Mambises

The term Mambises (Mambí in the singular) is used to refer to the soldiers who participated in the Cuban War of Independence.

Origin of the word

The Mambises were named after the Negro Spanish officer, Juan Ethninius Mamby (Eutimio Mambí) who joined the Dominicans in the fight for independence in 1844. The Spanish soldiers referred to the insurgents as "the men of Mamby", and "Mambies". When Cuba’s first war of independence broke out in 1868, some of the same soldiers were assigned to the island, importing what had, by then, become a derogatory Spanish slur. The Cubans adopted the name with pride.

Comandos Mambises

The Comandos Mambises were a secret group operating after the Cuban Revolution who were named after the fighters of the Cuban War of Independence.

References

• "A secret war: The clandestine campaign waged by the Kennedy Administration and the CIA against Fidel Castro in the years that followed the Bay of Pigs invasion rivaled open warfare in time, effort and money spent," by Don Bohning, in the Miami Herald: [1]
• "Guide to the Rafael Martínez Pupo Papers Relating to Comandos Mambises" from the University of Florida Libraries: [2]
• Moreno Fraginals, Manuel, "Cuba-España, España-Cuba Historia común". Grijalbo Mondadori. Barcelona, 1995 . ISBN 84-397-0260-4
• Emilio de Diego García, Weyler, de la leyenda a la Historia. Fundación Cánovas del Castillo, Madrid, 1998. ISBN 84-88306-48-2
• Gabriel Cardona y JuanCarlos Losada, "Weyler, nuestro hombre en La Habana" . Planeta, Barcelona, Segunda edición 1988. ISBN 84-08-02327-6
• Perinat Mazeres,Santiago, "Las Guerras Mambisas".Ediciones Carena,Barcelona,2002. ISBN 84-88944-96-9