DOCSLIB.ORG

Haitians' Labor and Leisure on Cuban Sugar Plantations: the Limits of Company Control Alejo Carpentier's 1927 Novel

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Haitians' Labor and Leisure on Cuban Sugar Plantations: the Limits of Company Control Alejo Carpentier's 1927 Novel New West Indian Guide Vol. 85, no. 1-2 (2011), pp. 5-30 URL: http://www.kitlv-journals.nl/index.php/nwig/index URN:NBN:NL:UI:10-1-101380 Copyright: content is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License ISSN: 1382-2373 MATTHEW CASEY HAITIans’ LABOR AND LEISURE ON CUBAN SUGAR PLANTATIONS: ThE LIMITS OF COMPANY CONTROL Alejo Carpentier’s 1927 novel, ¡Écue-Yamba-Ó! (2002:18, 21, 52, 65-66), describes rural Cuba during World War I as a place in which “life is orga- nized according to [sugar’s] will.”1 One effect of sugar production was the “new plague” of “ragged Haitians” or “black mercenaries with straw hats and machetes at their belts.” When not cutting cane, these immigrants seques- tered themselves in their barracones (labor barracks), the “stone construc- tions, long like a hangar, with iron window panes” that were originally built for slaves to inhabit. Haitians and other immigrants were the targets of scorn from Carpentier’s protagonist, Menegildo Cue, an Afro-Cuban individual who drove oxen on the local sugar plantation. He “felt strange among so many blacks with other customs and languages. The Jamaicans were ‘snobby’ and animals! The Haitians were animals and savages!” Cue also complained that Cubans “were without work since the braceros from Haiti accepted incredibly low daily wages!” As Carpentier’s text emphasizes, the arrival of Haitian laborers in eastern Cuba in the first half of the twentieth century was part and parcel of massive rural transformations as a result of the rapid growth of sugar production on the island. In 1898, the United States intervened militarily in Cuba’s wars for inde- pendence, hastening the defeat of Spain and limiting the victory of the Cuban separatists. Rather than enjoying full independence from Spain, Cubans were now subject to a new colonial relationship with the United States. While some sectors of Cuban society questioned the role that sugar should play after inde- pendence, a rush of investors and politicians from both Cuba and the United 1. The author wishes to thank Alejandro de la Fuente, Oscar de la Torre, Yven Destin, and three anonymous reviewers from the New West Indian Guide for their helpful com- ments on previous versions of this essay. Research for this article was funded by a Tinker Grant from the Center for Latin American Studies at the University of Pittsburgh, a Carolyn Chambers Fellowship from the University of Pittsburgh, and a Library Travel Research Grant from the University of Florida. New West Indian Guide / Nieuwe West-Indische Gids vol. 85 no. 1 & 2 (2011):5-30 Downloaded from Brill.com09/28/2021 09:50:22AM via free access 6 MATTHEW CASEY States sought to increase production. In 1898, Cuba produced 350,000 short tons of sugar. When U.S. troops left the island in 1902, production had more than doubled to 973,000 short tons. Cuban sugar production peaked in 1929, at 5,775,000 short tons (Ayala 1999:70, McGillivray 2009:36, 75, 86). This phase of sugar production was distinct from previous periods. At the end of the nineteenth century, new, modernized mills called centrales began replacing the older ingenios (Iglesias García 1999). These new mills had an increased capacity to grind cane, which they obtained either from cane fields owned by the company or more often by contract from farmers called colo- nos. Centrales were especially prevalent in the eastern provinces of Oriente and Camagüey, the new regions of production. Whereas in 1901, 15 percent of Cuba’s sugar was produced in these zones, by the 1920s and 1930s, they were responsible for over half of the sugar crop (Ayala 1999:220, Santamaría Garcia 2001:419). In Oriente and Camagüey, sugar expansion was paired with an influx of individuals from various parts of the Americas, Europe, and Asia. Sugar- producing areas attracted workers of all types from the United States, Spain, the Canary Islands, China, and various parts of the Caribbean and Latin America. During the first years of the twentieth century, planters requested governmental permission to bring in contract laborers from Haiti, the British West Indies, and other neighboring islands. Their petitions revived long- standing, racially charged debates throughout the island about Cuba’s labor needs and the ideal demographic makeup of the island (Naranjo Orovio & García Gonzalez 1996). Despite opposition from Cuban journalists and even individuals within the Cuban government, sugar companies, with the support of the U.S. government, exerted enough political pressure to have Caribbean immigration legalized by 1913 (McLeod 2000:22-42). As Carpentier’s text illustrates, one of the largest sources of labor power behind this sugar expansion came from almost half a million immigrants from other parts of the Caribbean, especially Haiti and the British West Indies. Haitian and British West Indian migrants were heavily concentrated in the provinces of Oriente and Camagüey. At the regional and local level, the effects of sugar production and migration were especially noticeable. From 1907 to 1919, the populations of Oriente and Camagüey increased by 60.6 percent and 93.6 percent respectively, making them the fastest-growing regions in a country whose overall population increased by 33 percent in the period. By 1919, Oriente’s population had surpassed that of the province of Havana. The influence of migration from other parts of the Caribbean is especially appar- ent in this process. In 1919, individuals who were not born in Cuba, Spain, the United States, China, or Africa represented 5.86 percent of the population of Oriente province and 4.75 percent in Camagüey. These immigrants were even more heavily concentrated in areas with large sugar mills. They represented 8.14 percent of the inhabitants of Banes, the site of the United Fruit Company Downloaded from Brill.com09/28/2021 09:50:22AM via free access HAITIANS’ LABOR AND LEISURE ON CUBAN SUGAR PLANTATIONS 7 plantation in Oriente. In Las Tunas, the site of the Chaparra sugar mill, they made up 11 percent of the population (Cuba 1920:286, 290, 434). The last legal arrival of Caribbean immigrants into Cuba occurred in 1931. In the decade that followed, tens of thousands of Afro-Caribbean immi- grants were deported from Cuban soil, including 38,000 Haitians. Although diminished by repatriations, Haitians’ presence remained significant in east- ern Cuba (McLeod 2000:2). In 1970, there were still 22,579 Haitians living there (Espronceda Amor 2001:20-21). Carpentier’s assertions about the omnipotence of Cuban sugar compa- nies and their ability to maintain a segregated workforce in which Haitians remained at the bottom reflect commonly held beliefs in 1920s Cuba that have strongly influenced present-day historical accounts. As a result, the experiences of Haitian migrants are often described in terms of alienation and isolation, victims of a “monolithic wall of rejection” (Lucassen & Lucassen 1997:21), which obscures their humanity and agency. Haitians’ integration into Cuban society is either left unexplored as a result of the repatriations or inscribed into contemporary nationalists’ narratives of Cuban multiculturalism.2 This article seeks to provide an analysis of Haitian migrants’ working and leisure experiences in Cuba that does not assume the complete domination of company and state. I begin by exploring the images that sugar company administrators and Cuban newspapers projected about the labor and social hierarchies in Cuban society in which Haitians were said to inhabit the lowest positions. I will then reconstruct Haitians’ working lives to show the variety of labor activities they performed in cane fields and sugar centrales as well as the frequency with which they worked alongside people of other nation- alities. Building on recent scholarship on labor history and the Cuban sugar industry, the article traces Haitians’ strategies to improve the conditions in which they lived and labored outside of formal labor unions. Their use of what James C. Scott famously called the “weapons of the weak” entailed negotiations and confrontations with company managers on worksites over better conditions and wages (Scott 1985:29). Strategies of resistance and adaptation also included participation in social and commercial networks on sugar plantations with individuals of other nationalities. The existence of cross-national networks and communities before, during, and after the decade of deportations suggest that these exchanges are fundamental to understand- ing the experiences of Haitian migrants in the island. Furthermore, the exis- tence of these communities and the initiatives of Haitian migrants need to be taken into account in any serious discussion about their integration into Cuban society. 2. For an exception to this trend see Espronceda Amor 2001. Downloaded from Brill.com09/28/2021 09:50:22AM via free access 8 MATTHEW CASEY HAITIAN WORKERS: NARRATIVES OF COmpANY AND STATE DOMINATION During the first decades of the twentieth century, the Cuban press depicted Caribbean migrant workers as impoverished cane cutters who drove down wages for native workers. In 1916, La Política Cómica published a satirical column about the “tourists of color” who were arriving regularly from Haiti and Jamaica. They reportedly came to Cuba “to enjoy themselves cutting cane, accepting for sport a lower daily wage than what is paid” to Cubans.3 Santiago’s Diario de Cuba used a combination of racial and economic logic to explain why Haitians were particularly apt for cane cutting. “The cane needs Haitian arms,” argued the newspaper, since cane cutting “is a work to which races of a superior civilization do not adapt ... Sugar cannot be produced in Cuba by paying a higher salary than the one for which Haitians work.”4 In 1928, during a brief emigration ban from Haiti, the Cuban com- mercial press wondered “Who would take the place of the Haitians in the cane fields, since it is well known that Cubans will not cut cane?” “Cuban sugar growers,” they added, “could not afford to pay [the] higher wages” Cubans would inevitably demand.5 The belief that Haitians were ideal only for cutting cane was shared by sugar companies who attempted to segregate their workers.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Latino Louisiana Laź Aro Lima University of Richmond, [email protected]
    University of Richmond UR Scholarship Repository Latin American, Latino and Iberian Studies Faculty Latin American, Latino and Iberian Studies Publications 2008 Latino Louisiana Laź aro Lima University of Richmond, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: http://scholarship.richmond.edu/lalis-faculty-publications Part of the Cultural History Commons, and the Latin American Languages and Societies Commons Recommended Citation Lima, Lazá ro. "Latino Louisiana." In Latino America: A State-by-State Encyclopedia, Volume 1: Alabama-Missouri, edited by Mark Overmyer-Velázquez, 347-61. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, LLC., 2008. This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Latin American, Latino and Iberian Studies at UR Scholarship Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Latin American, Latino and Iberian Studies Faculty Publications by an authorized administrator of UR Scholarship Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. 19 LOUISIANA Lazaro Lima CHRONOLOGY 1814 After the British invade Louisiana, residents of the state from the Canary Islands, called Islenos, organize and establish three regiments. The Is/enos had very few weapons, and some served unarmed as the state provided no firearms. By the time the British were defeated, the Islenos had sustained the brunt of life and property loss resulting from the British invasion of Louisiana. 1838 The first. Mardi Gras parade takes place in New Orleans on Shrove Tuesday with the help and participation of native-born Latin Americans and Islenos. 1840s The Spanish-language press in New Orleans supersedes the state's French-language press in reach and distribution. 1846-1848 Louisiana-born Eusebio Juan Gomez, editor of the eminent Spanish­ language press newspaper La Patria, is nominated as General Winfield Scott's field interpreter during the Mexican-American War.
    [Show full text]
  • Ever Faithful
    Ever Faithful Ever Faithful Race, Loyalty, and the Ends of Empire in Spanish Cuba David Sartorius Duke University Press • Durham and London • 2013 © 2013 Duke University Press. All rights reserved Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper ∞ Tyeset in Minion Pro by Westchester Publishing Services. Library of Congress Cataloging- in- Publication Data Sartorius, David A. Ever faithful : race, loyalty, and the ends of empire in Spanish Cuba / David Sartorius. pages cm Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978- 0- 8223- 5579- 3 (cloth : alk. paper) ISBN 978- 0- 8223- 5593- 9 (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. Blacks— Race identity— Cuba—History—19th century. 2. Cuba— Race relations— History—19th century. 3. Spain— Colonies—America— Administration—History—19th century. I. Title. F1789.N3S27 2013 305.80097291—dc23 2013025534 contents Preface • vii A c k n o w l e d g m e n t s • xv Introduction A Faithful Account of Colonial Racial Politics • 1 one Belonging to an Empire • 21 Race and Rights two Suspicious Affi nities • 52 Loyal Subjectivity and the Paternalist Public three Th e Will to Freedom • 94 Spanish Allegiances in the Ten Years’ War four Publicizing Loyalty • 128 Race and the Post- Zanjón Public Sphere five “Long Live Spain! Death to Autonomy!” • 158 Liberalism and Slave Emancipation six Th e Price of Integrity • 187 Limited Loyalties in Revolution Conclusion Subject Citizens and the Tragedy of Loyalty • 217 Notes • 227 Bibliography • 271 Index • 305 preface To visit the Palace of the Captain General on Havana’s Plaza de Armas today is to witness the most prominent stone- and mortar monument to the endur- ing history of Spanish colonial rule in Cuba.
    [Show full text]
  • Analyzing the U.S. Embargo on Cuba: a Search for a Better Solution
    Analyzing the US Embargo of Cuba: A Search for a Better Solution Zion Mercado HON 490- Senior Honors Seminar May 17, 2021 1 Chapter 1 Introduction: In 1959, at the height of the Cold War, Fidel Castro seized control of Cuba from a totalitarian dictatorship headed by Fulgencio Batista, an individual who lacked domestic support from the Cuban people. However, what Bautista lacked in popularity on the island was not missing in regard to his foreign popularity, especially when it came to the United States1. In fact, the United States supported Fulgencio Batista for two major reasons. The first being that he peacefully overthrew the government, which subsequently allowed him to run for presidential election unopposed, ratifying the Cuban Constitution from 1940 in the process2. Secondly, the United States supported the Batista regime in large part because it was very much anti-socialist and anti-Marxist. However, to the Batista government, the support from the U.S. came at a high cost as they effectively destroyed Cuba’s lucrative sugar industry through the Sugar Act of 19563. It was this destruction of Cuba’s agricultural industry that paved the way to the rise of Fidel Castro. Initially, Castro was not a Marxist, despite having friendly ties to the Soviet Union. However, the revolution that he led in Cuba was a leftist one, and upon his arrival to power, he began to nationalize American-owned infrastructure without providing compensation. Essentially, Castro wanted Cuba to be free economically from America4, whereas at the same 1 Guevara, D. J. F. (2019). Constructing Legitimacy in “Stone” and “Words” during Cuba's Second Republic: Building and Contesting Fulgencio Batista's José Martí.
    [Show full text]
  • The Cuban Missile Crisis and Its Effect on the Course of Détente
    1 THE CUBAN MISSILE CRISIS AND ITS EFFECT ON THE COURSE OF DÉTENTE 2 Abstract The Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union began in 1945 with the end of World War II and the start of an international posturing for control of a war-torn Europe. However, the Cold War reached its peak during the events of the Cuban Missile Crisis, occurring on October 15-28, 1962, with the United States and the Soviet Union taking sides against each other in the interest of promoting their own national security. During this period, the Soviet Union attempted to address the issue of its own deficit of Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles compared to the United States by placing shorter-range nuclear missiles within Cuba, an allied Communist nation directly off the shores of the United States. This move allowed the Soviet Union to reach many of the United States’ largest population centers with nuclear weapons, placing both nations on a more equal footing in terms of security and status. The crisis was resolved through the imposition of a blockade by the United States, but the lasting threat of nuclear destruction remained. The daunting nature of this Crisis led to a period known as détente, which is a period of peace and increased negotiations between the United States and the Soviet Union in order to avoid future confrontations. Both nations prospered due to the increased cooperation that came about during this détente, though the United States’ and the Soviet Union’s rapidly changing leadership styles and the diverse personalities of both countries’ individual leaders led to fluctuations in the efficiency and extent of the adoption of détente.
    [Show full text]
  • I from Haiti to Cuba and Back: Haitians' Experiences of Migration
    From Haiti to Cuba and Back: Haitians’ Experiences of Migration, Labor, and Return, 1900-1940 by Matthew Casey Bachelor of Arts, University of Texas, 2003 Master of Arts, University of Pittsburgh, 2006 Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of The Department of History in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy University of Pittsburgh 2012 i UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH DIETRICH SCHOOL OF ARTS & SCIENCES This dissertation was presented by Matthew Casey It was defended on April 4, 2012 and approved by George Reid Andrews, Distinguished Professor and Chair, Department of History Lara Putnam, Associate Professor, Department of History Jerome Branche, Associate Professor of Latin American and Cultural Studies, Hispanic Languages and Literatures Dissertation Advisor: Alejandro de la Fuente, UCIS Research Professor, Department of History ii Copyright © by Matthew Casey 2012 iii FROM HAITI TO CUBA AND BACK: HAITIANS’ EXPERIENCES OF MIGRATION, LABOR, AND RETURN, 1900-1940 Matthew Casey, M.A., PhD University of Pittsburgh, 2012 This dissertation is a social history of the approximately 200,000 individuals who migrated seasonally between their homes in rural Haiti and the eastern regions of Cuba during the height of the United States’ military and economic presence in both countries. Existing scholarship explains Haitians’ movements in terms of the United States’ military presence in Haiti (1915- 1934), the country’s rural poverty, and the massive growth of U.S.- and Cuban-owned sugar plantations in Cuba. However, the migrants themselves have not been studied. Instead, previous scholarship puts forth an image of Haitian migrants that is heavily influenced by false, long- standing assumptions about Haiti and the anti-immigrant stereotypes of the early 20th-century Cuban press.
    [Show full text]
  • Diplomacy and Human Migration: a History of U.S. Relations with Cuba During the Late Cold War DISSERTATION Presented in Partial
    Diplomacy and Human Migration: A History of U.S. Relations with Cuba during the Late Cold War DISSERTATION Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University By Hideaki Kami Graduate Program in History The Ohio State University 2015 Dissertation Committee: Professor Robert J. McMahon, Adviser Professor Peter L. Hahn, Co-adviser Professor Stephanie J. Smith Copyright by Hideaki Kami 2015 Abstract This dissertation analyzes U.S.-Cuban relations by focusing on the interaction of diplomacy and human migration during the late Cold War years. It explores how the U.S. government reformulated its Cuban policy in light of Fidel Castro’s institutionalization of power while, at the same time, trying to build a new relationship with the Cuban- American community as the latter forged a new, politically mobilized constituency within U.S. society. Based on historical sources from the United States, Cuba, and other countries, I argue that the triangular relations among Washington, Havana, and Miami formidably reinforced the status quo. As hundreds of thousands of Cuban-Americans participated in U.S. politics in the hope of toppling the Castro regime, the U.S. government could no longer dismiss their concerns as completely alien to the national interest. But while committing to “freedom” in Cuba in their public statements, U.S. policy-makers in fact placed a higher priority on stability in the Caribbean Sea; they collaborated with the Cuban government to prevent migration crises such as the 1980 Mariel boatlift, one of the largest and most traumatic in modern U.S.
    [Show full text]
  • Special Report on the Situation of Freedom of Expression in Cuba
    OEA/SER.L/V/II CIDH/RELE/INF.21/18 31 December 2018 Original: Spanish SPECIAL REPORT ON THE SITUATION OF FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION IN CUBA Office of the Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights Edison Lanza Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression 2018 OAS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA INTER-AMERICAN COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS. OFFICE OF THE SPECIAL RAPPORTEUR FOR FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION. SPECIAL REPORT ON THE SITUATION OF FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION IN CUBA. V. ; CM. (OAS. OFFICIAL RECORDS ; OEA/SER.L/V/II) ISBN 978-0-8270-6837-7 1. FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION--CUBA. 2. FREEDOM OF INFORMATION--CUBA. I. LANZA, EDISON. II. TITLE. III. SERIES. OEA/SER.L/V/II CIDH/RELE/INF.21/18 INTER-AMERICAN COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS Members Margarette May Macaulay Esmeralda Arosemena de Troitiño Francisco José Eguiguren Praeli Luis Ernesto Vargas Silva Joel Hernández García Antonia Urrejola Flávia Piovesan Executive Secretary Paulo Abrão Assistant Executive Secretary for Monitoring, Promotion and Technical Cooperation Maria Claudia Pulido Chief of Staff of the Executive Secretary of the IACHR Marisol Blanchard Vera SPECIAL REPORT ON THE SITUATION OF FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION IN CUBA TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................................................................................11 A. Background and purpose of the report ..........................................................................................11 B. International legal
    [Show full text]
  • The US-Cuba Relations in the Early Sixties, the Nineties and the Recent Reconciliation Process. and the Reciprocal Effects on Russia, Canada and the Vatican
    Linköping University | Department of Management and Engineering Master’s thesis, 30 credits| Master’s Program in International and European Relations Spring Semester 2016| ISRN-number: LIU-IEI-FIL-A--16/02374--SE The US-Cuba relations in the early sixties, the nineties and the recent reconciliation process. And the reciprocal effects on Russia, Canada and the Vatican. Author: Riccardo Mantovani Supervisor: Mikael Rundqvist Examiner: Elin Wihlborg Linköping University SE-581 83 Linköping, Sweden +46 013 28 10 00, www.liu.se 1 Abstract The US-Cuba relations have been problematic for half a century; however, in December 2014, both countries announced the restoration of their bilateral ties. Over the decades, these relations have also had reciprocal effects on other countries like Russia, Canada and the Vatican. First of all, the thesis provides a brief historical background of the US-Cuba relations from 1898 to 1959 to understand their context before the Cuban Revolution. It then examines the main happenings of the US-Cuba relationship and its reciprocal effects on Moscow, Ottawa and the Holy See during three distinct time periods: the early sixties, the nineties and from 2008 to the present. In order to do this, the study is divided in three case studies, one for each interval, and analyses through the help of the realist, defensive realist and liberal theories the actions taken by these five countries to face the developments of the US-Cuba relations. It finds that Havana’s foreign policy has always been driven by the same wish for the survival of its revolution, the US still aims at changing the Cuban government although it is gradually reducing the sanctions against it, while Russia, Canada and the Vatican have basically kept unchanged their approach toward Cuba throughout the decades.
    [Show full text]
  • Cuban Migration in Germany: Analysis and Perspective Between Two Countries
    Cuban Migration in Germany: Analysis and Perspective Between Two Countries Inauguraldissertation zur Erlangung des akademisches Grades Doktorin der Philosophie am Fachbereich Politik- und Sozialwissenschaften der Freien Universität Berlin vorgelegt von Lena Pérez Naranjo Erstgutachterin: Prof. Dr. Helgard Kramer Fachbereich Politik und Sozialwissenschaften Institut für Soziologie Freie Universität, Berlin Zweitgutachter: Prof. Dr. Nikolaus Werz Institut für Politik und Verwaltungswissenschaft Universität Rostock Datum der Disputation: 23. Januar 2013 To my mother with love Daisy Naranjo Alba Gracias mami … ii Acknowledgment This study was possible due to the participation of many persons, who in different stages of the research gave me their comments and support. In first place I would like to thank the participants of the study, they did not hesitate in telling me their stories and were cooperative any time I needed to talk to them. To all of them, thank you! I’m also grateful to the foundation Friedrich Naumann in Germany. From the first moment I presented my project they supported the idea. Without them it would have been not possible to work intensively during the last three years. I would also like to thank my partner Florian. He brought Germany closer to me, believed that I could accomplish the project and supported me when I was lagging behind. My gratefulness goes also to my first supervisor Prof. Dr. Helgard Kramer. Being in her colloquium gave me the strength to learn the German language, as well as theories and methods in sociology. She had always an open ear and mind when discussing about Cuba and gave me orientation when I needed it.
    [Show full text]
  • Haitians' Labor and Leisure on Cuban Sugar
    New West Indian Guide Vol. 85, no. 1-2 (2011), pp. 5-30 URL: http://www.kitlv-journals.nl/index.php/nwig/index URN:NBN:NL:UI:10-1-101380 Copyright: content is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License ISSN: 1382-2373 MATTHEW CASEY HAITIans’ LABOR AND LEISURE ON CUBAN SUGAR PLANTATIONS: ThE LIMITS OF COMPANY CONTROL Alejo Carpentier’s 1927 novel, ¡Écue-Yamba-Ó! (2002:18, 21, 52, 65-66), describes rural Cuba during World War I as a place in which “life is orga- nized according to [sugar’s] will.”1 One effect of sugar production was the “new plague” of “ragged Haitians” or “black mercenaries with straw hats and machetes at their belts.” When not cutting cane, these immigrants seques- tered themselves in their barracones (labor barracks), the “stone construc- tions, long like a hangar, with iron window panes” that were originally built for slaves to inhabit. Haitians and other immigrants were the targets of scorn from Carpentier’s protagonist, Menegildo Cue, an Afro-Cuban individual who drove oxen on the local sugar plantation. He “felt strange among so many blacks with other customs and languages. The Jamaicans were ‘snobby’ and animals! The Haitians were animals and savages!” Cue also complained that Cubans “were without work since the braceros from Haiti accepted incredibly low daily wages!” As Carpentier’s text emphasizes, the arrival of Haitian laborers in eastern Cuba in the first half of the twentieth century was part and parcel of massive rural transformations as a result of the rapid growth of sugar production on the island.
    [Show full text]
  • The Human Rights Situation in Cuba
    OEA/Ser.L/V/II. Doc. 2 3 February 2020 Original: Spanish INTER-AMERICAN COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS The Situation of Human Rights in Cuba 2020 iachr.org OAS Cataloging-in Publication Data Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. The situation of human rights in Cuba : Approved by the Inter- American Commission on Human Rights on February 3, 2020. v. ; cm. (OAS. Official records ; OEA/Ser.L/V/II) ISBN 978-0-8270-6985-5 1. Human rights--Cuba. 2. Civil rights--Cuba. I. Title. II. Series. OEA/Ser.L/V/II Doc.2/20 INTER-AMERICAN COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS Members Esmeralda Arosemena Bernal de Troitiño Joel Hernández García Antonia Urrejola Margarette May Macaulay Flávia Piovesan Julissa Mantilla Falcón Edgar Stuardo Ralón Orellana Executive Secretary Paulo Abrão Chief of Staff of the Executive Secretariat of the IACHR Fernanda Dos Anjos Assistant Executive Secretary for Monitoring, Promotion and Technical Cooperation María Claudia Pulido Assistant Executive Secretary for Cases and Petitions Marisol Blanchard In collaboration with: Edison Lanza, Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression Soledad García Muñoz, Special Rapporteur on Economic, Social, Cultural, and Environmental Rights (ESCER) Approved by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights on February 3, 2020 INDEX EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 9 CHAPTER 1 | INTRODUCTION 17 A. Background, Scope, and Purpose of the Report 17 B. Methodology and Structure of the Report 18 C. Situation of Cuba in relation to the Organization of American States 20 D. Cuba's Relationship with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights 21 CHAPTER 2 | THE UNITED STATES’ ECONOMIC EMBARGO 25 CHAPTER 3 | THE 2019 CONSTITUTION 33 A.
    [Show full text]
  • The Cuban Migration to Tampa and Its Effect on ART in the Area
    University of Tennessee, Knoxville TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange Supervised Undergraduate Student Research Chancellor’s Honors Program Projects and Creative Work 12-2005 Artistic Exchange: the Cuban Migration to Tampa and its effect on ART in the area Morgan J. Miltner University of Tennessee - Knoxville Follow this and additional works at: https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_chanhonoproj Recommended Citation Miltner, Morgan J., "Artistic Exchange: the Cuban Migration to Tampa and its effect on ART in the area" (2005). Chancellor’s Honors Program Projects. https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_chanhonoproj/891 This is brought to you for free and open access by the Supervised Undergraduate Student Research and Creative Work at TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange. It has been accepted for inclusion in Chancellor’s Honors Program Projects by an authorized administrator of TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Artistic Exchange: The Cuban Migration to Tampa and its Effect on Art in the Area Morgan Miltner Faculty Mentor- Hector Qirko, Department of Anthropology December 2005 Artistic Exchange: The Cuban Migration to Tampa and its Effect on Art in the Area Morgan Miltner Abstract- This proj ect attempts to identify the relationship between Tampa, Florida and Cuba through examples of their respective works of art. Three episodes of migration of Cubans into Florida are used to illustrate the effects of the influx of immigrants on the art community of Tampa over time. For each of these three waves of migration, six images are used to depict the relationship between the two countries. Three images will represent Cuban examples of art while the following three images represent art from Florida.
    [Show full text]