What makes the events of 1898 relevant today is that we may see more U.S. involvement in Cuba. It won’t be done by soldiers, but rather by business interests that will go to the island to rebuild the dead infrastructure.
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https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2026/02/what_will_it_take_to_bring_lasting_change_to_cuba.html
Growing up in a Cuban home means we used to hear stories that some of you may have heard in history class. Our family was typical of many Cuban families. My parents were born in Cuba, and so was I. Our grandparents were children and grandchildren of Spanish immigrants. Some of my past relatives in the 19th century fought for Spain, and others fought for independence. There were passions on both sides, as I would often hear in those family stories.
One of those stories was the USS Maine, which exploded in Cuba on this day in 1998:
A massive explosion of unknown origin sinks the battleship USS Maine in Cuba’s Havana harbor on February 15, 1898, killing more than 260 of the 350-plus American crew members aboard.
One of the first American battleships, the Maine weighed more than 6,000 tons and was built at a cost of more than $2 million. Ostensibly on a friendly visit, the Maine had been sent to Cuba to protect the interests of Americans there after a rebellion against Spanish rule broke out in Havana in January.
The explosion of the Maine started the four-month Spanish-American War, which changed Cuba forever. It also made a national hero out of Theodore Roosevelt. After the quick victory over Spain, President McKinley selected Mr. Roosevelt as his running mate in 1900. A year into his second term, T.R. assumed the presidency when McKinley was assassinated.
And Cuba? The island became an independent country in 1902, and you know the rest of the story.
What makes the events of 1898 relevant today is that we may see more U.S. involvement in Cuba. It won’t be done by soldiers, but rather by business interests that will go to the island to rebuild the dead infrastructure.
As a Cuban American, I hope for such involvement. Only the U.S. can lead a reconstruction of Cuba as it did in 1898. And there are over a million Cuban Americans like me who will do whatever we can to assist in the reconstruction of our parents’ land. We owe it to them after all of their sacrifices to come here and allow us to grow up in freedom.
I am not really hoping for another ship to explode. But we need a spark to make something happen and liberate Cuba from communism.
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