Cuban-Puerto Rican Solidarity: Antillean Liberation Tradition

Cuban and Puerto Rican liberation movements have been intertwined since the 19th century — a bond of solidarity that colonialism has not been able to sever.

Shared Origins:
- Both islands were Spain's last Caribbean colonies
- Both launched independence uprisings in 1868: Puerto Rico's Grito de Lares (September 23) and Cuba's Grito de Yara (October 10) were coordinated, though both were suppressed
- Ramón Emeterio Betances and other Puerto Rican independence leaders maintained close ties with Cuban revolutionaries

Exile Communities:
- Puerto Rican and Cuban exiles in New York formed joint revolutionary organizations
- The Comité Revolucionario de Puerto Rico operated alongside Cuban organizations
- Tobacco workers (lectores) in Florida cigar factories supported both causes
- Eugenio María de Hostos advocated for an Antillean Confederation uniting Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the Dominican Republic

Revolutionary Organizations:
- The Cuban Revolutionary Party (PRC), founded by José Martí in 1892, included Puerto Rican independence as part of its mission (Section Puerto Rico)
- Puerto Rican general Juan Rius Rivera served as a senior officer in Cuba's independence wars
- Numerous Puerto Ricans fought in Cuba's wars of independence

The 1898 Divergence: The Spanish-American War created different outcomes:
- Cuba gained nominal independence (under heavy U.S. influence via the Platt Amendment)
- Puerto Rico became a U.S. colony
- The Antillean federation dream died — Cuba and Puerto Rico were now under different colonial arrangements

Post-1959: After the Cuban Revolution:
- Cuba has been Puerto Rico's most consistent advocate at the United Nations
- Cuba introduced Puerto Rico's case to the UN Decolonization Committee in 1972
- The Cuban government has hosted Puerto Rican independence conferences
- Cold War politics complicated the relationship: supporting independence was associated with communism

Salsa and Cultural Solidarity: The musical tradition of salsa — created by Cuban and Puerto Rican musicians in New York — is the cultural expression of this solidarity. The music could not have been created by either tradition alone.

The Cuban-Puerto Rican bond demonstrates that colonial boundaries are artificial — the peoples of the Caribbean share a solidarity that predates and transcends the colonial powers that divided them.