October 10
Cuban Independence Day

Historic Start of Cuba’s Anti-Colonial Struggle Against Spain

Carlos Manuel de Céspedes and his followers at the Grito de Yara. Today, Yara is celebrated for its important historical contributions to Cuban independence.

October 10 is Cuban Independence Day. It marks the beginning of Cuba’s struggle for independence from Spain in 1868 when Carlos Manuel de Céspedes and his followers proclaimed independence in what came to be known as El Grito de Yara (The Yara Proclamation). The event marked the start of the Ten Years’ War known as Cuba’s First War of Independence. Though this First War of Independence ended with surrender to the Spanish in May 1878, in the longer term it proved to be a key event in Cuba’s struggle for independence from Spain. These events also directly contributed to the abolition of slavery in Cuba in 1886.

Spain was finally forced to withdraw from the island when representatives of Spain and the United States signed a peace treaty ending the Spanish-American War in Paris on December 10, 1898. The Treaty established the independence of Cuba, ceded Puerto Rico and Guam to the United States, and allowed the United States to purchase the Philippines Islands from Spain for $20 million. This was followed by three-and-a-half years of U.S. military rule, after which Cuba gained formal independence in 1902.

Mambises, the Cuban soldiers who waged a guerrilla war for independence from Spain in the Ten Years’ War (1868–78) and Cuban War of Independence, are led by Lt. General Antonio Maceo, second in Command of the Cuban Army of Independence, during the battle of Ceja del Negro, October 4, 1896.

Today the anniversary is celebrated as a national holiday, a day of cultural events and gatherings which celebrate what it means to be Cuban and what Cuba has achieved as an independent nation.

Over successive struggles for empowerment, the Cuban people have imbued their independence with great significance, not only for themselves, but for the people of Latin America and the Caribbean as well as the entire world.

It is because of the hard fought struggle to maintain their independence and socialist revolution, that the Cuban people and their leadership have never hesitated to provide internationalist assistance to all those waging national liberation struggles.

Today, the victory of the Cuban Revolution and its defence by the Cuban people and their leadership, and the constant renovation of the Revolution to ensure that it provides for the people’s well-being in the present and future, is the guarantee of this independence in the face of more than 60 years of U.S. imperialist aggression, and many other hardships.

The Cuban people pay tribute to their heroes — including Carlos Manuel de Céspedes, Antonio Maceo and Fidel — at the Santa Ifigenia Cemetery in Santiago de Cuba on Independence Day. (E. Palomares/Cubadebate)