El Cobre is a Cuban town and consejo popular ("people's council", i.e. hamlet) of the municipality of Santiago de Cuba, capital of the homonym province, with a population of about 7,000.

[1] Mainly known for a Basilica in honour of Our Lady of Charity, the patron saint of Cuba, it was until recently the site of a large copper mine worked by slaves, free coloured people, and for a while by miners from Cornwall.

[4] The Spanish crown confiscated the mines in 1670 after the private contractor had failed to comply with the terms of his contract and had neglected them for years.

[5] By 1730 El Cobre was one of just fourteen officially recognised settlements on Cuba, of which two or possibly three were Indian corporate pueblos.

[5] The first great uprising of cimarrones, or escaped slaves, occurred in Cuba in the 18th century, and is commemorated by a large sculpture on a hill beside the town.

[7] The 6 metres (20 ft) Monumento al Cimarrón was designed by Alberto Lescay Merencio and completed in 1997 as part of the UNESCO initiative to make people more aware of slavery.