A propósito de conmemorar en unos días el Aniversario 169 del natalicio de José Martí, les presentamos algunas reseñas de su paso por Bahamas y del monumento en la Isla de Inagua.
Cancillería de Cuba Nación y Emigración Ernesto Soberón Guzmán
2013.El primer monumento a José Martí inaugurado recientemente en la Isla de Inagua, en Las Bahamas, recuerda el paso del Apóstol por ese territorio durante su periplo desde República Dominicana hacia Cuba, en 1895, con el fin de incorporarse a la Guerra de Independencia.
Fernando Rojas Gutiérrez, viceministro de Cultura en nuestro país, al develar el monumento —acompañado del escultor cubano Tomás Vicente Lara Franquis, autor de la obra—, destacó la capacidad de organización y liderazgo del más universal de los cubanos, así como sus ideales de justicia y libertad, que legó a las generaciones en Cuba y el resto del mundo. Asimismo, trasladó el profundo agradecimiento de nuestro pueblo por el merecido homenaje que desde allí le hacen a Martí.
Las autoridades locales, encabezadas por el gobernador general de Las Bahamas, Sir Arthur Foulkes, coincidieron en destacar el honor que representa para el pueblo bahamés el poder rendir tributo al Héroe Nacional cubano, lo cual calificaron como un reflejo del buen estado de las relaciones bilaterales entre ambos países.
El Gobernador General resaltó las dotes de escritor, poeta, filósofo, pensador y hombre de acción que se conjugaron de manera extraordinaria en Martí, y señaló que este monumento es muestra de la hermandad que une a Cuba y Las Bahamas.
Según informó a este diario Ernesto Soberón Guzmán, embajador cubano en ese país, la ceremonia se inscribe dentro del programa de actividades previsto por la Embajada, de conjunto con el gobierno y amigos bahameses, con vista a conmemorar el aniversario 160 del natalicio de José Martí, así como el 40 de la independencia de Las Bahamas.
(Con información de Granma)
3 de abril de 2019. La Sociedad Histórica de Las Bahamas publicó un interesante artículo en el que recuerda la llegada de José Martí a tierras bahamesas, en abril de 1895. La fuente relata que Martí permaneció alrededor de dos semanas en la isla de Inagua, ubicada en la zona sur del archipiélago bahamés.
Destaca la publicación que durante este tiempo, el fundador del Partido Revolucionario Cubano estableció relaciones con Heinrich Lowe, Capitán del buque “Nordstrand” quien lo trasladaría a Cuba el 10 de abril, junto a Máximo Gómez y otros luchadores por la independencia. La Sociedad Histórica de Las Bahamas resaltó la significación de este hecho, preámbulo del desembarco del Apóstol por Playita de Cajobabo y a sólo un mes de su caída en combate en Dos Ríos.
En 2013, para perpetuar el recuerdo del paso del más universal de todos los cubanos por esta nación caribeña, el gobierno bahamés develó un hermoso monumento en la isla de Inagua. El escultor cubano, Tomás Vicente Lara, fue el creador de dicha obra.
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Unveiling of the Jose Marti Monument in Mathew Town
By Gena Gibbs, BIS
Feb 23, 2013 - 9:21:00 PM
Sir Arthur addresses spirit of division
Matthew Town, Inagua, BAHAMAS -- During the unveiling of the Jose Marti Monument in Mathew Town, Inagua February 23, Governor General Sir Arthur Foulkes spoke of the sin of inequity that comes from the struggle for survival . He said vanity not only divides people, but opens an equal opportunity to take advantage of each others weaknesses.
Also taking part in the unveiling to commemorate Jose Marti's stop at Inagua on April 11, 1895 was Ernesto Soberon Guzman, Ambassador of the Republic of Cuba to The Bahamas.
"Our tribute to Jose Marti comes at a time when the people who share this common habitat of Planet Earth are facing an array of challenges to world equilibrium, amity and comity; and threats to their peace, their security and -- it is unfortunately not an exaggeration to say -- even their survival," said Sir Arthur.
"Listen to Jose Marti again: 'Men have no special rights because they belong to one race or another. When you say men, you have already imbued them with all their rights. … Anything that divides men from each other, that separates them, singles them out, or hems them in, is a sin against humanity'."
Sir Arthur read the words of Marti, who was the great Cuban liberator, poet, philosopher and journalist. Marti lived in exile in Santo Domingo in March 1895 and wrote the Montecristi Manifesto to justify the final Cuban War of Independence from Spain. He believed that original sin is using one's human features and character to oppress and abuse, as well as divide and conquer.
"'If that is true, then great is the original sin of those who use religion, gender, race or ethnicity to divide humankind; great is the sin of those who use narrow national interests to single out and oppress others; and greater yet is the sin of those who use division and strife to facilitate their abuse of the planet and the pillage of our common natural heritage'," said Sir Arthur.
'For too many generations the progress of humankind has been hampered by powerful forces using the doctrine of divide and rule, divide and oppress, divide and exploit'."
In April 1895, Marti left Santo Domingo and took five others with him to go back to the Cuban revolution that had already started. The group of revolutionaries stopped at Inagua and were searched by British officials, but were released. Marti bought a dinghy for 100 pesos and persuaded Captain Heinrich Lowe, who was the captain of a German ship at Inagua, to deliver the revolutionaries and their weapons to Cuba. On April 11, 1895, Marti and his comrades were launched from the S.S. Nordstrand and rowed ashore in stormy weather.
"Today, as ever, there is a clear imperative for those who, like Jose Marti, believe in a common higher destiny for humankind, for those who believe that it is only by working together that our noblest aspirations can be achieved, for those who believe that global cooperation is indispensable if humankind is to survive on Planet Earth.
That imperative is very obviously unity: unity of identity, unity of purpose and spirit, and, most of all, unity of action," said the Governor General.
Jose Marti and his comrades made it to Cuba, however the human rights revolutionary leader and father of Cuban Independence died in battle the next month. Marti, like Dr. Martin Luther King, accepted the consequence that longevity was not his destiny. Marti did not live to see the end of what he fought to achieve, but he delivered his men to the promised land. Sir Arthur highlighted that the struggle for equality continues to exist throughout the world as a part of the vulnerability in both the environment and the human condition.
"The denial of equality to women and minorities in too many parts of the world must be of urgent concern even to those who happily enjoy such rights. The existence of hunger and poverty must be deeply disturbing to those who themselves have enough to eat and enough to live. The pain of those who suffer from the fires of war and the indignities of occupation must also be the pain of those who enjoy peace and self-determination," said Sir Arthur.
"And, the deterioration of coral reefs in the Caribbean must be quite as alarming as the fires in Australia or the hurricane which swept through the Caribbean and almost brought a great metropolis to its knees. Hurricane Sandy, which spawned off the coast of Africa, crossed the Atlantic, swept through the Caribbean and roared into metropolitan North America, is not just an example of nature’s unwillingness to discriminate; it is also a metaphor for the social and economic oneness and vulnerability of all humanity."
Sir Arthur ended his address with the awareness that judgement and suffering is a common thread in the advancement of any unbalanced civilization, where survival is defined by the deficiencies of the community.
"Everybody suffers and the advance of civilization is obstructed when some – wherever they are in the world -- must endure crushing poverty, or lack of health care, or discrimination based on race, gender, ethnicity or any other accidents of biology or history. So we are challenged now to give practical and sustained effect to the imperative of unity, unity of action in the face of these challenges," said Sir Arthur.
"In our struggles for noble objectives let us never fall prey to ignoble impulses like bitterness, and hatred, and a spirit of vengeance; but let us in season and out of season always cultivate a sweetness of soul and a generosity of spirit."