[1] The location of the monument was agreed according to the opinion of Fulgencio Batista in the Loma de Los Catalanes, taking into account the urbanization studies of the architect Jean-Claude Nicolas Forestier in 1926 that pointed to the site as ideal for a larger city.

It would be like the center of a system of avenues and squares, surrounded by large public buildings, such as the National Library, various Ministries, a Museum, the School of Fine Arts, and others.

The Havana project originated years before and was approved in January 1938, while a contest was being called, the winners of which were the sculptor Juan J. Sicre and the architect Aquiles Maza.

The José Martí Memorial is located on the northern side of the Plaza de la Revolución in the Vedado area of Havana.

The fourth competition held in 1943 resulted in the selection of a design by the architect Aquiles Maza and the sculptor Juan José Sicre.

Eager to garner popular support after seizing power, Batista committed to pushing ahead with the construction of a monument to Martí; but rather than proceeding with the competition winner, he selected the design that had come third in the competition, created by a group of architects headed by Raoul Otero de Galarraga, a 1905 graduate of Harvard University, and included Enrique Luis Varela, Batista's Minister of Works and his personal friend, and Princeton University Professor Jean Labatut.

The marble was delivered to Havana from Isla de Pinos, then cut to the chief architect's specifications, and polished in Gallo's factory.

[citation needed] The selected design includes an enclosed observation deck on the top floor, the highest point in Havana, accessible by elevator which gives commanding views over the city in all directions.

However, many tourists have complained about the ad hoc charges that are administered by the memorial's officials, which vary wildly depending on the members of staff manning the ticket booths.

Construction of the National Theater of Cuba was approved in 1951 under the administration of Carlos Prío Socarrás, work began the following year when President Fulgencio Batista laid the foundation stone.

[3] The first stone for the construction of the National Theater was laid on July 29, 1952, two months later a contract was signed with the company Purdy & Henderson as civil contractor and with the firm Arroyo y Menéndez as technical and optional director of the work.

[4] In 1960, the Sala Covarrubias was inaugurated and a series of cultural activities were held during that year, but since March 1961 they stopped presenting shows due to their still precarious conditions, being destined to serve as a rehearsal room and, later, for storage of sets.

Opposite the memorial are the offices of the Ministries of the Interior and Communications, whose facades feature matching steel memorials of the two most important deceased heroes of the Cuban Revolution: Che Guevara, with the quotation "Hasta la Victoria Siempre" (Ever Onward to Victory) and Camilo Cienfuegos, with the quotation "Vas bien, Fidel" (You're doing fine, Fidel).