José MartíJos Mart (18531895) was the founding hero of Cuban independence. In all of modern Latin American history, arguably only the Great Liberator Simn Bolvar rivals Mart in stature and legacy. Beyond his accomplishments as a revolutionary and political thinker, Mart was a giant of Latin American letters, whose poetry, essays, and journalism still rank among the most important works of the region. Today he is revered by both the Castro regime and the Cuban