Cuba [antikvár]

INTRODUCTION Contrary to what some might think, Cuba has been a land of many discoveries over the centuries. In fact, before Christopher Columbus reached its shores on October 28, 1492, the island had already been visited by "foreigners": natives most probably coming from the Caribbean mainland, who, in the course of their explorations, had often sailed towards this new land seeking fair shores on which to settle. It is possible to imagine that these "indios"—as Columbus called them in the belief he had reached India—lived peacefully, surrounded by a nature that provided all their needs for a sustainable life. The European discovery of the New World, dividing the earth into hemispheres, ended the peaceful existence of the original inhabitants, marking the start of five centuries of history that up until present times has also been, in different ways and in different moments, a history of encounters with Cuba. It was especially Cuba's status as an island and its privileged location in the Caribbean Sea that made the land attractive. The warm temperatures and tropical rains have shaped a landscape that is remarkable for its variety and uniqueness. This virgin and fertile nature seduced not only Columbus, who stated, "This is the most beautiful land that human eyes have ever seen." German naturalist and geographer Alexander von Humboldt (1769-1859), who was considered the second discoverer of Cuba, provided the first scientific description of its fascinating mountains, endless beaches and the variety of its flora and fauna. Linked to the island's nature, which had so impressed Columbus and Humboldt, was another discovery that would prove to be even more important. Between 1920 and 1950, ethnologist and author Don Fernando Ortiz made an in-depth examination of the most intimate secrets of that impalpable and complex atmosphere that had developed over the centuries, which came to be known as cubania. The scientist, born in his beloved Havana, the Cuban capital, thus earned for himself the title of the third discoverer of the island. If Columbus had revealed to the world the existence of Cuba, and Humboldt had described the land, Ortiz was able to sketch its profile, defining the Cubans as the most generous fruit of this land, and their boasting of it as their greatest quality. Through a complex process, which Ortiz called "transculturation," the inhabitants of Cuba evolved in a world apart and sprung from diverse ethnic roots, with the white Spaniards and other Europeans who emigrated to The Malecón, Havana's popular seafront avenue. 1