Exiles will mark Cuban independence anniversary

    Cuban exiles in Miami and other U.S. cities are making preparations to stage or attend events connected to the 106^th anniversary of Cuban independence May 20. (Photo above shows a scene of exiles in Key West observing the 100th anniversary)

  Among events being planned is a series of activities organized by the group Directorio between Tuesday and May 25 to mark independence day and the memory of Pedro Luis Boitel, an imprisoned Fidel Castro opponent who died after a 50-day hunger strike in 1972. A list of events is available in Spanish at: www.nocooperacion.org

   Other events:

• Cuba Nostalgia: A three-day cultural fair starting Friday May 16 at 11 am at the Fair-Expo Center, Coral Way and 112^th Avenue at Tamiami Park, featuring exhibits, artists and vendors. Exhibits offer recreations of Cuban landmarks from the pre-Castro era.
• Cuban American National Foundation: Annual luncheon at the Intercontinental Hotel downtown Miami May 23 at noon.

   Cubans take May 20 as the start of their homeland’s life as an independent nation because it was on that day in 1902 when the U.S. military governor of Cuba, Army Gen. Leonard Wood, turned over control of the island to Cuba’s first president, Tomas Estrada Palma. U.S. forces had put an end to Spanish colonial rule in 1898.

-- Alfonso Chardy

Comments

[Walter Lippmann]

May 20th would be better known as the day Cuba's NON-independence was ratified because that was the date Cuba's republican constitution was adopted. That constitution included the PLATT AMENDMENT, which authorized United States military intervention in the island's affairs. IT's no wonder that in the photo accompanying this story there are more U.S. than Cuban flags depicted.

[Walter Lippmann]

May 20th would be better known as the day Cuba's NON-independence was ratified because that was the date Cuba's republican constitution was adopted. That constitution included the PLATT AMENDMENT, which authorized United States military intervention in the island's affairs. IT's no wonder that in the photo accompanying this story there are more U.S. than Cuban flags depicted.