26 HERENCIA CULTURAL CUBANA / VOL. XVI • No.1 • 03-10

Following, we present to you the Manifesto given onOctober 10, 1868 by Carlos Manuel de Céspedes in hissugar refinery “La Demajagua” located near the town ofManzanillo. This event marks the first step in the strugglefor Cuban independence from Spain.

“Manifesto of the Revolutionary Board of Cubaintended for all fellow citizens as well as all othernations.

As we rise in arms against the tyrannical SpanishCrown, we state to the world the reasons whywe choose to do so. We seek the greater good,

fully cognizant that such an objective will come at asteep price, a price that must be paid in the present dayso that we can build a better tomorrow.

Nobody can deny that Spain rules Cuba with an ironas well as a bloody fist. Not only does Spain not respectprivate property but also chooses to tax it at whim. Inaddition, Spain represses all political, civil andreligious freedoms while simultaneously forcing Cubansons and daughters to exile in foreign lands or risksummarily execution by military commissions that rulein a time of peace, all while lessening the power of thecivil government.

Spain has prohibited public gatherings unlesssanctioned by a military authority and one cannotcomment on the evils of life without being branded a

rebel, all while insisting in the total silence andacquiescence of the Cuban people.

This land of ours is loved and respected by all nationswhich surround us. None of them are our enemies;therefore, we need not an army or a navy, entitieswhich exhaust the public wealth. Yet, Spain forcesupon us armed forces that have no other objective thanto submit the Cuban people to an iron yoke.

Therefore, Cubans can not talk, can not write, can notthink, can not welcome into our midst guests sent byother sister lands. Spain has offered countless of timesto respect the rights of Cubans but we have not seenone single point of evidence of the fulfillment of thatpromise. Moreover, it offers the mockery of a vestige ofrepresentation so as to hide the overwhelming chargesit imposes on us.

Seemingly in danger of losing our farms, our lives, aswell as our dignity, we must risk those very same assetsin order to recoup our rights as men and since we cannot do so by our words, we will do so through battle.

When a people reaches the point of degradation andmisery that Cubans find themselves in, no one cancriticize the use of force in order to free oneself fromsuch captivity. The prior examples of the greatest ofnations authorizes such a step. Cuba can not bedeprived of the rights enjoyed by other nations. And it

HISTORY

THE YARA

UPRISING

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27HERENCIA CULTURAL CUBANA / VOL. XVI • No.1 • 03-10

can not consent to be told to simply continue tosuffer. It behooves other civilized countries to usetheir influence to help an innocent, sensible andgenerous people to free themselves from the yoke ofa barbaric oppressor. We ask those countries for helpas we ask the same to our God. We are not driven byhatred or ambitions, we only seek to be free andequals, as God intended all men to be.

We dedicate ourselves to those two principles, thatmen are free and equal. We love tolerance, order andjustice in all walks of life, we respect the life andproperty of all peaceful citizens even, if they areSpaniards, and we seek universal suffrage because thatassures the sovereignty of the people. We wish for thegradual eradication-albeit under indemnification-ofslavery, free trade with those nations that will act inkind, national representation as it pertains to theenactment of laws and the imposition of taxes and thereligious observance of human rights because we willthen reach greatness in our future and because we areconvinced that under Spanish rule, we will neverachieve those aims.

In view of our moderate objectives, in view of ourcurrent misery, what noble heart would oppose theblessed end state which we seek? Which civilizedcountry would not condemn Spain when she thinks itacceptable that in order to deprive us of our innaterights, it is appropriate to spill the blood of our mostcourageous sons?

No, Cuba can no longer belong to a power that, likeCain, sacrifices her own brother and, like Saturn,devours her own son. Cuba aspires to be a great as wellas civilized nation and to extend a friendly hand and aloving heart to all other countries. If Spain were toagree to free Cuba, we would look at her sort of like asister from the same mother. However, if she persists inour servitude and extermination, she will have to slitour throats and the throats of those who will followbefore it achieves her objective of making Cubans aherd of slaves”.

Manzanillo, October 10, 1868. Carlos Manuel deCéspedes, Commander in Chief.

HISTORY

Javier De Céspedes, el tataranieto de Carlos Manuel deCéspedes, en frente de La Demajagua donde suantepasado dio el Grito De Yara. En Julio de 2002,Javier viaja a Cuba con dos propósitos. Primero, paraponer su mano en la Campana de la Libertad y cumpliruna promesa echa a su abuela, su vinculo personal a lahistoria de Cuba de hacer lo mismo que ella hizo antesde salir de Cuba para el exilio. Segundo, en sucapacidad como Presidente del Directorio DemocráticoCubano, Céspedes viaja a Cuba para ofrecerle aestudiantes disidentes en la isla soporte moral y paratambién continuar la tradición de su familia de soloregresar a la madre patria en oposición a la tiranía.

Javier de Céspedes, great-grand child of the Cubanpatriot Carlos Manuel de Céspedes in front of hisancestor’s La Demajua sugar mill and where the latterlaunches de Yara Uprising. On July of 2002, the youngerDe Cespedes returns to the island with two objectives.First, to fulfill a promise made to his grandmother toring the same bell she rang before leaving Cuba forpolitical exile. Secondly, De Céspedes, in his capacity asPresident of the Cuban Democratic Directory, meetswith Cuban dissident students to offer his support aswell as to continue the tradition of his family never toreturn to the motherland unless is with a purpose tooppose tyranny

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