Martí, An Anti-Imperialist Compass for the 21st Century

On His 173rd Birthday, Martí's Thought Remains a Timely Warning Against US Domination
The lucidity of José Martí regarding US designs for domination was not a circumstantial gesture but a structured thought process, an early warning, and a political ethic.

On the 173rd anniversary of his birth, his anti-imperialist thought retains a relevance that speaks to everyone, as the global geopolitical landscape is marked by Washington's interference, its maximum pressure policies, and attempts to subjugate the nations of the Global South.

Understanding the Expansionist Nature of US Power
The most universal of Cubans understood, before many others, the expansive nature of emerging US power: he lived in its society, observed its virtues and also its dangers, and from that experience wrote with crystalline clarity about the risk posed by a rising empire for the peoples of Our America.

"I have lived inside the monster and know its entrails," he stated, not from resentment, but from political and moral analysis.

A Project of Emancipation Based on Sovereignty and Unity
His anti-imperialism was articulated as a project of emancipation based on sovereignty, human dignity, and the unity of Latin American and Caribbean peoples. For Martí, Cuba's independence was not an isolated end, but part of a historical containment: to prevent the United States from extending its reach through the Antilles and falling with greater force upon the lands of Latin America.

He left this written in his unfinished letter to Manuel Mercado, a political testament of a consciousness that understood geopolitics from an ethical standpoint. In this ideology, freedom is not negotiable... sovereignty is not delegated.

Rejection of All Forms of Domination
The Apostle of Cuban independence rejected all forms of domination, whether from European colonialism or the nascent North American imperialism. His defense of small peoples against great powers was grounded in respect for self-determination and the conviction that "homeland is humanity," a principle embodied today by contemporary struggles for a more just and balanced international order.

Martí's Alerts Confirmed in the 21st Century
This 21st century confirms the timeliness of Martí's warnings: maximum pressure policies—economic blockades, unilateral sanctions, media wars, and more recently the kidnapping of a president—have become tools against countries defending sovereign projects.

Latin America, Africa, and Asia today face new forms of domination that, cloaked in modern discourses, reproduce old imperial logics.

Essential Keys for Contemporary Resistance
Faced with this scenario, his thought offers indispensable keys: unity as a shield, culture as a trench, and social justice as the foundation of real independence.

Martí understood that achieving political freedom was not enough if economic and spiritual emancipation were not also won. Hence his emphasis on education, self-knowledge, and the need to "graft the world onto our republics" without renouncing our indigenous roots.

Cuba's Assumption of His Legacy
Cuba has assumed this legacy as a guide for its foreign policy and its historical resistance. Amid prolonged pressures and campaigns of discredit, the Caribbean nation maintains a vocation of solidarity and a commitment to the causes of the Global South, consistent with the Martí-inspired vision of world balance.

It is no coincidence that his thought remains a reference for movements that today question hegemony and demand effective multilateralism.

A Critical Conscience for the Present
José Martí inhabits the present as a critical conscience and a permanent challenge. In times of global reconfiguration, when narratives are contested and alliances redrawn, his ethical anti-imperialism calls for thinking about politics from the standpoint of dignity, sovereignty, and justice.

Returning to the Master is, therefore, an act of historical responsibility in the face of a world that, once again, confirms the enduring relevance of the brilliant anti-imperialist thought that must serve as a compass in the 21st century.