Cooperation and Liberation: Marti's Poetic Reflections on Colonialism - Essay Sample

Introduction

The journey towards liberation from foreign rule was a crucial one too many states and countries. In an unconventional, poetic and vocabulary-rich encounter, Marti presents the roles that the people of North and South America played when it came to this liberation and events that followed. As a Cuban, his focal point could have been Cuba, but he presents an open content as he tries to link different scenarios to other contexts of the colonial reality. The essay hence presents the cooperation of Latin American society as the one vital tool they needed to achieve liberation. The Latino American societies had, during that time, experienced some flaws, among them the existence of weak and ineffective governments that lacked visions for their respective societies. The open showcasing of weakness and fear towards the USA, their great enemy was yet another shortcoming. Marti hence calls for the rejuvenation and revival of the responsiveness and consciousness of the Latin Americans regarding their cultural independence and identity.

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In an attempt to justify any uprising or legitimate revolution forged against colonial powers, Marti employs rhetorical techniques to conveniently and effectively pass the message. He hence utilized metaphorical figures such as the tiger and the octopus to describe the political realities. The tiger, in this case, stands for Spain and its colonial rule in Cuba, while the octopus presents imperialism. Marti, therefore, calls for the union and unabated solidarity between the Latin Americans as they face the common struggle. The natural man, according to hi, is not the Latin American who are polite European fashioned individuals who effortlessly abandoned their cultures and exclusively respected the European customs and values. The current generation has gradually come to disdain its predecessors; a plain and natural people, and have similarly abandoned the autonomy and original character of their country. To them, Marti used the terms "epaulets" or "deserters" and even metaphorically calls them "professors' gown" pointing at their blatant dependency on foreign nations. His is a belief that the natural man has an unforeseen potential in liberating the Latinos. However, these phenomena are accidental and the categories substantial.

The egoistic orientation of the Latin Americans has over time made them naive of the "giant with seven-league boots that is the United States of America. Their prioritization of the ego has hence made them overlook their cultural identity, original and natural human potential as well as other resources in their country. The giant in seven league boots, as Marti predicted (a prediction that came true) has an intention to annex Cuba, a country they considered as the gateway to the Caribbean and Latin American world. While lamenting of the predicament that has befallen the Latin American, Marti is impressed with the achievements and admires the accomplishments by the USA. He also admires the political and libertarian achievements, as well as the economic prosperity showcased by the United States. He hence wishes and looks forward to a time when these accomplishments and developments would be reciprocated to the countries of the Latin Americans.

The identity crisis of the Americas is one that has long been defined, created and presented by the Europeans breeches. As he described it, they are "masqueraders in English breeches, Parisian vest, North America jacket, and Spanish cap". Their identity is hence a fake one. Marti, therefore, suggests the diligent study of the Americas, the political factors and components of their country, as well as the precise presentation of their political and cultural truths. This kind of knowledge must hence be practical and different, and by that, acquired in the "American universities" and not the kind that Westernized elites gain in universities designed in European patterns. This knowledge should, therefore, contain the authentic American cultural orientation. "Our Greece must take priority over the Greece which is not ours," he says. This new knowledge is hence forged towards god governance, one that "sees things as they are. According to Marti, the best ruler is the natural man, and hence a good government is one which originates from within a country and represents the interest of the natural majority. The identity crisis can hence only be averted by the development of the American original-natural consciousness contributed to by new ways of study and education. All hope is however not lost as Marti remarks that the Latin Americans will be saved through the re-emergence of a real man, schooled in the critical philosophy of phalanstery and guesswork that dominated the previous generation. This real men, among them Marti himself, Calixto Garcia and Maximo Gomez present a new generation capable of taking matters in their hand and creating new realities based on imitation.

Cultural understanding is also vital and should be based on the spirit of truth and self-criticism. Marti hence negates the existence if races and terms racism as a sin against humanity. Marti agrees to the diversity of and between American republics but advocates for an imperative that would allow for one to get to know the neighbor and other American countries to overcome useless hate and provincial antipathy if the North new the South, the cooperation would strengthen the American cultural circle.