The idea of a single party is a legacy of José Martí

The analysis of events which prevented a Cuban victory in the Ten Years War helped Martí understand that unity was absolutely essential to the defeat of Spanish colonialism. At the same time, his study of the Latin American independence struggle taught him that a revolution headed by military officers of great prestige and power made it difficult to maintain unity and subsequently create a free and democratic society.

As is well known, during the second half of the 19th century, forming political parties essentially to participate in elections had become common practice.

Nevertheless, it was José Martí who in 1882 put forward the idea that the people of Cuba’s struggle for independence could only be led by a single party, in order to unite the forces of all Cubans and expose the anti-nationalist tendencies in the heart of the movement.

In this regard, in a letter to Major General Máximo Gómez, July 20, 1882, he wrote, "Who will Cuba go back to, in the definitive moment, already close at hand, when all the new aspirations brought on by the end of the war, Spain’s promises and the policies of the liberals, are lost? It goes back to all who speak of a solution beyond Spain. If there is not a revolutionary party in place, an eloquent, upright, reasonable and profound party which can inspire, with the unity and modesty of its members and the good sense of its proposals, the confidence needed to satiate the country’s deepest desires.

Who is there to go back to, if not the annexationist party which will then emerge?

How can we avoid that the devotees of a comfortable freedom follow them, believing that this solution will, at the same time, salvage their fortunes and soothe their consciences. This is the grave danger. The time for us to stand up has come." (1)

Notice the clarity of thinking by a man aged just 29, who only four years after the end of the Great War definitively described the situation faced by the Revolution and the tasks to be completed.

The logic of Martí as expressed in this paragraph is irrefutable. The moment was at hand when the hopes cherished by some at the end of the war; to accomplish with autonomy the objectives for which the decade-long struggle had been waged, would be dashed. Spain had not kept its promises, there was no autonomy, political rights were trampled and slavery was not abolished. If neither independence nor autonomy had been achieved, what was left then? Leaving Spain’s domain – which implied nothing less than annexation by the United States.

Faced with this danger, it was absolutely necessary to strengthen the pro-independence tendency. At a time when the political struggle was becoming more and more dominated by carefully structured and organized parties, what was needed was a party which inspired confidence based on the cohesion of its ranks, its members’ modesty and its reasonable proposals. This is when Martí stood up, confronting those who preferred to hand the country over to a foreign power in order to enjoy an easily won freedom, without compromising their fortunes or consciences, since Cuba, after all, wouldn’t be a Spanish colony.

When advocating independence, Cuba’s national hero always emphasized that the Revolution must be a political movement based on ideals, "a revolutionary system" (2) with the structure only a political party could provide, and capable of allaying fears that another war could break out.

This is what he wrote to José Dolores Poyo, from New York, on November 29, 1887: "(...) In other times our war could be a heroic gesture or an explosion of emotion, but schooled by 20 exhausting years (...) the Cuban war is no longer, as before, a simple military campaign in which blind courage followed a great leader, but rather a very complicated political problem, easy to solve if we are aware of its different elements and adjust our revolutionary activity, but formidable if we propose a solution without considering the facts or challenging them. (...) And what most frightens the very people who want a revolution is the confusing and personal nature in which it has been presented so far. What is needed is a revolutionary system, with clearly selfless goals, which could ease the nation’s fears of revolution and replace them with well-deserved confidence in the greatness and foresight of the ideals which would be embodied in the struggle by the demeanor of those who promote it, with the clearly stated purpose of waging war in order to win a free and dignified peace, not for the advantage of those who see war only as a way to aggrandize their own power or wealth." (3)

The organizational and propaganda work undertaken by Martí was continuous over these years. He was constantly making speeches in meetings of expatriates, especially on the anniversaries of October 10, during which he called for organization and unity to enter a new and definitive stage of the revolution initiated in Yara.

His fervent efforts led to the emergence of patriotic associations among Cuban émigrés wherever he appeared; they only needed to be united.

On December 25, 1891, Martí arrived in Key West, invited by an organizing committee, where he met with representatives of patriotic groups from various places in the United States. There he wrote the Foundations and Statutes of the Cuba Revolutionary Party, which were approved by those in attendance January 5, 1892.

The Foundations established that the Party was being constituted specifically to achieve the independence of Cuba, and additionally to advocate for and support that of Puerto Rico; to organize a generous and brief war with the purpose of assuring peace, work and happiness for the island’s inhabitants; to unite all existing revolutionary forces and incorporate others, with no immoral commitment to any person or country at all, in order to establish a nation capable of assuring the wellbeing of its sons and daughters and participate in the historic development of the continent, given the difficult tasks its geography presented; to create a new, sincerely democratic people, capable of overcoming the challenges of liberty in a society founded on slavery; to save the country from the internal and external dangers threatening it and to replace economic chaos with a public treasury system which would support the diverse activity of its inhabitants.

The approval of the Foundations and Statutes began the process through which the Cuban Revolutionary Party was founded. Each of the patriotic associations of Cuban émigrés had to discuss them, declare their agreement and, all at the same time on April 8, hold elections for a delegate and treasurer, the party’s highest ranking leaders, with the intention of proclaiming the constitution of the Party on April 10, to coincide with and commemorate the Guáimaro Assembly, held on that date in 1869.

In early 1892 there were 34 patriotic associations, 13 in Key West, seven in New York, five in Jamaica, four in Tampa and others in various U.S. cities. As of April 8, 24 groups had accepted the Foundations and Statutes and elected, by absolute majority and secret ballot, José Martí as Delegate and Benjamín Guerra as Treasurer.

The process of founding the Party was concluded with its proclamation, as had been projected, April 10, 1892.

Barely one month earlier, on March 14, 1892, the newspaper Patría had published its first edition in which Martí defined the significance of the Party’s foundation precisely, "(...) the Cuban Revolutionary Party, born with many responsibilities given the deterioration of the country, did not emerge as a passing fancy, nor from loudly voiced but ineffectual desires, nor from blind ambition, but rather driven by a people which has learned from experience, which declares through this same Party, before the Republic, its desire to be free of the vices which sully our republican life as it is born.

"It was born one, from many places at once. And he, from within or without, who might believe that it is suppressible or insignificant, would err. That which one group hopes to accomplish perishes. That which the people want endures. The Cuban Revolutionary Party is the Cuban people." (4)

The Cuban Revolutionary Party was the fruit of Martí’s tenacious struggle for the unity of all revolutionaries, within which he had to fight tendencies opposed to the pro-independence desires of the Cuban people or those which attempted to divert them: diversion among revolutionaries – old and young, veterans and novices – autonomy, annexation and racism.

This struggle for unity was combined with Martí’s anti-imperialist ideology, always based on the need for unity in order to confront the neighbor to the North.

Martí’s concept of unity was clear and precise.

Twenty days after the proclamation of the Cuban Revolutionary Party, Martí wrote, "Unity of thought, which in no way means the servitude of opinion, is without any doubt the indispensable condition for the success of any political program. (…) Opening up the thinking of the Cuban Revolutionary Party to disorder would be as disastrous as reducing its thinking to a unanimity impossible within a people composed of distinct factors and human nature itself. But in terms of its thinking and its action based on that, the campaign of the Revolutionary Party has to be efficient and supremely glorious; it is indispensable that, whatever the differences of social fervor or aspiration, no contradiction, nor rancorous reservation, nor petty rivalries whatsoever can be seen in the thinking of the Revolutionary Party.

The thinking has to be seen in our actions. (…) If today we inspire faith, it is because we are doing everything that we said we would do. If our new power and strength lies in our inseparable union, if we take away unity from our thinking we would voluntarily be taking away our own power." (5)

The structure of the Cuban Revolutionary Party was extremely simple. Its base was located in associations or clubs created in areas of émigrés, who elected a president to lead their meetings, represent them in their relations with other Party clubs and bodies and to keep them informed of tasks completed, funds, et cetera.

All the club presidents in a particular area comprised a council body, which unified work in a city or territory and also served as a link between the delegate and the clubs (it should be recalled that in Key West alone there were 13 clubs in 1892).

The leadership of the Party consisted of the delegate and a treasurer, annually elected via secret ballot in the clubs. (One vote was established for each group of 20-100 members)

The Party’s organizational and propaganda work, directed by Martí, allowed for its systematic growth and expansion. While 24 clubs took part in the April 8, 1892 elections and there were only five known associations outside of the United States, toward the end of its fruitful life the Cuban Revolutionary Party comprised 128 clubs and nine council bodies in 19 localities in the United States, Mexico, Costa Rica, Panama, Jamaica and Haiti, without counting affiliates who were already fighting in the ranks of the Liberation Army at the time.

Analyzed from another angle, four essential elements stand out in the structure of the Cuban Revolutionary Party.

One of them was its leadership, composed of civilian and military veterans of the 1868 war and actions subsequent to it, whose prestige within the émigré community and in Cuba made it possible for them to mobilize all the forces interested in independence.

Two other elements were its mass nature, generally composed of workers (fundamentally cigar factory workers), prepared to give their loyalty, the necessary resources and their lives for Cuba’s freedom; as well as the so-called cooperative sectors, constituted by a small number of Cuban traders, proprietors and manufacturers located in the United States, Jamaica, the Dominican Republic and other countries who, while they did not lead an active political life, financially aided the Revolution.

The final characteristic was its articulating element, giving meaning and an organic quality to the three others: the bases and statutes acknowledged by everyone, as well as the leadership of José Martí, whose authority in the organizational, political and ethical order was undisputed.

Martí’s early death on May 19, 1895, less than three months into the war which he promoted, resulted in the role of delegate being assumed by Tomás Estrada Palma, a participant in the 1868 War and a man of prestige within the émigré community.

Estrada Palma, who betrayed the Party’s principles and was pro-American to the bone, supported U.S. interference in the war against Spain and, once the Spanish power was eliminated and the U.S. military occupation imposed, pronounced the mission of the Cuban Revolutionary Party completed and dissolved it, thus mutilating a significant part of Martí’s thinking, which anticipated using the Party not only in the war against Spain, but also to found a republic "with all and for the wellbeing of all." (6)

The Cuban Revolutionary Party existed for a little over five years, being led by Martí for three of them, but its activities were strikingly innovative, revolutionary and relevant today.

If it is compared with other political parties worldwide at the end of the 19th century, we can clearly appreciate that it was ahead of its time, even undertaking tasks characteristic of the 20th century. To note some of its contributions to the practice of political parties:

--The Party created by Martí was, above all, conceived in order to achieve national liberation, unheard of prior to that moment. In order to achieve that, from the moment of its founding as a political party, it was proclaimed as the sole pro-independence front into which "all the living forces of the homeland" were grouped." (7) Prior to then, parties represented only one class or specific social groups.

In that way, given its composition and the tasks proposed, the Cuban Revolutionary Party was qualitatively different from the parties existing in its period.

--The Party organized the war. As opposed to other parties, which focused their attention on programs and electoral propaganda and gaining political positions, this party raised funds, educated its leaders, organized an army, prepared expeditions and generated an entire insurrectional movement with the aim of facilitating Cuba’s independence.

--The Cuban Revolutionary Party not only organized the insurrection, but also proposed itself tasks to fulfill after independence was attained. It wished to found a republic of justice, where the first law would be "Cubans’ tribute to the full dignity of humanity." (8)

In this context it was substantially different from others of its kind, given that it conceived this task as a party which had won a war and came to power in that way, not through elections.

--It defined internationalist objectives, not only fighting for Cuban independence, but fostering and aiding that of Puerto Rico and, in a wider context, "the duty of preventing the United States from spreading through the Antilles as Cuba gains its independence, and from overpowering with that additional strength our lands of America." (9)

--The structure of Martí’s Party, as distinct from those already existing, was created from the bottom up, supported by a broad mass base of associations and small leadership bodies (a delegate and treasurer at the level of the Party as a whole and a president and secretary in the council bodies.

In this way, from its inception, it was a mass Party, the structure of which gave it strength and organization, with all its members belonging to associations at the base, while the reduced size of its leadership bodies allowed it to take decisions rapidly and to maintain excellent compartmentalization in revolutionary planning.

--A broad-based democracy ruled in the Party, founded on two aspects: annual secret elections to all positions and widespread divulgation, within and outside of its ranks, of all issues that did not affect the compartmentalization needed to prepare for the war. The communiqués constantly sent by Martí as delegate to the presidents of the council bodies to inform them of his actions and the activities of the clubs and other council bodies have been preserved.

Moreover, the Cuban Revolutionary Party knew how to combine legal work with clandestine activities, in such a way that not even the émigrés were aware of the immense organizational labor undertaken by Martí. When the Fernandina plan failed, for example, they were totally surprised that the financial resources collected cent by cent were sufficient for an expedition of such magnitude.

In conclusion, Martí’s concept of the Party was innovative, clear and precise. It consisted of creating a political instrument for organizing and preparing for a war, and to direct the founding of a homeland; an organization in which an authentic democracy and an almost one-person leadership, embodied in the elected delegate, harmoniously coexisted.

The Party grouped together those who were firmly determined to fight for the independence of Cuba and who understood that, in order to achieve that, it was necessary to be organized as a Party. At the same time, it had to assume a proselytizing role in order to attract more and more forces to the patriotic cause.

For the Cuban Revolutionary Party, the most important issue was not the number of members, but their patriotic love, spirit and honesty; only in this way could solid links be established with the working people.

Almost 120 years later, this legacy remains totally valid.


(Taken from ¿Por qué un solo Partido?,Ediciones Verde Olivo).

    (1) José Martí: Carta al general Máximo Gómez del 20 de julio de 1882. Obras Escogidas. Editorial de Ciencias Sociales, La Habana, 1992, Vol. I, p.324.
    (2) José Martí: Carta a José Dolores Poyo, del 29 de noviembre de 1887. Obras Completas. Editorial de Ciencias Sociales, La Habana, 1975, Vol. I, p.211.
    (3) Ibid.
    (4) José Martí: El Partido Revolucionario Cubano. Obras Escogidas. Editorial de Ciencias Sociales, La Habana, 1992, Vol. III, p. 84.
    (5) José Martí: Generoso Deseo. Obras Completas. Editorial de Ciencias Sociales, La Habana, 1975, Vol. I, p. 424.
    (6) José Martí: "Resoluciones". Obras Escogidas. Editorial de Ciencias Sociales. La Habana, 1992, Vol. III, p. 23.
    (7) Ibid.
    (8) José Martí: "Con todos y para el bien de todos". Obras Escogidas. Editorial de Ciencias Sociales. La Habana, 1992, Vol. III, p. 9.
    (9) José Martí: Carta a Manuel Mercado del 18 de mayo de 1895. Obras Escogidas. Editorial de Ciencias Sociales. La Habana, 1992, Vol. III, p. 604.