Cuba Can Be Proud of Her Sons

Abstract

Chapter 5 returns to Cuban volunteers in Spain to explore the function and significance of their transnational identities and experiences. Due to colonialism, neocolonialism, and migration, Cubans were transnational—shaped by movement, connection, and exchange across borders and oceans. In particular, Cuba had ties with Spain and the United States, which gave Cuban volunteers special roles as translators and network builders and made them especially valuable to Spaniards and English-speaking volunteers. Another fundamental characteristic of volunteers was political and ideological diversity, which also characterized antifascism on the island. Chapter 5 studies two domestic groups whose commitment to the Spanish Republic did not rest primarily on leftist ideology but rather on other types of transnational identifications tied to domestic concerns: Cubans of African descent and Freemasons. Examining these two groups along with the Cuban volunteers, chapter 5 explores the connections between transnationalism and continuity from Cuba’s struggle to Spain’s.