Enrique Roig de San Martin – The Motherland and the Workers (1889)
The Cuban anarchist movement can be traced back to the 1860s, when Proudhon’s mutualist ideas (Anarchism, Volume 1, Selections 12 & 18) were popularized in Cuba by Saturnine Martinez. A variety of mutualist workers’ and mutual aid associations were formed. From these a trade union movement began to develop. By the 1880s, anarchists influenced by the libertarian socialism of the anti-authoritarian sections of the First International (see Volume 1, Chapter 6) and the Workers’ Federation of the Spanish Region (Volume 1, Selection 36) had taken an active role in the Cuban trade union movement, thanks largely to the work of the weekly anarchist paper, El Productor, edited by Enrique Roig de San Martin (1843-1889). The proto-syndicalist Cuban Workers’ Alliance, inspired by Bakunin’s International Alliance of Socialist Democracy, regarded unions as revolutionary organs of the working class that would seek to abolish capitalism independent of any political party. Anarchists were also involved in the fight against racial discrimination, a significant problem in Cuba as slavery was only officially abolished in 1886. In the following excerpts from El Productor, translated by Paul Sharkey, Roig de San Martin responds to an article in the “liberal” paper, El Pais, calling on the workers to support the cause of Cuban independence.
The Motherland and the Workers
It
is not because we are “faint of heart”, not because we are “hot-headed”
nor “for reasons of a personal nature, even though we be the sons of
this land”, that we shy away from “defending [Cuba’s] dignity and
grandeur”.
El Pais should know that in acting as we do we are prompted solely by the dictates of honest conscience.
This
land it has fallen to our lot to be born in holds great, very great
attractions for us, but at the same time we have paid fervent tribute… to
“her dignity and greatness.” In our hearts, knowledge that the
greatness of a country resides in the greatness of its inhabitants has
caused us to amend our opinion of the defence of our own “dignity and
grandeur”.
The
continual growling from an empty belly, the heart-rending sight of
children starving and naked and the wretched spectre of a weak and
bloodless spouse: this is the picture that has presented itself to our
eyes every time that we have tried to improve our comrades’
circumstances.
In
vain, staking all on the wings of chimerical dreams, have we asked the
art of politics in which part of its repertoire lurks the solution to
the economic strife that tyrannizes us. To no avail, for the only reply
we have ever had is silence.
What
is more, much more, some bamboozler has stepped forward to reply, with
the timidity of one who knows that he is uttering an untruth: “You
ignoramuses, Politics will help you bring down the prices of consumer
goods, which is tantamount to your receiving a pay raise which must
leave you better off than you are at the moment.”
But
this is just so much sophistry. It is not the case that lower prices
for consumer goods are equivalent to a raise in pay, for the latter is
always tied to the former, rising and falling as the cost of living
rises or falls.
On
which point we have in our possession conclusive statistics and studies
that leave no room for doubt. The fact is that it could scarcely be
otherwise, since elevating the labouring folk to comfortable
circumstances would be tantamount to the ruling classes cutting their
own throats.
Inevitably,
therefore, we are trapped for all eternity in a vicious circle, as long
as it is left to politics to iron out the vagaries of fortune and the
manner in which we operate.
But,
taking it for granted that this is the argument, and granting that we
were to achieve a hike in pay some day, albeit even indirectly, through
politics, should that be the be-all and end-all of our aspirations?
Certainly not.
Being wage-earners, dependent upon a wage, our “dignity and grandeur” must be at the mercy of those who live off our sweat; and — at least insofar as we understand the meaning of the word — it is not dignified for our exertions to be directed towards the maintenance of an order that keeps us in degradation.
Which
is why we want no truck with politics, why we urge our comrades to keep
clear of it as much as they are able and to form an essentially
workers’ party, committed solely and exclusively to the championing of
their own interests.
But what about the homeland! …Ah, the homeland! The “dignity and grandeur” of the land that gave you birth!
But
what do we mean when we speak of the grandeur of the homeland? Do we
mean her independence! Precisely! Except that this, like everything else
in politics is simply an abuse of words.
Does
the independence of our homeland consist of her having a government of
her own, her not being answerable to any other nations, etc., etc., even
though her sons be subjected to the most degrading slavery? Can the
homeland exist without her sons? Or can a “dignified, great”, happy and
independent homeland include children who are slaves?
We cannot accept this interpretation.
We
hold that the homeland is made up of her sons, and that there is no
freedom for the homeland if some of her children are still slaves; it is
of little consequence whether the slave-master is a foreigner or a
fellow citizen; the result is the same. Slavery! Some may say: Where is
the slavery? Has that stigma not been erased from our foreheads once and
for all?
Sure.
No longer will you find among us a slave with a branded skin, his flesh
continually torn by the weighted tails of a brutal whip wielded by
dull-witted overseers, the degraded henchmen of the ambitions of the
mighty.
But
that does not mean that slavery has been ended; very far from it; it is
as powerful and as vigorous as ever, except that it has changed its
form. Is that not what the “Regulation and Charter for the Organization of Domestic Service on this Island” represents?
Article 16 of the aforesaid Regulation reads as follows:
“No
servant may absent himself from his residence on any personal errand,
without the corresponding leave from his master, on pain of a one peso
fine.”
And Article 21 of the Regulation reads:
“Should
a servant be without employment for more than one month, he shall be
deemed dismissed from service; and, should he fail to furnish due
evidence that he is plying another trade, or has other means of
sustenance, he shall be deemed a vagrant.”
Lest this article drag on too long, we shall refrain from offering comment and urge El Pais to do so in our place, since it has so far said not one word on this score, such is its liberality! The remainder of the Regulation is of the same ilk.
Besides
all this, we understand perfectly well the reason behind politics as
far as certain classes of society are concerned. By whichever means they
think easiest, each of them searches for a way of living independently;
and so we find the capitalist dabbling in conservative politics, just
as those with enough wit to sparkle and shine dabble in liberal
politics, both feeling like slaves in a set-up that is ill-suited to
their aspirations.
But let us leave them to it, for when all is said and done it is up to them to turn situations to their advantage.
As for ourselves, we will be the slaves — as ever — no matter what political system is put in place.
We
workers cannot nor should we be anything other than socialists, for
socialism these days is the only thing standing up to the bourgeois rule
that has us enslaved.
Talking
to us of homeland and freedom is a waste of time unless they start by
guaranteeing our independence as individuals; we are not about to redeem
the homeland while we are all left slaves.
The
measure of the homeland’s independence can be gauged by the amount of
independence enjoyed by her children, and, as we have already said,
there can be no free homeland while her children are slaves.
Enrique Roig de San Martin
El Productor, (Havana) 12 May 1889
Nació
en el barrio de Jesús María, en La Habana, el 5 de noviembre de 1843,
y, tras agravarse su diabetes crónica mientras estuvo preso, falleció el
29 de agosto de 1889, en Santiago de las Vegas donde residió muchos
años.
Sus amigos lo describían alto, de abundante pelo y barba rubia y copioso bigote, lleno de energía a sus 45 años.
Fue
práctico de medicina -formado por su padre médico-, maestro de azúcar,
administrador de un ingenio, lector de tabaquería, tabaquero y
periodista, iniciador de la prensa obrera en Cuba.
El
5 de febrero de 1882 fundó el Círculo de Instrucción y Recreo, de
Santiago de las Vegas; alrededor de esa fecha se sumó a las prédicas de
los anarquistas y luego evolucionó en sus ideas y se declaró partidario
del socialismo científico.
Era
uno de los principales dirigentes de La Alianza Obrera (1885), la cual
propugnaba la creación de una sola federación de trabajadores que
agrupara a todos los tabaqueros sin tener en cuenta su ideología.
Fue
redactor de El Obrero (Cienfuegos, en 1882), El Cubano, editado por
Fermín Valdés Domínguez; del Boletín del Gremio de Obreros (1886);
colaboró también en la Revista de Agricultura, El Faro, de Santiago de
Las Vegas (1880), El Artesano y La Tribuna, de Cienfuegos.
Fundó
el 12 de julio de 1887, El Productor, que dirigió hasta su muerte,
radicado en el Círculo de los Trabajadores, en la calle Dragones número
39; el periódico llevó el subtítulo de Organo oficial de la Junta
Central de Artesanos de La Habana a partir del 29 de marzo de 1888.
“No
hubo para Enrique Roig omisión alguna en el camino que se trazó en
defensa de todos los oprimidos por el régimen social imperante, afirmó
Carlos Baliño, y en las columnas de su valiente periódico se libraron
las más porfiadas batallas en defensa de los obreros del campo y en los
derechos reivindicativos de la atropellada raza de color”.
Roig San Martín y la defensa a los mártires de Chicago
Marta Denis Valle*
Obrero
y periodista, Enrique Roig San Martín encabezó una gran campaña a favor
de los futuros mártires de Chicago y, aunque falleció meses antes, fue
precursor de la primera jornada del Primero de Mayo en Cuba.
Desde
las páginas de su periódico El Productor asumió la defensa de los ocho
obreros procesados en Estados Unidos (1886-1887) y denunció el crimen
legal que se preparaba, mediante artículos suyos y de otros autores
cubanos y extranjeros.
A
la protesta se sumaron los gremios de litógrafos, tabaqueros,
escogedores, cocheros, cajoneros, cigarreros, mecánicos, planchadores,
sastres y zapateros; trabajadores tanto de La Habana como de Matanzas,
Cárdenas, Cienfuegos, Villa Clara y Puerto Príncipe.
Se
constituyó un Comité de Auxilio con la participación de numerosas
organizaciones proletarias de todo el país, que colectaron fondos para
contribuir a la lucha por salvarles la vida y de ayuda a los
familiares.
En
una asamblea, efectuada el 8 de noviembre de 1887, en el circo Jané,
más de dos mil asistentes demandaron del Gobernador de Illinois el
indulto de los sentenciados.
Indignado
por la noticia del cumplimiento de la pena, Roig San Martín escribió,
el 17 de noviembre de 1887, el artículo En nuestro puesto, el cual
comienza así:
“Faltaríamos
a nuestro deber si en los supremos instantes por que atravesamos, no se
levantase nuestra voz para formular la más enérgica protesta en contra
de los acontecimientos realizados en Chicago el día 11 del presente
(1).
Y afirma en los párrafos finales:
“La
historia, esa maestra severa y elocuente, nos demuestra que las ideas
emancipadoras no se ahogan con sangre; y que el árbol sagrado de la
libertad, cuanto más lo poda la tiranía, más lozano y lleno de vida se
levanta”.
“La
historia nos enseña también que los cadalsos que la reacción levanta,
la libertad los convierte en signos redentores, inscribiendo en el
catálogo de los mártires a las víctimas de los tiranos”.
Y
tuvo razón; a partir de 1890 se celebró el Primero de Mayo como acción
de los trabajadores del mundo, en homenaje a los mártires de Chicago y
por la jornada de ocho horas de trabajo, cuya demanda estuvo en el
centro de los sucesos ocurridos en mayo de 1886 en esa ciudad
estadounidense.
En
Cuba, el Círculo de Trabajadores publicó la convocatoria, el 20 de
abril de 1890, a celebrar una manifestación pública pacífica, y un mitin
al final, “para que el gobierno, las clases elevadas y el público en
general sepan o puedan apreciar cuáles son las aspiraciones de este
pueblo obrero”.
La
manifestación de unos tres mil trabajadores partió del Campo de Marte
–actual Parque de la Fraternidad- por la calle Reina hacia Galiano, San
Rafael y Consulado, donde intervinieron unos 15 oradores.
Un año antes, el 23 de junio de 1889, Roig San Martín publicó en El Productor su célebre artículo ¡O PAN O PLOMO!, cuyas palabras iniciales expresan:
“Es
ya demasiado tarde; las redentoras ideas socialistas encarnadas,
digámoslo así, en la conciencia de los trabajadores, forman hoy la
profesión de fe de las clases populares, y en vano será que se trate de
extirparlas”.
En
el mismo se pronunció por “un partido esencialmente obrero que venga a
establecer de una vez y para siempre la división de clases que es
indispensable, y en la cual tengan cabida únicamente los hambrientos”.
(2)
Preso
por las autoridades, el 25 de junio, un amigo pagó la fianza de cinco
mil pesetas, tres días después; deuda saldada por suscripción popular.
No pudo volver a la redacción dado su delicado estado de salud, aunque el 8 de agosto escribió con el título REVOLUCION:
“Las
revoluciones han sido siempre la médula de los huesos de los pueblos y
no hay poder bastante para hacerlas desaparecer…En no lejano día
realizaremos la más grande y fructífera de las revoluciones, la
revolución social, única que acabará de una vez y para siempre con todos
los privilegios y con todas las tiranías…” (3)
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