War And Genocide In Cuba By Humberto Solas

Cuba like many of the Caribbean islands has a violent history involving slavery, occupation and many wars to achieve freedom and to find themselves after years of domination. In a country so riddled with violence and repression filmmaker Humberto Solas chooses to tell parts of Cuba’s history through his film Lucia (1968). In Lucia Solas tells three stories of three separate women living in different time periods in Cuba’s history. During these periods he addresses the woman’s position and expectations of the time through her romantic relationships and status within her community. Solas shows us Cuba’s history through the point of view of a woman during that time and what she would have faced. Lucia addresses three main periods in Cuban history;
Jose Miro speaks about the intervention of women and support for the cause, sending out the troops with cheers of glory and pride, stating that with the support of all in Cuba they were the true liberation army (War and Genocide in Cuba,142-143). Miro even claims that some women would join in the battles and fight along side the men. This would be a tremendous leap in women’s rights if true but according to John Lawrence Tone, this is probably a greatly exaggerated fact as women joining in on the battles were more exceptions than commonalities. One such woman was Paulina Gonzalez who fought along side her husband in the war. However when this was discovered she and other women were issued to stay away from the battle zones, this can prove that women were not necessarily allowed to directly participate in the war (War and Genocide in Cuba, 142-143). Like Lucia, Gonzalez’s motives for her involvement in the war can also be argued whether she was doing it for love of country or for personal reasons, as she may have wanted to stay near her husband (War and Genocide in Cuba,
Cuba has gone through many different wars and revolutions in order to fight for their freedoms and just rights. Fighting against the colonial powers and unjust rulers the Cuban people have faced many atrocities one of which is the rights for women. Although Cuba claims to be very progressive in it’s rights for women it is seen that they still faced many prejudices. During 1895 women were left to fend for themselves as the men fought in the War for Independence. Women’s persuasion in the war usually siding with which side their families belonged were left to secretly aid in them by providing clothes, food, arms, etc. whenever they could. 1933 brought about another major revolution and although women’s rights were more vocal they still faced a lesser role within the society and revolution. The 1960s however brought about the most prominent progress for women’s rights with Castro’s revolution winning power and bringing about reform for Cuba. Although progress was achieved at this time women still had to face the mentalities of the society in concern with a woman’s role. The battles still rages for women’s progress in Cuba but it can be seen that the current government and Humberto Solas’ attitude towards a woman’s importance in society is worth