Hatuey

Lore & Background

In 1511, Diego Velázquez set out from Hispaniola to conquer eastern Cuba. Hatuey, having fled Hispaniola with a party of four hundred in canoes, warned some Indigenous people of eastern Cuba about the Spaniards. Bartolomé de Las Casas later attributed a speech to Hatuey in which he showed a basket of gold and jewels, saying the Christians worship a God they seek to obtain by conquest and killing, and proposed dancing areitos to please that God. The Taíno chiefs in Cuba did not respond, and few joined him. Hatuey resorted to guerrilla tactics, confining the Spaniards for a time and killing at least eight Spanish soldiers. Using mastiff dogs and torture, the Spaniards captured him. On February 2, 1512, he was tied to a stake and burned alive at Yara, near present-day Bayamo. Before execution, a priest asked if he would accept Jesus and go to heaven. According to Las Casas, Hatuey asked if Spaniards went to heaven; when told yes, he said he preferred hell so as not to see such cruel people.

Reader's Guide

Hatuey is considered 'Cuba's first national hero' and one of the earliest fighters against Spanish colonialism. His legacy endures through place names, commercial brands, and artistic works. The town of Hatuey in Camagüey Province, Cuba, is named after him. Since 1927, a beer brewed in Santiago de Cuba has been sold under the Hatuey brand, initially by Compañia Ron Bacardi S.A.; after nationalization in 1960, brewing was taken over by Empresa Cerveceria Hatuey Santiago, and from 2011 the Bacardi family again marketed Hatuey beer in the United States. Hatuey is also a brand of malta (a sugary, non-alcoholic malt beverage) and a Dominican brand of soda cracker. The logo of the Cuban cigar and cigarette brand Cohiba is a picture of Hatuey. In the 2010 film Even the Rain, Hatuey is a main character in the film-within-the-film, including a cinematic account of his execution. His imagery has been incorporated into the Afro-Cuban Yiddish opera Hatuey: Memory of Fire, and into visual arts by artists such as Ric Garcia and Donald Dickson.

Did You Know?

• Hatuey fled Hispaniola with a party of four hundred in canoes to warn Indigenous people in Cuba about the Spaniards.
• He and his fighters killed at least eight Spanish soldiers before being captured.
• Before his execution, Hatuey reportedly said he preferred hell over heaven to avoid being where Spaniards were.
• The logo of the Cuban cigar and cigarette brand Cohiba is a picture of Hatuey.