Wanderers in Wonder

No Castro in Cuba

During a lovely dinner prepared by our St. Louis friends, Kevin and Julie, the other night Kevin commented that back in the early ‘60’s there were ‘No Castro in Cuba’ signs in Cuba, Missouri, a RTE 66 town Mary Ann and I had visited earlier in the week. 

We all know the story, Cuban revolutionaries led by Fidel Castro forced the Batista government to flee the Island in early 1959. As was true of all Cuban revolutions starting in the early 1800’s, land reform was the rallying cry. That most famous of all Cuban writers, Jose Marti, and the staunch hero of the 1896 – 1898 Cuban War for Independence, Antonio Maceo, were the long gone but treasured voices of the Castro Revolution. 

It was not a given in 1959 that Cuba would end up embracing the Soviet Union, our arch enemy during the Cold War. Fidel Castro was greeted warmly in the United States in the aftermath of his successful revolution. Unfortunately, Cuba’s land reform led to losses for U.S. business interests. Cuba’s land reform also led to the takeover of many sugar refineries which led to further losses for U.S. business interests. The U.S. Government eventually placed an embargo trade with Cuba crippling the Cuban economy. The Soviet Union offered to fill the void. Cuba fell into the Soviet Union’s outstretched arms. 

Walter Salas y Humara. 

On a personal note, Castro’s takeover of Cuba led to my friendship with Walter and his older brother. As Walter sums up his early life, “I was conceived in Havana, born in New York City and raised in South Florida”. Walter’s family was part of the initial wave of Cubans who fled Castro’s Cuba. Walter is a very accomplished musician and artist…https://www.waltersalashumara.com/. 

Walter’s older brother Ignacio is also a good friend. Ignacio is a renowned Texas Hill Country architect…https://isharchitect.com/.

Ignacio is also a member of the Pure Bred Longhorn Society. Ignacio with one of his longhorns, Little Ricky, on his spread in Comfort, TX.

Ignacio’s wife, Dinah, is a world class educator…https://dinah.com/dinah-zike-m-ed/. Ignacio and Dinah are a lovely couple.

Back to Cuba…

And so, Castro, who in 1959 had been labeled an anti-communist in a 1959 CIA assessment, Castro who had been cheered during his 1959 tour of the U.S., Castro who had enjoyed a cordial lunch with Vice President Nixon on his U.S. trip, Castro whose Meet the Press appearance had been positively received by the American public, Castro who had read the Gettysburg address to a crowd of Americans at the Lincoln Memorial, many sporting fake ‘Fidel Beards’ which had been hastily made by a U.S. toy manufacturer, became one of America’s archenemies…ergo, ‘No Castro in Cuba’ signs went up in Cuba, Missouri in the early 1960’s.

Strangely, the town of Cuba, Missouri had been named for the island of Cuba. In the 1850’s there was a general store in the future town of Cuba. The proprietor of the store, George Jamison, named the growing community Amanda to honor his wife. As the story goes, many of George’s customers often expressed sympathy for the people of Cuba and their ongoing struggle for independence. When it came time to officially name the town and establish a post office there were those who wanted the name to be Amanda and those who wanted the name to be Cuba. It was decided that Amanda would be written on one side of a short plank and Cuba on the other. The plank was tossed into the air and landed Cuba side up, ergo Cuba would be the community’s name. 

Further digging led me to a part of U.S. history forgotten by most of us. In the early to mid-18^th century the Southern Slave states were always looking for ways for the U.S. to expand in the hopes of adding more ‘slave states’. They needed at least equality in the U.S. Senate to check the ‘free states’ control of the House of Representatives. The Southern Slave States were avid supporters of the annexation of Texas and the expansion of slavery into the West. They also supported ‘filibusters’ to the Caribbean and Central America. Filibusters in the nineteenth century were unofficial military operations intended to seize land from foreign countries or foment revolutions on foreign soil. Cuba was a prime target.

In 1851 Narisco Lopez, a Venezuelan born revolutionary  seeking to end Spanish control of Cuba, raised money in New Orleans to arm and pay soldiers to lead an attack on the Spanish in Cuba. Narisco and his men sailed from New Orleans cheered on by a crowd of admirers. They landed in Cuba and were immediately captured by the Spanish military and executed in short order. 

In 1854 U.S. diplomats met with diplomats from other European countries in an attempt to purchase Cuba from Spain. The Ostend Manifesto composed by these U.S. diplomats claimed that if Spain did not sell Cuba to the U.S. the U.S. would claim the right to take Cuba by force in the interests of national security. 

The Southern Slave States were also concerned that Cuban slaves would rise up and defeat the Spanish which would end slavery in Cuba copying the successful slave rebellion in Haiti earlier in the 18^th century. The Southern Slave Holder’s fear was that slave rebellions in the Caribbean would lead to rebellion of slaves on their plantations.

The American soldier of fortune and ardent supporter of slavery, William Walker, successfully filibustered Nicaragua and ruled the country from 1856 -1857. His rule was recognised as legitimate by U.S. president Franklin Pierce. This added fuel to the filibuster fire burning in Sothern Slave Staes hearts.

I expect the town name of Cuba for Cuba, Missouri had more to do with promoting the expansion of slavery than with sympathy for the Cuban People.

Peace…Wanderers in Wonder.