Not Americans nor Cubans but Piñeros: Americans on Cuba's Isle of Pines

On February 10, I attended a lecture, the latest in the UConn Department of History’s Foreign Policy Seminar Series in the basement lounge of Wood Hall. The speaker was Michael Neagle, an Assistant Professor of History at Nichols College, who received his Masters and PhD in history here at the University of Connecticut. The lecture, “Becoming Good Neighbors: Americans on Cuba’s Isle of Pines”, concerned the expatriate American population that was present from the end of the Spanish-American war in 1898 until shortly after the Cuban Revolution in 1959 on Cuba’s Isle of Pines, now known as the Isle of Youth. (The island was renamed in 1978 in commemoration of the numerous international schools on the the island that attracted students from developing countries around the world. Cuba was a top destination for international students from such countries from the 1960’s through the early 1990’s.)The topic was also the subject of his recent book, America's Forgotten Colony: Cuba's Isle of Pines.

The presence of an American population on the island stemmed from an ambiguity in the 1901 Platt Amendment, effective May 20, 1902, which dissolved the United States Military Government in Cuba and established what is now called the First Republic of Cuba as a de jure independent sovereign state. The island was specifically singled out in the treaty as not being part of the boundaries of the new Cuban State. American businessman took advantage of the territory’s unsettled status to set up citrus plantations and there were soon calls for the United States to formally annex the island. It turned out however, that the waters around the island were too shallow to support a naval base, so in 1904, the United States and Cuba signed the Hay-Quesada Treaty, in which the United States recognized Cuban sovereignty over the island. However, opposition by Americans living on the island delayed the Senate’s ratification of the treaty until 1925, by which time 95 percent of the island’s land was American owned. Despite the loss of the American claim to the island and subsequent decline in the fortunes of the island’s citrus industry, most Americans living on the island remained.

In the early 1950’s, the island’s economy seemed poised for a renaissance. American developers realized the island’s tourism potential, and soon, numerous plans were afoot for the development of resort hotels. Development had barely begun though, when the First Republic and the Cuban Revolution came to an end as Cuban President Fulgencio Batista fled the country on January 1st, 1959. Some Americans on the Island had initially supported Fidel Castro’s 26th of July Movement, but not wanting to live as tenants after Castro, who by this time, effectively ruled Cuba autocratically as First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba expropriated foreign-held real property, generally for well under market value, soon began leavingthe island en masse. By 1971, the last year for which reliable records are available, just seven Americans remained on the island, and it is unlikely that these holdouts stayed much longer.

I found this lecture fascinating. While I did know that there had been a significant number of Americans in Cuba prior to the Revolution, I did not know about the history of this particular population and the potential American claim to the Isle of Pines. I found it interesting that the American expatriate community on the Island successfully integrated into the local population, unlike what typically happened elsewhere in Cuba. After his lecture we had a lively discussion in question/answer format. Dr. Neagle’s speaking was clear, easy to follow and he answered the audience's’ questions thoroughly, in a way that could be understood. I found the talk so interesting that it prompted me to purchase the book he has recently written on the subject. I look forward to reading it once I have the time.

The topic of the lecture would be of interest to many people in Humanities House. There are many people in Humanities House who are history majors or are interested in history and history is a major field of the humanities.