Key West celebrates Cuban revolutionary

keysnews.com Citizen Staff Report ROB O'NEAL/The Citizen

Key West Cuba Heritage Institute president John Cabanas addresses a crowd of more than 100 participants in the celebration of Jose Marti's 150th birthday at Bayview Park Tuesday afternoon.

KEY WEST -- Jose Marti, whose birthday was 150 years ago Tuesday, was remembered during a ceremony at Bayview Park Tuesday with Cubans and Americans alike gathering at the corner of Virginia Street and Jose Marti Drive.

Born in Havana in 1853, Marti spent his life fighting for the freedom of Cubans and other Latin American countries as well. He was deported to Spain in 1871 for speaking out against the colonial rule of the Spanish and lived in New York City, Mexico City, and Venezuela before returning to Cuba for his final fight for Cuba's freedom.

Marti proclaimed the formation of the Partido Revolucinario Cubano from the balcony of the San Carlos in 1892, unifying the pro-independence factions in exile.

His vast experience and education served him well and his words, to this day, mean much to people on both sides of the Florida Straits. The Marti monument at Bayview park was built in Cuba and donated to the city of Key West in 1936 in honor of the nine times the political activist, poet, journalist and teacher visited Key West.

Cubans immigrating to Key West at the time brought with them their tobacco rolling skills, making Key West the richest city in the United States per capita. The money was used to fuel the revolution against Spain with Marti as a founding member of the Cuban Revolutionary Party.

One of Marti's most famous poems was put to music and given the name "Guantanamera," with the underlying theme being that of peace and beauty. Marti was killed by Spanish troops in Dos Rios in the province of Granma, Cuba, on May 19, 1895.