history

SOME INCIDENTS IN MY TRAJECTORY AS A CUBAN REFUGEE / by Jorge E. Ponce

The trajectory of a refugee is one of embracing other cultures while never forgetting the one where you come from.  It could be painful at times but often life doesn’t offer many viable choices.  

With fifty-nine years living in the United States, I’d like to offer four incidents that caused me to stop and think deeply about how to respond politely and adequately to each.

The first one deals with my Ponce surname.  Some people assume automatically that I am Puerto Rican — as Ponce is one of the most important cities in this Caribbean Island.  Ponceños think so highly of their city that their motto is “Ponce es Ponce y lo demas es parking” or “Ponce is Ponce and all other cities in Puerto Rico don’t measure up.” The city was founded in 1692 and is named after Juan Ponce de León y Loayza, the great grandson of Spanish conquistator Juan Ponce de León.

To the great surprise of many when I clarify that I am Cuban American, they learn that there are Ponces of all nationalities.  But let’s get a reality check.  If you gathered all the Ponces throughout the world in the city of Ponce, Puerto Rico, this metropolis would become the center of attention of the entire world.  No one could bring together so much talent to one place! Just kidding!

Others asked me if I’m related to the Spanish conquistador Juan Ponce de León.  There are all kinds of insinuations about this question – one of which is that for me to be treated like a VIP in the world, I have to be related to the Spanish royalty.  A Cuban-American, a denizen from a Caribbean Island – even one that Christopher Columbus described in 1492 as “the most beautiful land that human eyes have ever seen” — does not deserve the top scores in these people’s scorecards. 

Those who underestimate Cuban Americans have no clue about the grit, determination, and successes of so many of us who have achieved the rewards that the American Dream has to offer.  Just think of two outstanding Cubanos in American society nowadays: U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and the 2025 recipient of the Heisman Trophy, Fernando Mendoza.

But let’s followed up with a history lesson regarding the Spanish conquistador and the country Spain.  After the Christian armies recaptured territories from the Muslims that had occupied Spain since 711 AD, multiple Christian kingdoms emerged like Castile and Aragon.  An important milestone for the unification of Spain was the marriage in 1469 between King Ferdinand of Aragon and Queen Isabella of Castile.  An even more important event was the conquest of Granada in 1492 – the last Muslim stronghold in the Iberian Peninsula and which played a pivotal role in the unification of the country. 

So, the “de León” in the Spanish Conquistador’s Ponce surname was indicative that this family came from the Kingdom of León before the reunification of Spain.  It pertains to a geographic region and has nothing to do with one’s genealogy.  It is very possible that I may be related to this Spanish conquistador’s family – as Ponce is not a common surname.  But I’m not losing any sleep over it. 

To make it easier to those who want to place such an important value to my ethnicity, I often refer to myself as: “Jorge Ponce de La Habana” – by birthplace.

Upon finding out where I come from, many want to display their pseudo erudition by asking whether I have gone back to Cuba.  I quickly respond that I would never set foot on a communist gulag that my family fled from, and that has continued to oppress the Cuba people for sixty-six years.  I clarify that I will only go back when I am able to drink a Cuba Libre with authentic Cuban American Bacardi Rum in a Cuba that is really Libre – in a Cuba that has replaced the Communist motto of “Patria y Muerte” (“Country or Death”) with a more Christian alternative of “Patria, Vida, y Libertad” (“Country, Life, and Freedom”).

But most are done with me yet.  When they see my name spelled on multiple forms as “Jorge,” they proceed to call me “George.” If my mother would have wanted me to name me “George,” she would have done so.  The pronunciation of Jorge as “horhe” does not even come close to the pronunciation of “George.”  With the U.S. population in 2025 made up of 68 million (20%) Hispanics, I would have thought that many would run across many “Jorge’s” in their business dealings by now.  Popular American Writer Dale Carnegie in his magnum opus book “How to Win Friends and Influence People” reminded his readers that “a person’s name is, to that person, the sweetest and most important sound in any language.” Mr. Carnegie realized that it was not just the correct spelling of a person’s name that mattered, but its pronunciation as well.

And the last question is one that I’ve asked myself repeatedly.  How to respond when people ask me where do I come from.  In the past, I’ve responded by calling myself a Cuban American.  But when I’ve traveled overseas and I’ve responded this way, people confused my allegiance to the communist government in Cuba.  And rather than enjoying the now, this triggered an adrenalin boost of negative energy – which is totally unnecessary for good health and to seize the joyous moments that life offers us.  Therefore, I’ve made an adjustment. 

Cuba will always be a part of me, of my personality, of my way of thinking.  But the Cuba that I keep in my soul and the one that I toast to when I order a Cuba Libre is the Cuba BC (Before Castro).  I share nothing in common with the Cuba DC (During Castro) and Cuba AC (After Castro).

When this situation comes up again, I’ll respond that I am “an American of Cuban descent.”  

PATRIA Y VIDA / by Jorge E. Ponce

“Patria y Vida” or “Homeland and Life” – a protest song that became the anthem of the largest protest demonstrations in Cuba in 2021. 

Written by Yotuel Romero, the group Gente de Zona, Descemer Bueno, Maykel Osorbo, Eliecer “el Funky“ Marquez Duany,  and Beatriz Luengo (Yotuel’s wife), it won song of the year and best urban song at the 2021 Latin Grammy awards.  

“Patria y Vida” is an inversion of the Communist Cuban slogan of “Patria o Muerte” — “Homeland or Death.”

There is a world of difference between the conjunctions “and” and “or” – between “y” and “o.” The latter symbolizes a my-way-or-the-highway mindset.  Completely totalitarian.  It leaves no room for individual thinking – typical of the communist ideology where the Communist Party is supreme.  It is also delusional to think that Cubans would be willing to die for a homeland ruled for sixty-six years by a totalitarian regime that has denied them the most basic human rights. 

On the other hand, “patria y vida” offers the option to aspire to a homeland where the dignity and prosperity of all citizens would be implemented – a homeland of, by, and all Cubans.  A homeland where no one would be left behind.  

Despite the bogus claim by Cuban authorities, racism is still prevalent in Cuban society.  Yotuel recounts the following incident in Cuba: “Once I was walking down the street with Bea (Beatriz Luengo, who is white and a Spaniard) and they told her: Wow, you’ve set the race back.”  

With the exception of Beatriz, the other composers of this song are all Afro-Cubans.  But this did not stop the official website CubaDebate to label Yotuel a “jinetero” (“prostitute) for marrying Beatriz.  Cuban Government sympathizers forget the basic fact that love has no racial barriers.  Love is an emotion that triggers an unstoppable chemical reaction in the heart.

But this was not all.  Back in 2020, an agent of the Castro regime wrote on social networks the following: “He [Yotuel] has reached where he has arrived thanks to Fidel and the Revolution without whom he would only have been a black shoeshine boy.”

Yotuel does not live in Cuba anymore for political reasons and dreams of returning only to a Cuba Libre.  If the Cuban Revolution had taken Yotuel under its wings, there would have been no need for him to emigrate.  Indeed, outside the Cuban Revolution, Yotuel is now a very successful musician with multiple awards under his belt.  It is not inconceivable that if he had stayed in Communist Cuba, his destiny would have been nothing more than that of a “black shoeshine boy.” He found fame, a loving wife, and a society that rewarded talent and not race outside of Cuba.

The massive demonstrations on July 11, 2021, had its genesis in Decree 349 – a Cuban law enacted in 2018 that obligated artists to get advance permission for public and private exhibitions and performances.  Government inspectors were authorized to confiscate the artwork of those breaking this law.  In September 2018, a group of artists who went by the name of “San Isidro Movement” launched a protest against Decree 349.  In February 2021, the song “Patria y Vida” was released.  In April 2021, residents of the San Isidro neighborhood impeded the arrest of rapper Maykel Osorbo and chanted the song “Patria y Vida” and other anti-government slogans. 

It was only a matter of time before things took a turn for the worst.  July 11, 2021 saw the largest anti-government protests since 1994.  Cubans denounced cultural censorship, food and medicine shortages (especially during the COVID pandemic), lack of basic human rights, the government’s hypocrisy regarding racial and socioeconomic equality, and the unfulfilled promises to bring about economic and political reforms.  Cubans got tired of the communist charade and demanded a change.  They dreamed of a country where they could prosper, grow, live, and vote in free elections for political candidates of their choice. 

Rather than meeting with the leaders of the demonstrations, the Cuban government made hundred of arrests and charged many with crimes that included sedition.  Maykel Osorbo was arrested in May 2021 and is currently serving a nine-year prison sentence.   

The fact that one of the composers of this song, Maykel Osorbo, is serving a jail sentence because the Cuban authorities feared the emotions that it engendered demonstrates vividly the weakness of the Cuban Communist regime.  Its sustainability is only possible by repression.  A song being an existential threat to the Cuban authorities?!!! Laughable!

I am not a fan of rap, hip-hop, reggaeton, and cubaton music. To me, music entails harmony, and the latter genre lack it.  Nevertheless, I do like the message that this song brings to the table.  As a social protest to the dire conditions that Cubans have endured for over sixty years, where the average salary of a Cuban worker in 2025 is a meager $17, where there has been a 24% decline in the Cuban population during the last four years since 2024 due to massive mass migration (which puts the Cuban population at 8M), I stand firmly in solidarity with “Patria y Vida.”  

The recent Cuban migration could be designated as a “reverse Pedro Pan Program.”  The original “Pedro Pan Operation” was a clandestine exodus of over 14,000 unaccompanied Cuban minors ages 6 to 18 to the United States over a two-year span from 1960 to 1962 to save them from communist indoctrination.  The current program differs from the original because it entails parents leaving their children with their parents or close relatives in Cuba because of the risks associated with sea and land crossings. The original program took children out of Cuba while the current one kept children in a communist country. 

It easier for some people to capture the essence of a message or a story by reading a book.  Others favor instant gratification and prefer getting information through a song.  Others gravitate towards the visual arts to get informed. 

It is because of the latter group that Beatriz Luengo memorialized the impact that her husband’s song had worldwide by producing a documentary.  “Patria y Vida: The Power of Music” debuted in most AMC theaters in Florida on July 11, 2025. It is expected to be released in other areas of the U.S. shortly. The documentary lasts ninety minutes to symbolize the ninety miles that separate Key West from Havana.   

The song and the documentary have united Cubans living in Cuba, Cuban-Americans, and Cubans throughout the world into one family wanting a change in their homeland for democracy and a free-market economy where everyone can move up the social scale based on his/her talents. 

Patria y Vida, Venceremos! With the “Homeland and Vida” chant, we will attain Victory!

SIGNIFICANCE OF MAY 20, 1902 TO CUBA / by Jorge E. Ponce

May 20, 1902? What’s commemorated on this date? Is it Cuban Independence from Spain? Should only Cubans be concerned about this date?

To determine the answer to this question, one must delve into the history of Cuba.  But this becomes a difficult task for most Cuban-Americans who emigrated at an early age to the United States since 1959. 

Take, for example, someone like me.  The Cuban Communist Government forced parents to enroll their children in government-run schools to instill in them Marxist propaganda.  Private and religious schools were closed permanently, and the teaching staff was either laid off or forced to emigrate mostly to Spain.  This created a shortage of teachers with credentialed backgrounds – which undermined the teaching of basic subjects.  Therefore, my three years spent in these schools centered on learning about the Cuban, Bolshevik, and Mao revolutions.  History about Cuba BC (Before Castro) was banned for being bourgeois and unimportant. 

After coming to Arlington, Virginia, my focus was on learning the history of the United States.  As time went by, English became my primary language.  Although I was fortunate to attend lectures on Cuban history in Spanish by distinguished Professor Herminio Portell Vila and his assistant Ms. Isabel Pruna, my language proficiency and retention-ability became less and less.  To make matters worse, there were not many books in English pertaining to the history of Cuba BC.  This is why I have praised Cuban-American Professor Alfred J Lopez for penning recently the first book in English about Cuban National Hero Jose Marti.  

So, let’s delve back into the real significance of May 20th for Cubans – but before doing so, let’s review some background events in Cuban history.

Multiple U.S. President had wanted to annex Cuba as a U.S. state.  Thomas Jefferson, the third President of the United States, wrote to James Madison in 1809 about the fact that Cuba was only ninety miles from Key West, Florida and located at the mouth of the Gulf of America.  Democrat Presidents James Polk in 1848 and Frankling Pierce in 1854 offered to buy Cuba from Spain to add the Caribbean Island to the Southern slave-owning states.  Slavery was abolished in the United States by the 13th Amendment in 1865, and in Cuba in 1886.  Democrat President James Buchanan also favored buying Cuba from Spain, but the Ostend Manifesto of 1854 allowing the U.S. to seize Cuba by force if Spain refused to sell it was voted down by the U.S. Congress.  After 1865, calls for Cuba annexation by U.S. congressmen decreased significantly.

It helps to get a feel for the mood of most Americans concerning the annexation of multiple Caribbean Islands during this time.  Republican President Ulysses S. Grant supported a treaty drafted in 1870 to annex the Dominican Republic as a way to reinforce the Monroe Doctrine and find a haven for African Americans fleeing persecution in the Reconstruction South. Abolitionist Frederick Douglass supported this annexation as a way to uplift the island from poverty.  But the U.S. Senate defeated this measure because many believed that non-white people in the Caribbean were unfit for American citizenship and feared that the United States would absorb “degenerate races.”

It was thanks to Cuban National Hero Jose Marti that the character of Cubans was safeguarded after he challenged in writing a defamatory column that was published in the Manufacturer of Philadelphia and reprinted in the New York Evening Post on March 25, 1889.  The column labeled Cubans as “destitute vagrants or immoral pigmies,” “petty talkers, incapable of action, hostile to hard work,” “an effeminate people,” “people of defective morals … unfitted by nature and experience to discharge the obligations of citizenship in a great and free country,” and “our lack of manly force and of self-respect is demonstrated by the supineness with which we have so long submitted to Spanish oppression, and even our attempts at rebellion have been so pitifully ineffective that they have risen little above the dignity of farce.”

Marti was prophetic in advocating against the annexation of Cuba — as it was unwise to do so with a country that thought so poorly of its patriots (men who had fought for so long a European country with no help from the civilized world). 

Cuban patriots fought three wars to gain their independence from Spain – the ten years’ war lasting from 1868 – 1878, the little war from 1879-1880, and the war of independence from 1895 – 1898.  During the 1895 war, the Cuban population was approximately 1.8 million. According to the Library of Congress Research Guide, 20% of the Cuban population perished during the wars – including combat death and the effects of Spanish General Weyler’s reconcentration policies. This amounts to 360,000 Cuban casualties!  I don’t think that anyone with an iota of intelligence and moral fortitude would label these patriots “effeminate people!”

After the sinking of the USS Navy Ship Maine in Havana Harbor in February 1898, which the jingoistic media outlets blamed Spain for it, Republican President William Mckinley received a Congressional joint resolution on April 20, 1898, to intervene militarily to secure Cuba’s independence.  U.S. troops landed at Guantanamo Bay on June 10th, and a cease-fire was reached on August 12, 1898 – followed by the end of the Spanish-American war by the signing of the Treaty of Paris on December 10, 1898. The treaty also ceded Guam and Puerto Rico to the United States — as well as Spain agreeing to sell the Philippines for $20 million.  Teddy Roosevelt and the Rough Riders gained fame and recognition for their participation in multiple battles — like the one in San Juan Hill.

Despite the fact that Cuban patriots had fought valiantly for fourteen years to gain their independence and that they had lost 20% of their population in these efforts, the United States delegates — whose military had participated in the Cuban wars for a mere two months – prevented Cuban representatives from participating in the signing of the Treaty of Paris.  Moreover, U.S. General William Shafter refused to allow Cuban General Calixto Garcia and his rebel forces to participate in the surrender ceremonies in Santiago de Cuba.

You may ask what prevented the United States from invoking the Monroe Doctrine and annexing Cuba prior to the U.S. declaration of war against Spain in 1898? Senator Henry Teller of Colorado succeeded in having his amendment passed by the U.S. Congress in 1898 that stipulated: “The United States hereby disclaims any disposition or intention to exercise sovereignty, jurisdiction, or control over said island except for the pacification thereof, and asserts its determination, when that is accomplished, to leave the government and control of the island to its people.” It turns out that the Senator’s motives were not necessarily altruistic but were triggered by his efforts to protect the beet industry from cheap Cuban cane sugar imports. In fact, Senator Teller went on to support the Platt Amendment.

So, we are ready now to answer the question about the significance of May 20, 1902.

If Spain ceded control of Cuba via the Treaty of Paris, what happened in Cuba between 1898 and 1902?

On January 1, 1899, the United States commenced the formal military occupation of Cuba – in strict violation of the Teller Amendment.  The majority of Cubans agreed with the warning of Jose Marti regarding his quote that “to change masters is not to be free.”

From 1898 to 1902, the United States controlled the government of Cuba. President Mckinley had always wanted to have strong control over Cuban affairs.  After his assassination in 1901, Vice President Theodore Roosevelt took over the presidency and continued Mckinley’s policies towards Cuba. 

With the signing by President McKinley of the Platt Amendment in 1901 – which President Franklin Delano Roosevelt abolished in 1934 — the United States abrogated Cuba’s right to make treaties with other nations and restricted Cuba’s ability to conduct foreign policy and commercial relations.  It allowed the United States to intervene militarily to theoretically preserve Cuban independence, although realistically it was to protect the U.S. investments on the Island. It also allowed the United States to lease the Guantanamo Naval Base.   

May 20th, 1902 was the date when the Cuban Republic was established and Tomas Estrada Palma became its first president.  While symbolically this date represents the end of the American military occupation, the U.S. military did intervene multiple times in Cuban affairs until the abrogation of the Amendment in 1934. 

Now that we’ve dealt deeply into Cuba BC’s history, it becomes obvious that the U.S. interventions in Cuba affairs from 1898 to 1934 did a lot of harm to the development of Cuba as a free and independent republic. 

Some say that the Cuban Republic lasted from 1902 to 1959 with the rise of the communist regime of Fidel Castro.  I and I’m sure others think that the Cuban Republic lasted only for 24 years – from the ending of the Platt Amendment in 1934 to 1959.  This is not enough time to reach maturity as a free country and differentiate between governments that uphold the inalienable rights of life, liberty, private property, and the pursuit of happiness from those that suppress these rights by making its citizens slaves of totalitarian ideologies.

Had I lived in Cuba BC as an adult, my political affiliation would have sided with the Cuban nationalistic aspirations.  A young republic deserved to have a “government of the people, by the people, and for the people” to quote President Lincoln’s famous quote – without any foreign interference.  Cuban politicians deserved an opportunity to make the right decisions and to learn from its own mistakes.  Denying Cubans this trial-and-error transition prevented the maturity it needed later to maintain its adherence to democratic policies and fend off their sequestration by totalitarian ideologies. 

The history pertaining to May 20, 1902, should not be limited to Cubans.  Peoples from all over the world will learn from it and ensure that it’s not repeated.  What happens to the least of all is important to all – as we are all part of the human history.

Presidential messages may muddle the significance of this date.  For example, the 2025 message states: “This Cuban Independence Day, we honor the courageous patriots who broke free from Spanish colonial rule …”

Does this history lesson mean that I am anti-American? Absolutely not. I am an American citizen and love this country.  But to quote the late Spanish philosopher George Santayana, “those who ignore history are doomed to repeat it.” The difference between the United States and communist countries is that the former has corrected its past mistakes while the latter holds on to them to keep themselves in power.

Now, you know the rest and the real story!

JORGE’S BOOK RE-ISSUED

Author Jorge E. Ponce, a Cuban American who came to the United States with his family as political refugees via the Freedom Flights in 1966, has re-issued a new edition of his most recent book, “Examining the Past to Understand the Present: The Journey of a Cuban-American Refugee and What Led to His Conversion from Democrat to Republican”: a powerful memoir that follows the author through his immigration to America as a political refugee, and his eventual turn to the political right after years of disappointment from Democrats and witnessing the dangers of communism.

The new edition has additional articles and an updated/ expanded introduction.  The good news is that while this edition has more material, it also has a cheaper price tag.  More for less – an enviable combination for today’s consumers. 

Born in Havana, Cuba, Jorge grew up in Arlington, Virginia, and retired to the Sunshine State of Florida. He has used his pen prolifically to write his views about issues that needed to be aired so that others in the media and diverse communities got the other side of the story. The author’s letters to the editor have been published frequently in the Washington Post, the Washington Times, and the Tampa Bay Times. Ponce has worked for the Federal Government for his entire professional career and has received multiple awards for his civil rights work. Now that he’s enjoying his retirement, he considers himself lucky to be able to write about topics that move his soul.

“This book will be helpful to those who have made the decision to leave their homeland,” writes Jorge. “It will not be an easy transition at first. The younger you are when you become an immigrant or a refugee, the better you will be able to adapt to a different culture and language. But you must embrace a frame of mind that you are in a new country to assimilate into its culture; not to change it.  Achieving the American Dream proved that the journey was well worth it!

Jorge continues, “This book will also be helpful to politicians who wonder how to get and keep a big chunk of the Hispanic vote on their side, as well as those who wonder how they lost it. It will be an eye-opener to those who can’t figure out why it’s so difficult to get Cuban Americans to vote for Democrats. Past experience living an arduous life under a Communist regime leaves indelible scars about the Left that can never be erased.” More importantly, you’ll be able to assess this political transformation from the mouth of a Hispanic — not from someone who claims to know the Hispanic culture. The latter makes a big difference to establish authenticity.

Jorge’s book brings the challenges, disappointments, and victories that destiny threw in his path to the forefront, revealing all the events that shaped him and his views on the nation’s political climate. Thought-provoking and deeply personal, Jorge provides answers to the ultimate questions of why the recent exodus of Hispanics to the Republican Party has taken place and the urgent need to keep this group in their tent to win future elections.

Parts 1-4 narrate Jorge’s life story in Cuba BC (Before Castro), Cuba AC (After Castro), United States, and his retirement in Florida.  After learning Ponce’s life history in the previous parts, Part 5 has sixty-seven articles on a myriad of subjects that have moved Jorge’s soul deeply ranging from politics, philosophy, religion, civil rights, Hispanics, and Cuban Americans. It is in Part 5 that Jorge discusses the reasons that led him to his conservative switch.  

Readers who wish to experience this enlightening work can purchase this book on the Amazon.com portal in multiple editions: hardback, paperback, and Kindle here.