“The Antilles for the Sons of the Antilles”: On Translating Ramón Emeterio Betances

Abstract:In sharing the original French version as well as Spanish and (first-ever) English translations of “Speech at the Masonic Lodge of Port-au-Prince” (ca. 1870–71), the author argues for the importance of the work of Afro–Puerto Rican activist Ramón Emeterio Betances in the history of Caribbean decolonization. This speech represents a unique inter-Caribbean intervention in the anti-imperial struggle of the time. With the Cuban Ten Years’ War against Spain in the background, Betances, in contrast to his fellow Cuban and Puerto Rican activists, advocates a vision of Caribbean sovereignty that is inclusive of Haiti. Although the limitations of revolutionary masculinity and regional sameness are evident in the text, Betances proposes a politics of unity beyond nationhood that interconnects with later decolonial projects of coliberation.