Wednesday, 27 April 2011 17:45
.jpg "Sir Tomás Estrada Palma, the first President of the Cuban Republic")
Sir Tomás Estrada Palma, the first President of the Cuban Republic
This Cuban was not exactly born within the grounds of the walled city, but when he was very young, partially studied law in Havana. Sir Tomás Estrada Palma, the first President of the Cuban Republic, was born in the oriental city, Bayamo on 19 July, 1835; in this Levatine region, a major part of his personal, professional and political life developed.
He joined Cubans for the 10 October, 1868 revolt against Spanish rule, holding various positions within the insurgency movement, including that of Secretary of Foreign Affairs and President of the Cuban Republic in Arms. Captured by Spanish troops, he was sent as a prisoner to Spain until his release in 1878, then settling in Paris, New York and Honduras. Later he settled in New York City, dedicating himself to teaching.
In 1892, the patriot José Martí was involved in preparing what would be the independence uprising of 1895; he was considered as an exemplary worker, especially in funds management for the revolutionary cause. Upon his death, Martí designated the Delegate position, the highest rank within the Cuban Revolutionary Party, to Sir Tomás. After the battle against the Iberian Crown, two generals, one Dominican, Maximo Gomez, and the other American, Leonardo Wood, as a coalition of political parties, interceded so that Estrada Palma was accepted as practically the only candidate worthy of the 20 May, 1902 President of the Republic. At that time, there were many contemporaries branded against Sir Tomás, for his clear sympathetic leanings toward the northern nation.
Once taking the position, he showed a significant bias with close friends and prominent figures within the business world. Excluding the legislative apparatus from his decisions, he surrounded himself with advisors who diminished his administration, although no one denies their economic, political and social successes. But, public opinion outweighed their mistakes and errors, leading to an outbreak in violence known as the "1905 August Revolution," in which they made armed pronouncements against important political and military figures.
President Estrada Palma, unable to control the situation he caused, and considering—in an act denying much of his Cuban identity—the discords between Cubans as impassable, requested the United States for a second military intervention.
Once out of office, Estrada Palma first settled in the Matanzas province, and later owned a farm in the Oriente province. Practially anonymous, with very limited financial resources, either unknown or disowned by his countrymen, he stayed there for two years. Becoming seriously ill, he was taken to Santiago, Cuba where he died on 4 November, 1908. There he remains, an undoubtedly controversial personality, a non-Havana native, perhaps deserving to be official for his state rank.
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