Walking Cuba: El Camino del Cimarron

Cienfuegos

“When the war ended, the talk started about whether the blacks had fought or not. I know that ninety-five percent of the blacks fought in the war. Then the Americans began to say it was only seventy-five percent. Well, no one criticized those statements. The blacks ended up out in the street as a result. Brave men thrown like savages into the streets. That was wrong, but that’s what happened…. “

Esteban Montejo

After the War, Esteban returned to city living, experiencing Havana and Cienfuegos when Americans and victorious patriots intermingled in the streets. Esteban had his encounters with Americans behaving badly while here in Cienfuegos. He recalled how in 1899 he, along with a group of Mambíses “had to wave our machetes in the air at a few American soldiers, scoundrels who wanted to have all the criollas like they were meat in a market” (167). The behavior of the Americans made his blood boil.

One day, in a street near the docks, he saw a group of American sailors pushing themselves on a group of women, assaulting…