The statue of Antonio Maceo was the most transcendental work of the Italian Domenico Boni. He made also the sculptures of the Conde de Pozos Dulces and General Mambí Alejandro Rodríguez that were erected in Vedado. He completed the work in Italy in four years. 1916, when he arrived in Cuba, he lost his life by an honor duel. Subsequently, his project was modified in a way that it will also touch the heart of the Spaniards living in Cuba.

The monument with the bronze equestrian statue of the hero at the top, consists of the shaft, the high reliefs and the granite pedestal.

Antonia Maceo is represented, dressed in his military uniform on the galloping horse. He holds a machete in his right hand and encourages his soldiers to attack the enemy. The statue is positioned with his back, facing the sea, as if implying that Antonio Maceo was not a native Cuban (Antonio Maceo, the Bronze Titan, was born in Santiago de Cuba). During the Ten Years’ War, the Spanish spread rumors about Antonio Maceo that he initiated a racist struggle against the white people in the island, as he had a black skin. Therefore, this detail of the statue was the subject of intense polemics in Havana.

On the upper part of the shaft of the monument, there are the Coat of Arms of Cuba and Havana. The shaft is covered by large high reliefs. The relief in front of the monument shows the mother of Antonio Mace, Mariana Grajeles, in the act of administering her children the oath to remain faithful to the fatherland. Mariana Grajeles (1815-1893) consecrated her life to the fight for the independence of Cuba and encouraged all of her children and her husband for this goal. The large reliefs around the shaft refer to some important events that had a special place in the life of Antonio Maceo: the battle of Mejíta, Protesta de Baraguá, the battle of Cacarajícara and La Indiana Coffee Combat.

Mejíta is a rural settlement in the municipality of Norris in Holguin that served as a camp for the Mambis during the Ten Years’ War. In 1877 a strong combat between the Spanish troops and the Mambi forces took place here, in that Antonio Maceo was seriously wounded, but the uprising against the Spanish persecution became an epic.

The peace agreement known as the Zanjón Pact in 1878 that ended the Ten Years’ War, was not accepted by the Major General Antonio Maceo, even though Arsenio Martínez Campos, the Governor of Cuba, met the Mambi forces in Baraguá to persuade the commanders to lay down arms. He declared that he would continue the battle against the Spanish for an independent Cuba. This event is known as Protest of Baraguá.

The battle of Cacarajícara constitutes one of the most glorious pages of the military history of Cuba. At a critical point, when the situation of the insurgents, composed of only 170 poorly armed men, gets worse under the attacks of the Spanish column of nearly 1.000 soldiers, commanded by the Spanish General Julián Inclán, Colonel Juan Ducasse that just returned from an expedition, reached the scene with 150 men and a lot of ammunition, so that the rebels forced the enemy to retreat. The turn of the battle led Antonio Maceo to declare that the victory was in sight.

In 1871 the Liberation Army, commanded by Máximo Gómez, attacked the fortified coffee plantation La Indiana that served as a military camp for the Spanish Army. This action is known as La Indiana Coffee Combat.

At each corner of the pedestal stands a sculpture, representing action, thought, justice and law.

The park/square around the monument occupies and area with a length of about 400 meters and a width of about 60 meters. Even though, new fountain and benches were added to the park, it still lacks any tree. The wide square around the monument is surrounded by Chinese grass.