Kingston, Jamaica, 7 December 2021. Antonio Maceo is one of those names that unites Cuba and Jamaica, and that shows the strong geographical, historical and solidarity bonds that unite both Caribbean islands.
After two years of absence set by the Covid-19, workers of the Cuban Embassy in Jamaica returned to the bust of Maceo located in the National Heroes Park, in the centre of Kingston, to pay tribute to the Bronze Titan. One hundred and twenty-five years after his fall in combat for the independence of Cuba, the collective of the diplomatic mission reaffirmed that Antonio Maceo´s thinking endures presently, when the empire tries to undermine the sovereignty, independence and unity of our people. In front of his effigy, participants recalled the prophetic words of the Lieutenant General of the Liberation Army: " Whoever tries to take power over Cuba will only get the dust of its soil drenched in blood, if he does not perish in the struggle."
The monument to the famous Cuban patriot is the only one ever built within the perimeter of the National Heroes Park in Kingston to memorialize a foreign hero. It was donated by the Cuban people in 1952, in recognition of the decision of the authorities in Jamaica, then a British colony, to offer Maceo asylum after the end of the Ten Years' War. Mariana Grajales, Antonio's mother, lived in Jamaica until her death in 1893. The house of the Maceo family in Jamaica was the site of a conspiracy for independence during the so-called "fertile truce", and an obligatory stop for the patriots who visited the island in that period, including José Martí.