THE MONUMENT
The Monumento al Maine was unveiled
by the Cuban President Alfredo Zayas in 1925. The high
officers of the Cuban Army and the US Navy took place in the
ceremony.
The sober monument is the work of
the Cuban architect and sculptor Félix Cabarrocas and the
Spaniard Moisés de la Huerta. It stands on a granite
platform that can be accessed by steps from each side. The
two cannons, rescued from the submerged USS Maine, and the
two Corinthian white marble columns in the center are
exactly equal, representing the equality of the two nations.
The prow of the galley that projects from the monument, is
placed towards to north, as indicating the direction from
where it came. The cannons are artistically intertwined with
the anchor chains, rescued from the USS Maine. One of the
bas-reliefs on either side of the monument represent the
warship, anchored in front of the Morro Castle, and the
other one the sinking of the warship after the explosion.
Originally, the columns were topped
by a pedestal holding a bronze eagle that symbolized the US.
Initially, it that had wings spread vertically. When the
eagle with the monument was damaged by a cyclone in 1926, it
was replaced by another bronze eagle, but with horizontal
wings, in 1928, as it was understood that the vertical
design of the wings could not withstand the force of the
wind. The new eagle with horizontal wings looked like, as if
it would start the flight towards the north in search of its
home. Originally, there were also busts of three
personalities: the US President of the time William
McKinley, Leonard Wood, the governor of Cuba during US
occupation, and Theodore Roosevelt that participated in the
campaign of the US Army in the east of the island during the
Spanish-Cuban-American War.
In 1961, the government decided to
modify the monument by removing the eagle and the busts,
because they suffered several attacks by crowds. One month
later, the eagle, the sign of the imperialism, was attacked
again. When it fell down from its pedestal, the head was
detached from the body and the rest was divided into several
pieces. The crowd carried the pieces of the eagle
triumphantly through the streets. It is still unknown, how
the head of the eagle was brought to the Swiss Embassy that
dealt with American affairs in Havana, and from there to the
conference room of the US Interests Section in Havana
(current US Embassy). The rest of the eagle, its body and
wings, are held by the City Museum of Havana.
Since 1954, the first eagle that
was knocked down by the cyclone in 1926, is in the gardens
of the residence of the US ambassador in Havana.
In 1961, on the order of Fidel
Castro, a plaque was placed on front side of the monument
with the following inscription: “A las victimas de el Maine
que fueron sacrificadas por la voracidad imperialista en su
afan de apoderarse de la Isla de Cuba -15 de Febrero de
1898, -15 de Febrero de 1961 ( To the victims of the Maine
who were sacrificed by the imperialist voracity in its
eagerness to seize the Island of Cuba-February 15, 1898,
February 15, 1961)”.
People say that the bronze eagle
will be placed again at its former place, when the relations
between the US and Cuba will normalize completely.
