Juan Gualberto Gómez at the Forge of Cuban Nationality

A small man with curly hair, thick lips and a flat nose used two words to tell José Martí, on behalf of all of Cuba, that the preparatory phase of the war was over and that it would soon break out.

«Money orders accepted» was Juan Gualberto Gómez Ferrer’s reply to the insurrectionary order that Martí had cleverly hidden in a cigar.

Martí, for his part, acknowledged his Cuban identity and dignity: «He knows how to love and forgive in a society where forgiveness is very necessary. He loves Cuba with that love of life and death and that heroic spark with which those who truly love it must love in these days of trial…»

He was not wrong to appoint him as his representative in Cuba during the organization of the war of 1895. This mulatto grew in his pro-independence ideas and in his struggle for equality between blacks and whites. He was Martí’s right-hand man in his homeland, his friend and confidant, because the teacher understood that Juan Gualberto was the natural leader who defied the government.

He was a man of profound intelligence and a sense of social justice, combined with an eagerness to constantly learn, based on his own self-taught sense of education. He was the author of books such as Las Islas Carolinas y Las Marianas; La patria escrita and La isla de Puerto Rico (primera parte): bosquejo histórico, de las conquistas hasta principios de 1891.

This mulatto, who walked with an umbrella or a cane, always with a cigar in his hand and glasses to see from afar, did not belong to the struggles of the Republic, to the electoral campaigns, but to the patriotic mission of forging the Cuban nationality; his work in emigration, his sufferings in Spanish prisons and his enormous work as Martí’s faithful personal delegate bear witness to this.

Juan Gualberto was not only an impeccable and tireless Cuban who always stood by his people and his homeland, but also an extraordinary journalist of great culture and unique style. He was undoubtedly an outstanding critic, a writer of beautiful poetry, a connoisseur of the French language, a man of letters and a writer of great sensitivity and deep human and revolutionary concerns. He was also known as a sharp and cultured political orator in favor of any just cause.

The press should serve as a unifying force, as Juan Gualberto Gómez did by founding the newspaper La Fraternidad, by putting his courage at the service of Cuban independence in the ranks of the Liberation Army, by opposing with his valuable words the interference of the Platt Amendment and all those segregationist and racist manifestations that threatened the unity of Cubans.

The evolution and consolidation of his thought will have to be studied in much greater depth, following the path of maturity and radicalization of his patriotic, social and rationalist ideas.

On the occasion of the 90th anniversary of his death, which occurred on March 5, 1933, before he reached the age of 79, the Cuban people, and especially the professionals and workers of the Cuban press, are inspired by his example and his values of revolutionary journalism, so that the press can carry out its mission with the rigor, honesty, wisdom and courage that the current challenges demand. His last words before he died were symbolic: «Cuba, Martí, Cuba».

On this day, as is customary every year, the national and metropolitan media make a pilgrimage to the tomb of the outstanding patriot in the Cristóbal Colón cemetery, inaugurating this year’s Cuban Press Day. The same thing happens in other areas. And the people are happy to attend this appointment with the necessary man, with his imperishable work that places him among those who will never be forgotten.