with its own unique taste. As companies invested in the industry, Ybor City and West Tampa flourished and became another Cuba, in Florida. Everyone worked making cigars or in businesses that arose to sustain factories and their employees. You couldn’t walk 2 blocks without running into a factory.

Companies employed “lectores” (readers) who would sit high over the cigar makers and read the daily paper, reading great works of art among other things. This improved their mind and production. Jose Marti, and Roosevelt and the Rough Riders all embarked from the Port of Tampa with funds and recruits for Cuba. As you travel through Ybor City you will see markers where famous speeches were made by Marti to ignite his fellow Cubans to rally around the revolution. The site of the University of Tampa was a famous hotel where Roosevelt and his men stayed and regrouped between their trips to fight in Cuba.

So you see Cubanos, with their diverse mixture of Indian, African, and Spanish heritage culture have been here in the Tampa and Key West area for over a century. In fact, some attempted to return to Cuba when the US took it under their protection but could not adjust to the changes in the land they had left behind. Upon returning they attempted to make Ybor City more like their Cuba of old. In 1902 the Cuban Club or “Circulo Cubano”, a recreational society became the gathering place for Cubans, and their link to the homeland. The Cuban Club, “El Club Marti Maseo”, named after a black hero of the revolution; and “El Centro Espanol” are still providing gathering places for our Cuban community. In recent years the newly arrived Cubans have formed “El Club Civico Cubano” in the Town n Country area of Tampa.

We hope you enjoyed this month’s Café Y Cultura!