Print Media and the Question of Slavery in Cuba: Discursive Strategies in Barcelona’s La Flaca and Havana’s El Moro Muza and Don Junípero

Abstract

This article explores the portrayal of the first Cuban war of independence against Spain (Ten Years’ War, 1868–1878) in print media in both Spain (Barcelona) and in Cuba (Havana). The Spanish press portrayed official reports on the war as falsehood and denounced the exclusionary treatment of Cubans of African descent. The Havana print media, although careful to avoid direct references to participation in the war by former slaves, addressed the racial composition of the Cuban army in a series of images questioning revolutionary values. In their illustrations, both journals derided the aspiration of Cubans living in the United States, and in particular the political movement in favour of annexation. Through the use of the graphic images and short texts that appeared as captions or footers, these publications sought to construct and consolidate public opinion on the idea of independence (for and against) and to insert themselves in the larger discussion and vision for the end of colonialism in Cuba.