The Partido Independiente de Color (PIC) was a Cuban political party composed almost entirely of African former slaves.
Esteban Montejo, subject of Miguel Barnet's "Biografía de un cimarrón," was a member of this party, or had close associates who were.
[1] The Partido Independiente de Color (PIC) in Cuba was founded on August 7, 1908 by black and mixed-race veterans of the Cuban War of Independence in response to the mistreatment they received at the hands of the government.
[3] The PIC was the first group in Cuban political discourse to make reference to the racial composition of the Independence army.
(Helg, 60) This is significant in view of the number of African Americans who were politically active at the time in the United States and elsewhere.
Alin Helg would suggest that this is because Black people would conform to the white multi party system and support a candidate that didn't have elitist views.
He believed in presenting a strong unified front to oppose Spain colony influence in Cuba.
They used the nationalist system to acquire education claiming that if there was no race division in Cuba they should be able to earn a degree just like any other Cuban.
The third article of the Platt Amendment states that the US will protect the life, property, and individual liberty of citizens of Cuba.
The petition to President Taft asked: “to accept our most solemn protest in the name of the Independent Party of Color against outrages against our persons and our rights by the armed forces of the Cuban Government”.
By 1912, the PIC's attempts at reform of the existing system had been ended and they had been effectively expelled from the political arena.
And they follow the natural bent of all armed people without aim and driven by atavistic, brutal instincts and passions: they devote themselves to robbery, pillage, murder, and rape.
President Gómez offered amnesty to any of the rebels who surrendered by 22 June, but Estenoz continued to fight with a few hundred men.
Rebel forces had numbered at least 3,000 men, but by June there were only an estimated 1,800 left alive, although some sources cite as many as 6,000 total deaths including civilians.
With the reformers having already failed, the rebellion of 1912 represented the revolutionary wing's attempt to influence and reshape the landscape, but the violence it was met with prevented them from achieving their goals.