Havana historian, Eusebio Leal, has spoken here about the presence of Cuban National Hero, Jose Marti (1853-1895), in New York and the legacy he left with his pen and tireless action in favor of the island''s independence.
Marti lived 15 years in New York, and made of this magnificent city the center of his political work, the intellectual said at an event held at the Cuban Permanent Mission to the UN, attended by persons related to a project to bring to Cuba a replica of the equestrian statue of the hero, located in the Central Park of the Big Apple.
Leal described Marti as a refined poet, magnificent speaker and a figure capable of uniting the past and the future of the struggles for independence, with an admirable perseverance and constant application to the goal of seeking friends and supporters of that cause.
According to the historian, Marti was heard in New York several times in the Masonic temple, toured neighborhoods, wrote his most important articles and visited theaters and exhibitions.
In his brief speech, Leal also emphasized the humanism of Marti, immortalized by sculptor Anna Huntington in a bronze equestrian statue that captures the moment of his death in combat in the eastern Cuban locality of Dos Rios.
The imposing statue, finished in the late 1960's, is located in the Southern part of the Central Park, accompanied by sculptures of other Latin American pro-independence leaders, Simon Bolivar and Jose de San Martin.
According to the Havana historian, the project is close to become a reality, thanks to the support of institutions and people in the United States and the island.