
{"id":327760,"date":"2025-08-31T09:03:44","date_gmt":"2025-08-31T13:03:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/?p=327760"},"modified":"2025-08-31T09:03:44","modified_gmt":"2025-08-31T13:03:44","slug":"marti-in-manhattan-a-symbol-that-returns-the-gaze","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/cuba\/marti-in-manhattan-a-symbol-that-returns-the-gaze\/","title":{"rendered":"Mart\u00ed in Manhattan, a symbol that returns the gaze"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Arriving in New York is entering a universe of symbols, nourished by literature, film, photography and by those who left their mark on the city. Without having set foot there, we think we know it; and when we finally walk its streets, rather than discover it, we go out in search of those emblems.<\/p>\n<p>For a Cuban like me, the personal priority came before other icons like the Statue of Liberty: finding Jos\u00e9 Mart\u00ed. So, a few hours after disembarking, I took Sixth Avenue \u2014 Avenue of the Americas \u2014 to 59th Street, at the south entrance to Central Park. There, flanked by the liberators Jos\u00e9 de San Mart\u00edn and Sim\u00f3n Bol\u00edvar, Cuba\u2019s Apostle awaited me.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_327764\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-327764\" style=\"width: 1080px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Marti-en-el-parque-central-Kaloian-8-1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-327764\" src=\"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Marti-en-el-parque-central-Kaloian-8-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1080\" height=\"678\" srcset=\"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Marti-en-el-parque-central-Kaloian-8-1.jpg 1080w, https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Marti-en-el-parque-central-Kaloian-8-1-300x188.jpg 300w, https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Marti-en-el-parque-central-Kaloian-8-1-1024x643.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Marti-en-el-parque-central-Kaloian-8-1-768x482.jpg 768w, https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Marti-en-el-parque-central-Kaloian-8-1-750x471.jpg 750w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1080px) 100vw, 1080px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-327764\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Photo: Kaloian.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Standing nine meters tall, Mart\u00ed rises on horseback, in bronze, on an imposing black granite pedestal. The steed rears up, standing on two legs; the combatant\u2019s body falls to one side with his hand to his chest, his gesture pierced by the pain of the gunshots. Facing this motionless flash of lightning, one understands that the sculpture narrates a moment and, at the same time, a biography: the man who organized the necessary war from New York and fell at Dos R\u00edos on May 19, 1895, just six weeks after returning to Cuban soil, determined not to ask for exemptions from the sacrifice he preached.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_327765\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-327765\" style=\"width: 1080px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Marti-en-el-parque-central-Kaloian-13-1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-327765\" src=\"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Marti-en-el-parque-central-Kaloian-13-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1080\" height=\"719\" srcset=\"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Marti-en-el-parque-central-Kaloian-13-1.jpg 1080w, https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Marti-en-el-parque-central-Kaloian-13-1-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Marti-en-el-parque-central-Kaloian-13-1-1024x682.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Marti-en-el-parque-central-Kaloian-13-1-768x511.jpg 768w, https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Marti-en-el-parque-central-Kaloian-13-1-750x499.jpg 750w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1080px) 100vw, 1080px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-327765\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Photo: Kaloian.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"attachment_327766\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-327766\" style=\"width: 814px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Marti-en-el-parque-central-Kaloian-9-1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-327766\" src=\"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Marti-en-el-parque-central-Kaloian-9-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"814\" height=\"1080\" srcset=\"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Marti-en-el-parque-central-Kaloian-9-1.jpg 814w, https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Marti-en-el-parque-central-Kaloian-9-1-226x300.jpg 226w, https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Marti-en-el-parque-central-Kaloian-9-1-772x1024.jpg 772w, https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Marti-en-el-parque-central-Kaloian-9-1-768x1019.jpg 768w, https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Marti-en-el-parque-central-Kaloian-9-1-750x995.jpg 750w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 814px) 100vw, 814px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-327766\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Photo: Kaloian.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"attachment_327767\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-327767\" style=\"width: 1080px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Marti-en-el-parque-central-Kaloian-1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-327767\" src=\"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Marti-en-el-parque-central-Kaloian-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1080\" height=\"785\" srcset=\"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Marti-en-el-parque-central-Kaloian-1.jpg 1080w, https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Marti-en-el-parque-central-Kaloian-1-300x218.jpg 300w, https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Marti-en-el-parque-central-Kaloian-1-1024x744.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Marti-en-el-parque-central-Kaloian-1-768x558.jpg 768w, https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Marti-en-el-parque-central-Kaloian-1-120x86.jpg 120w, https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Marti-en-el-parque-central-Kaloian-1-750x545.jpg 750w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1080px) 100vw, 1080px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-327767\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Photo: Kaloian.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>It represents his death in battle, but to me it seemed the opposite: a scene from life. I arrived at noon, in the stifling heat of a New York summer. The sun at its zenith bathed the sculpture head-on, as if responding to his own verses: \u201cI am good, and as good \/ I will die facing the sun!\u201d The piece stands with its back to the forest \u2014 as if emerging from it \u2014 and, from the front, faces the city\u2019s skyscrapers.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_327768\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-327768\" style=\"width: 1080px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Marti-en-el-parque-central-Kaloian-12-1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-327768\" src=\"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Marti-en-el-parque-central-Kaloian-12-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1080\" height=\"719\" srcset=\"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Marti-en-el-parque-central-Kaloian-12-1.jpg 1080w, https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Marti-en-el-parque-central-Kaloian-12-1-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Marti-en-el-parque-central-Kaloian-12-1-1024x682.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Marti-en-el-parque-central-Kaloian-12-1-768x511.jpg 768w, https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Marti-en-el-parque-central-Kaloian-12-1-750x499.jpg 750w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1080px) 100vw, 1080px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-327768\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Photo: Kaloian.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"attachment_327769\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-327769\" style=\"width: 1080px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Marti-en-el-parque-central-Kaloian-7-1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-327769\" src=\"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Marti-en-el-parque-central-Kaloian-7-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1080\" height=\"774\" srcset=\"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Marti-en-el-parque-central-Kaloian-7-1.jpg 1080w, https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Marti-en-el-parque-central-Kaloian-7-1-300x215.jpg 300w, https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Marti-en-el-parque-central-Kaloian-7-1-1024x734.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Marti-en-el-parque-central-Kaloian-7-1-768x550.jpg 768w, https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Marti-en-el-parque-central-Kaloian-7-1-120x86.jpg 120w, https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Marti-en-el-parque-central-Kaloian-7-1-350x250.jpg 350w, https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Marti-en-el-parque-central-Kaloian-7-1-750x538.jpg 750w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1080px) 100vw, 1080px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-327769\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Photo: Kaloian.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The whole weighs what metaphors weigh when they become matter: tons. The inscription in the granite reads: \u201cApostle of Cuban independence \/ leader of the peoples of America \/ and defender of human dignity.\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Mart\u00ed lived fifteen years of exile in that city. It\u2019s easy to imagine him crossing the same avenues, finishing off articles in Manhattan cafes, writing letters and forging alliances, convinced that the war had to be for everyone or it wouldn\u2019t happen. For him, New York was an editorial office, a platform and a temporary home; for thousands of Cubans later, it has been a mirror, a stage for arguments, reconciliations and nostalgia.<\/p>\n<p>The work\u2019s creator, Anna Hyatt Huntington, began sculpting it at the age of 82. The widow of Archer M. Huntington \u2014 the founding Hispanist of the Hispanic Society \u2014 she modeled Mart\u00ed on a farm with lakes that reflected the profile of the hills.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_327770\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-327770\" style=\"width: 1080px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Marti-en-el-parque-central-Kaloian-2-1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-327770\" src=\"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Marti-en-el-parque-central-Kaloian-2-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1080\" height=\"813\" srcset=\"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Marti-en-el-parque-central-Kaloian-2-1.jpg 1080w, https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Marti-en-el-parque-central-Kaloian-2-1-300x226.jpg 300w, https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Marti-en-el-parque-central-Kaloian-2-1-1024x771.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Marti-en-el-parque-central-Kaloian-2-1-768x578.jpg 768w, https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Marti-en-el-parque-central-Kaloian-2-1-750x565.jpg 750w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1080px) 100vw, 1080px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-327770\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Photo: Kaloian.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Her process began with clay modeling, followed by plaster casting and culminated in bronze casting using the lost-wax technique. The casting was carried out at Domico Scoma Bronze Works in Queens, which specializes in large formats. The pedestal was designed by the architectural firm Clarke &amp; Rapuano and constructed of dark Barre granite, with carefully chiseled inscriptions in both languages.<\/p>\n<p>Cuban journalist Jos\u00e9 Antonio Cabrera traveled in the summer of 1957 with photographer Osvaldo Salas \u2014 then a correspondent for Bohemia magazine in New York \u2014 to report on the piece while it still needed to be sent to the foundry. Hyatt Huntington disliked the publicity and was on the verge of refusing to speak, but agreed because, she said, \u201cCubans have the right to see what I\u2019m doing with their hero.\u201d She learned to love Mart\u00ed out of love for her husband and through the mediation of Cuban friends in the city; also out of her own conviction: she saw in him an intellectual spirit of rare sensitivity. It wasn\u2019t a statue for the sake of ceremony; it was a dialogue.<\/p>\n<p>By the end of 1958, the bronze Mart\u00ed statue was ready to be unveiled. However, the triumph of the Cuban Revolution in January 1959 halted its installation: New York authorities preferred to put the decision on hold. For six years, the sculpture waited in darkness in a Bronx warehouse, while layers of political and symbolic dispute accumulated outside.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_327771\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-327771\" style=\"width: 1080px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Marti-en-el-parque-central-Kaloian-6-1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-327771\" src=\"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Marti-en-el-parque-central-Kaloian-6-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1080\" height=\"746\" srcset=\"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Marti-en-el-parque-central-Kaloian-6-1.jpg 1080w, https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Marti-en-el-parque-central-Kaloian-6-1-300x207.jpg 300w, https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Marti-en-el-parque-central-Kaloian-6-1-1024x707.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Marti-en-el-parque-central-Kaloian-6-1-768x530.jpg 768w, https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Marti-en-el-parque-central-Kaloian-6-1-750x518.jpg 750w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1080px) 100vw, 1080px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-327771\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Photo: Kaloian.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>In October 1964, a group of exiles attempted to place a plaster replica on the site; the police immediately removed it. The figure remained decapitated on the asphalt. Finally, in May 1965, after sustained pressure from the Cuban exile community, the city authorized the installation of the bronze original. It was the provisional closure of a cultural and diplomatic battle in which public art served as a language of resistance, identity and memory. Anna Hyatt Huntington, 88, attended the ceremony.<\/p>\n<p>It was a short truce, as the exiles and the Havana government regarded each other from irreconcilable shores and disputed \u2014 and continue to dispute \u2014 Mart\u00ed\u2019s legacy. Yet the bronze doesn\u2019t take sides based on circumstances, but rather captures a moment that overwhelms us all.<\/p>\n<p>Mart\u00ed doesn\u2019t pose as a marble hero: he falls in battle. He doesn\u2019t preach: he pays. And behind that fall is the man who conceived America \u2014 the one that speaks Spanish and the one that is invented every day on these avenues. His independence wasn\u2019t just about borders: it was about tone, ethics, the precision with which he named what others disguised.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_327772\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-327772\" style=\"width: 719px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Marti-en-el-parque-central-Kaloian-3-1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-327772\" src=\"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Marti-en-el-parque-central-Kaloian-3-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"719\" height=\"1080\" srcset=\"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Marti-en-el-parque-central-Kaloian-3-1.jpg 719w, https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Marti-en-el-parque-central-Kaloian-3-1-200x300.jpg 200w, https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Marti-en-el-parque-central-Kaloian-3-1-682x1024.jpg 682w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 719px) 100vw, 719px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-327772\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Photo: Kaloian.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"attachment_327773\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-327773\" style=\"width: 1080px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Marti-en-el-parque-central-Kaloian-5-1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-327773\" src=\"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Marti-en-el-parque-central-Kaloian-5-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1080\" height=\"707\" srcset=\"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Marti-en-el-parque-central-Kaloian-5-1.jpg 1080w, https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Marti-en-el-parque-central-Kaloian-5-1-300x196.jpg 300w, https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Marti-en-el-parque-central-Kaloian-5-1-1024x670.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Marti-en-el-parque-central-Kaloian-5-1-768x503.jpg 768w, https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Marti-en-el-parque-central-Kaloian-5-1-750x491.jpg 750w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1080px) 100vw, 1080px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-327773\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Photo: Kaloian.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"attachment_327774\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-327774\" style=\"width: 1080px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Marti-en-el-parque-central-Kaloian-11-1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-327774\" src=\"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Marti-en-el-parque-central-Kaloian-11-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1080\" height=\"719\" srcset=\"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Marti-en-el-parque-central-Kaloian-11-1.jpg 1080w, https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Marti-en-el-parque-central-Kaloian-11-1-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Marti-en-el-parque-central-Kaloian-11-1-1024x682.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Marti-en-el-parque-central-Kaloian-11-1-768x511.jpg 768w, https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Marti-en-el-parque-central-Kaloian-11-1-750x499.jpg 750w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1080px) 100vw, 1080px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-327774\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Photo: Kaloian.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"attachment_327775\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-327775\" style=\"width: 1080px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Marti-en-el-parque-central-Kaloian-4-1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-327775\" src=\"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Marti-en-el-parque-central-Kaloian-4-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1080\" height=\"719\" srcset=\"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Marti-en-el-parque-central-Kaloian-4-1.jpg 1080w, https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Marti-en-el-parque-central-Kaloian-4-1-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Marti-en-el-parque-central-Kaloian-4-1-1024x682.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Marti-en-el-parque-central-Kaloian-4-1-768x511.jpg 768w, https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Marti-en-el-parque-central-Kaloian-4-1-750x499.jpg 750w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1080px) 100vw, 1080px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-327775\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Photo: Kaloian.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>During my week in New York, I returned to the statue three times to contemplate and photograph it. That bronze closed a circle for me: the exile who loved the city \u2014 with its shades of gray, its pros and cons \u2014 as a laboratory for the world; and the city that, in its own way, returns him to the map of essential symbols.<\/p>\n<p>However, although I went in search of a<\/p>\n<p>symbol, I found a mirror.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>There, the Apostle continues to summon glances and memories. A recent mural brings him back to the New York landscape, recalling the Apostle\u2019s mark on the city where he lived some of his most fruitful years.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3262,"featured_media":327777,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[13902,13912],"tags":[34902,34937,959],"ppma_author":[33930,33546],"class_list":["post-327760","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cuba","category-cuban-history","tag-feature","tag-history-of-cuba","tag-jose-marti-en"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Mart\u00ed in Manhattan, a symbol that returns the gaze | OnCubaNews English<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"For a Cuban like me, the personal priority came before other icons like the 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