Conspirators, pawns, patriots and brothers: Race and politics in Western Cuba 1906-1909

The present work consists of an inquiry into the range, contours, and contingencies of political and social activism among men of the "clases de color" in Western Cuba during the second U.S. occupation. As members of a highly mobilized population that had received its political education through a tradition of armed struggle, black and mulatto men participated in various forms of social, political and military protest in Pinar del Rio from 1906-1909, including race-based political organization and interracial protest movements. During this period, mainstream Cuban political parties and North American military administrators monitored the actions of the region's black population with acute interest, as they sought to contain, circumvent, and ultimately to repress black popular protest.