Bacardi and the Long Fight for Cuba

by Gjelten, Tom

  P. 53. Federico Pérez Carbó noted: Ibid., 7:347-53.

  P. 54. The deputy mayor: Ibid., 7:349-50.

  P. 54. “not so much a mere political: Foner, History of Cuba, 2:319.

  P. 55. “And he stayed there: Bacardi Moreau, Vía crucis, 264.

  P. 56. Using commercial matters: Bacardi Cape, Emilio Bacardi, 105; Aguilar, “Emilio Bacardi, en el tiempo y para el tiempo.”

  P. 56. Annual interest on the war: Thomas, 307.

  P. 56. In a house just down: Ravelo, La ciudad, 48; Buch, 279.

  P. 57. “a certain disdain and coldness: Quoted in Mañach, 342.

  Chapter 5. Cuba Libre

  P. 58. Seventeen-year-old Emilito: The account of Emilito joining the rebel army is from Martha Padilla, “Hasta algún día, coronel,” Diario Las Américas (Miami), October 25, 1972; Mercedes García Tudurí, “El último coronel: Emilio Bacardi Lay,” Diario Las Américas, November 8, 1972; Luis Varona, “Palestra: El centenario del Coronel Bacardi,” Miami Herald, June 12, 1977; Luis Varona, “Coronel Emilio Bacardi Lay: El centenario de su nacimiento,” Diario Las Américas, June 12, 1977; Tulio Díaz Rivera, “Sepamos quien fue el Coronel Emilio Bacardi,” Diario Las Américas, August 6, 1976. See also Bacardi Cape, Emilio Bacardi; Buch López, 281; Ravelo, La ciudad (HAVANA: 1951), 195.

  P. 59. “General, my son has gone: Quoted in Varona, “Coronel Emilio Bacardi Lay.”

  P. 59. “It was the most emotional: Varona, “Palestra.”

  P. 59. For a true revolutionary: See Ferrer, especially 157-69.

  P. 60. Santiago was more militarized: Ravelo, La ciudad, 175-221; Buch López, 275-85.

  P. 60. Martínez, who knew José: Cape, “Desde Céspedes.”

  P. 60. He oversaw the smuggling: Ibid.; Bacardi Cape.

  P. 61. In July 1895, Gómez: Quoted in Foner, The Spanish-Cuban-American War. 1:22.

  P. 61. beginning with his own mother-in-law: Cape.

  P. 61. In some months, his collections: Bacardi Cape, Emilio Bacardi, 111.

  P. 62. The owner, Andrés Brugal: Chez Checo, 1:224.

  P. 63. On his first day in command: de Quesada, 90.

  P. 63. One day in May: The incident at Emilio’s house is described in Bacardi Cape, Emilio Bacardi, 112; Bacardi Moreau, Crónicas, 8:363, and 9:40; and in Cape.

  P. 64. One Cuban officer: Forment, 20 -21.

  P. 65. Her sister Herminia later: Cape.

  P. 65. A brown paper bag: The originals of the notes and typewritten transcriptions are in the archive of the Museo Emilio Bacardi in Santiago de Cuba.

  P. 66. “Whatever our fate: Related in Bacardi Cape, ed., “De Cuba a Chafarinas,” in Epistolario, 7.

  P. 67. The mission was highly dangerous: The account of Maceo’s death is from Bacardi Moreau, Crónicas, 9:48-54, and a letter from Emilio Bacardi Lay to Luis Varona, December 7, 1970, cited in Varona, “Palestra.”

  P. 67. In a letter to Maceo’s: Bacardi Moreau, Crónicas, 9:65-66.

  P. 67. On December 28, 1896: Foner, Spanish-Cuban-American War, 1:97.

  P. 67. Morocco in front: Bacardi Cape, ed., “De Cuba a Chafarinas,” in Epistolario, 28.

  Chapter 6. The Colossus Intervenes

  P. 68. Hanging prominently: “A Listless Opening,” New York Times, June 17, 1896.

  P. 68. “enlists the ardent: “The First Day’s Work,” New York Times, June 17, 1896.

  P. 69. Tomás Estrada Palma: The smuggling work of Pérez Carbó is revealed in Federico Pérez Carbó, “Relación de las expediciones armadas para auxiliar a los revolucionarios cubanos, durante los años de 1895 a 1898,” Archivo Nacional, Havana, caja 32, número 42.

  P. 69. “You’re thinking: The letters from Federico Pérez Carbó to Elvira Cape and Emilio Bacardi in Jamaica are reprinted in Bacardi Cape, ed., Epistolario.

  P. 70. “I don’t expect anything: Antonio Maceo to Federico Pérez Carbó, July 14, 1896, Archivo Nacional, Havana, caja 100, número 4186.

  P. 71. A Santiago writer described: Ravelo, La ciudad, 229.

  P. 71. In May, police raided: Bacardi Cape, Emilio Bacardi, 122.

  P. 72. In an essay he wrote: Ibid., 119-20.

  P. 73. One top U.S. diplomat: Pérez, Jr., The War of 1898, 19 and 82.

  P. 74. “We will oppose any: Ibid., 20.

  P. 74. García’s soldiers carried out: Cosmas, 186.

  P. 74. “Landing at Daiquirí: Pérez, War of 1898, 86.

  P. 75. 214 U.S. soldiers: Casualty figures are from Trask, 245.

  P. 75. Roosevelt reported: Cosmas, 218.

  P. 75. The two men soberly reviewed: Bacardi Cape, Emilio Bacardi, 127.

  P. 76. A Cuban resident described: Ravelo, La ciudad, 253.

  P. 76. The surrender ceremony: The scene is described in Goldstein, et al., 152-53.

  P. 77. “To be brief and: “The Future of the 71st,” New York Times, August 31, 1898.

  P. 77. General S. B. M.: Foner, The Spanish-Cuban-American War, 2:394-95.

  P. 77. “Allow me, sir: Bacardi Moreau, Crónicas 10:133-34.

  P. 77. “all [the undersigned]: “The Petition to Mr. McKinley,” New York Times, July 25, 1898.

  P. 78. “It does not make any: “Admiral Sampson on Cuba,” New York Times, December 24, 1898.

  P. 78. “The obligation of those: “Carta abierta a Sr. Alcalde Municipal,” July 27, 1898, Museo Emilio Bacardi archives, Santiago de Cuba.

  P. 79. Long lines of wan: Leonard Wood, “Santiago Since the Surrender,” 516-17.

  P. 80. On the job at the break: Hagedorn, 189.

  P. 80. “The passion for: Ibid., 196.

  P. 80. “With one or two: Ibid., 198.

  P. 80. “If that man is as good: Bacardi Cape, Emilio Bacardi, 135.

  P. 80. “I don’t know what my: Hagedorn, 217.

  Chapter 7. A Public Servant in a Misgoverned Land

  P. 81. The U.S. military governor: Archibald, 89.

  P. 81. “The Isle of Pines: Leonard Wood to Elihu Root, April 4, 1901, Leonard Wood Collection, Library of Congress.

  P. 82. They despaired when: Robinson, 134.

  P. 82. During the occupation: Pérez, On Becoming Cuban, 117.

  P. 82. He wrote later that: Bacardi Moreau, Hacia tierras viejas, 21-23.

  P. 83. On his first day: Bacardi Moreau, Crónicas 10:191

  P. 83. “We have three parties: Ibid., 10:194.

  P. 84. With no city council: Meriño, 26 (sted 14).

  P. 84. General Calixto García: Foner, The Spanish-Cuban-American War 2:390 -94.

  P. 84. “I am surrounded: Emilio Bacardi to his father, December 20, 1898, Emilio Bacardi Archive, Cuban Heritage Collection, University of Miami Richter Library.

  P. 85. After he discovered:. “School Squabble in Santiago,” New York Times, December 8, 1898.

  P. 85. As a result, he won: Bacardi Cape, Emilio Bacardi, 141.

  P. 86. In an article he wrote: Wood, “The Existing Conditions.”

  P. 86. In a July 1899: Hagedorn, 251.

  P. 86. Wood believes: Hugh Thomas, 440.

  P. 87. “Without exception: Wood, “The Present Situation.”

  P. 87. Emilio wrote Wood: Emilio Bacardi to Leonard Wood, June 1901, handwritten copy of letter in Archivo Histórico Provincial, Santiago de Cuba.

  P. 87. The property-holding: “Gen. Wood on the Cubans,” New York Times, June 24, 1899.

  P. 88. “ignorant and incompetent: Pérez, Cuba: Between Reform and Revolution, 182.

  P. 88. “Giving the vote: Foner, Spanish-Cuban-American War, 2:529.

  P. 88. “The possibility of negro: Hagedorn, 267.

  P. 88. “to block the will: Meriño, 36 (sted 24).

  P. 88. “some talk of universal: Foner, Spanish-Cuban-American War, 2:529.

  P. 88. In an official: Ibid., 531.

  P. 89. Faced with the prospect: Hagedorn, 421.

  P. 89. Elihu Root warned: Pérez, Cuba: Between Reform and Revolution, 188.

  P. 90. They exploit your: Alejandro Gonzalez to Emilio Bacardi, Oct
ober 8, 1900. Bacardi archives.

  P. 90. Before taking office: Emilio Bacardi to Leonard Wood, June 1901, handwritten copy of letter in Archivo Histórico Provincial, Santiago de Cuba.

  P. 91. Emilio concluded: Emilio Bacardi, Last Will and Testament dated January 25, 1902, Bacardi archives.

  P. 92. When Roosevelt was elected: Forment, 127.

  P. 93. After greeting the candidate: Bacardi Cape, Emilio Bacardi, 167.

  P. 93. “It would be a travesty: Forment, 173.

  P. 93. He introduced legislation: Bacardi Cape, Emilio Bacardi, 170 -71.

  P. 94. “For winners and losers: Forment, 85.

  P. 94. On September 8: Ibid., 190.

  P. 95. Estrada Palma asked: Thomas, 476.

  P. 95. “My increasingly firm: Emilio Bacardi to Elvira Cape, September 27, 1906, Bacardi archives.

  P. 96. Emilio wrote back: Emilio Bacardi to Leonard Wood, March 19, 1907, Leonard Wood Collection, Library of Congress.

  P. 96. To my people: Forment, 261.

  P. 97. Emilio returned to the: Emilio Bacardi to Carlos García Velez, December 25, 1908, Bacardi archives.

  P. 97. “My only affiliation: Ramón Corona, “Don Emilio Bacardi,” Diario Las Américas, August 11, 1970.

  Chapter 8. The One That Made Cuba Famous

  P. 98. The Bacardi story: Bacardi Cape, Emilio Bacardi en su tiempo, 147-52; Bacardi ad in Life magazine, 1966.

  P. 99. For the Pan-American: Bacardi Moreau, Crónicas, 10: 257.

  P. 99. Their rum beat out: Bonera, 156.

  P. 99. The historic event: Forment, 410.

  P. 100. Unlike Emilio: Bacardi Cape, Emilio Bacardi, 175.

  P. 100. A friend and admirer: J. Aristegueta, “Crónicas del sentimiento: Don Facundo Bacardi,” El Periódico de la Mañana (Santiago de Cuba?), November 28, 1926.

  P. 101. Emilio had arranged: Manuel Johnson to Eudaldo Romagosa, February 24, 1901; memorandum from Tasker Bliss, Collector of Customs for Cuba and Port of Havana, July 1, 1901, Leonard Wood Collection, Library of Congress.

  P. 101. “He is an honest man: Leonard Wood to Elihu Root, April 4, 1901, Leonard Wood Collection, Library of Congress.

  P. 101. He negotiated the opening: Argamasilla Bacardi, 44.

  P. 102. Estrada’s letters back: Bacardi archives.

  P. 103. The pitch got its start: Bacardi Cape, Emilio Bacardi, 98-99; see also company promotional literature.

  P. 104. An ad from about 1910: Bacardi archives.

  P. 104. A British physician touted: R. Fielding Ould to President, West Indies Committee, March 5, 1932, reprinted in Bacardi pamphlet, November 1932.

  P. 104. as late as 1934: García López.

  P. 104. the American Medical Association: Resolution on Alcohol Submitted by Council on Health and Public Instruction, Minutes of Sixty-Eighth Annual Session, American Medical Association House of Delegates, June 4-7, 1917, 68.

  P. 104. “It’s a young woman: Leyva, 176.

  p. 105. “to reduce the purely: H. P. Blavatsky, The Key to Theosophy (1890; repr., Pasadena CA: Theosophical University Press, 1972), 270 -71.

  P. 105. Years later, Mimín’s daughter: Grau, 14.

  P. 105. “The church that is said: Bacardi Moreau, Hacia tierras viejas, 135.

  P. 105. One of his angriest: Emilio Bacardi to Manuel Plana, August 26, 1910, Bacardi archives.

  P. 106. They declared it to be worth: Manuel García Vidal (lawyer and notary public), “Trans-formación de Socieded Mercantil Colectiva en Mercantil e Industría Anónima,” May 2, 1919, Archivo Histórico Provincial, Santiago.

  P. 107. The new distillery was inaugurated: Luz de Oriente magazine (February 1922).

  P. 107. “an uncountable number: “La fiesta del Ron Bacardi,” El Cubano Libre (Santiago), February 6, 1922.

  P. 107. On the last afternoon: Ducazcal, “Vida ejemplar,” Luz de Oriente 1, no. 6 (September 1922) (special issue dedicated to Emilio Bacardi), 7.

  P. 107. “the khaki uniforms: Carlos E. Forment, “Hacia la tierra,” Luz de Oriente 1, no. 6 (September 1922), 13.

  P. 108. One of his mourners: Alberto Duboy, “El último criollo,” Luz de Oriente 1, no. 6 (September 1922), 10.

  P. 108. “a great rebel: Federico Pérez Carbó, letter to the editor, Diario de Cuba, reprinted in Luz de Oriente 1, no. 6 (September 1922), 22.

  P. 108. “a man of business without: Fernando Ortiz, “La muerte de Bacardi,” Luz de Oriente 1, no. 6 (September 1922), 9.

  Chapter 9. The Next Generation

  P. 109. “Goodbye forever: Ring Lardner, “Prohibition Blues,” (New York and Detroit: Jerome Remick & Co., 1919).

  P. 109. Between 1916 and 1928: Pérez, On Becoming Cuban, 167.

  P. 109. Some U.S. bar owners: Ibid., 168; Woon, 42.

  P. 110. The favored Havana watering hole: Woon, 4-7.

  P. 110. “the aristocrat of cocktails: Ibid., 40 -41.

  P. 111. by 1924 had surpassed: Roig de Leuchsenring, El libro de Cuba, 840.

  P. 111. Some studies even suggested: Jeffrey A. Miron, “The Effect of Alcohol Prohibition on Alcohol Consumption” (Working Paper 7130, National Bureau of Economic Research, Cambridge, MA, May 1999).

  P. 111. By 1925, it was said to be: Roig de Leuchsenring, El libro de Cuba, 838.

  P. 112. “could not have been more: Bacardi Cape, Emilio Bacardi, 211.

  P. 114. “the loveliest and: Durand, “My Mad Romance,” part 3, December 16, 1923.

  P. 114. “There was a great deal: Ibid., part 2, December 9, 1923.

  P. 114. description of her honeymoon: Ibid., part 6, January 6, 1924.

  P. 114. When Martha asked him: Ibid., part 5, December 30, 1923.

  P. 115. Basil Woon reported: Woon, 257.

  P. 115. “one of the most popular: “Bacardi Near Death in Pistol Accident,” New York Times, July 19, 1932.

  P. 116. We have seen the emergence: Roig de Leuchsenring, La colonia superviva.

  P. 116. If we have taken: Roig de Leuchsenring, El libro de Cuba, 718.

  P. 116. “This trademark: Ibid., 838.

  P. 117. one of which had purchased: Pérez, On Becoming Cuban, 169.

  P. 118. “there are more drinkers: Woon, 259.

  P. 118. U.S. Department of Commerce: Willoughby, 17.

  P. 118. New York newspapers took: “Bacardi Near Death.”

  P. 118. In 1928 his tax department: “Lifts Bacardi Embargo: Machado Orders Inquiry into Tax Claim Against Rum Company,” New York Times, July 13, 1928.

  P. 118. The Bacardis were already: Diario de La Marina (Havana), July 12, 1928.

  P. 120. The jobs of two thousand: “Lifts Bacardi Embargo.”

  P. 121. When he heard that a friend: Pepín Bosch, in videotaped interview by Miguel Gonzalez-Pando, September 1990, video recording in Cuban Living History Project, Florida International University.

  P. 121. More than half the buildings: “$4,000,000 Damage in Santiago Quake,” New York Times, February 4, 1932; “Recuerdo histórico del terremoto de 3 de febrero de 1932,” in Magazine Las Noticias (Santiago de Cuba: Arroyo Hermanos, 1932).

  P. 123. “have seen the importance: Flyer distributed by Comité Central de Huelga de la Federación Obrera de Santiago de Cuba, August 17, 1933.

  P. 123. He angrily wired: Enrique Schueg to Pedro Lay, Western Union Cablegram, Havana to Santiago, August 18, 1933, Bacardi archives.

  P. 123. “for the purpose of: Pedro E. Lay to Hipolito Garrido, August 21, 1933, Bacardi archives.

  P. 123. “In this critical hour: Enrique Schueg, undated open letter, “Al sindicato en formación, obreros y empleados todos de la Compañía Ron Bacardi, S.A.,” Bacardi archives.

  P. 123. “The Bacardi Company: El Comité de Huelga, Sindicato de Obreros y Empleados de la Empresa Bacardi, Confederación Nacional Obrera de Cuba, open letter, “A los compañeros trabajadores y pueblo en general,” August 31, 1933, Bacardi archives.

  P. 124. “coalition of convenience: Louis A. Pérez Jr., “Cuba, c. 1930-1950,“ in Cuba: A Short Hist
ory, ed. Leslie Bethell (London: Cambridge University Press, 1993), 68.

  P. 124. “frankly Communistic”: Ibid., 70.

  P. 125. Historians later viewed: See, e.g., Aguilar, 1933; Suchlicki.

  P. 125. Although we know: “Estatutos del sindicato de empleados de oficinas de la Compañía Ron Bacardi, S.A., de Santiago de Cuba,” October 20, 1933.

  Chapter 10. The Empire Builder

  P. 126. The new Bacardi rum: Company treasurer Frank L. Dorothy informed Bacardi stockholders in a letter dated March 12, 1958, that 1931 Bacardi sales from Mexico had totaled 102,499 Mexican pesos. The exchange rate in 1931 was 2.6 Mexican pesos to one U.S. dollar.

  P. 126. “You’re not doing anything: Pepín Bosch, in videotaped interview by Miguel Gonzalez-Pando, September 1990, video recording in Cuban Living History Project, Florida International University.

  P. 127. “I was a bum student: “Dynamic Pepín Bosch,” Havana Post, January 15, 1950.

  P. 127. He also figured that: Gallo.

  P. 127. By December 1934: Foster, 43.

  P. 128. industry analysts had: “Rum Rush,” Time, December 4, 1933; see also “Liquor in America: An Interim Audit,” Fortune, October 1934, 104.

  P. 128. As many as forty thousand: “Liquor Scramble,” Time, October 9, 1953.

  P. 128. “For the plump: “Downtown,” Time, November 20, 1933.

  P. 129. As it was passed: “Rum Rush.”

  P. 129. Some liquor importers: William J. Dorion, letter to the editor, Time, October 23, 1933.

  P. 129. Schenley contracted to import: Barty-King and Massel, 145.

  P. 129. His first contribution: Foster, 55.

  P. 130. “totally linked to this land: Roig de Leuchsenring, El libro de Cuba, 839.

  P. 130. A 1935 article in the: “Proper Names Give Us New Words,” New York Times Sunday Magazine, December 8, 1935.

  P. 130. Enrique Schueg himself came: Foster, 56.

  P. 130. (Other bartenders, called: “Cocktails Must Live Up to Name,” New York Times, April 29, 1936.

  P. 131. Bosch briefly considered Louisiana: Foster, 57.

  P. 131. Bosch visited Puerto Rico: Bosch, 20.

  P. 131. Many Puerto Ricans in 1936: Monge, 88-98.

  P. 132. Members of Congress: Monge, 95.

  P. 132. “from all competition: “Rum Company Wins Case,” New York Times, May 11, 1938.