GOVERNOR General Sir Arthur Foulkes and Lady Foulkes will be in Mathew Town, Inagua, this weekend with other dignitaries for the unveiling of a monument in commemoration of the visit to that island in 1895 of Cuban liberator Jose Marti.

The project, which was initiated by Sir Arthur several years ago, has now resulted in the creation of a monument by noted Cuban sculptor Tomas Lara Franquis, and on Saturday morning it will be jointly unveiled by Sir Arthur and Cuban Ambassador Ernesto Soberon.

Jose Marti was the principal leader of the Cuban War of Independence from Spain and this year is the 160th anniversary of his birth.

Marti, who is celebrated in North and South America, was also a noted philosopher, journalist, lawyer and poet. He opposed slavery and colonialism and advocated the equality of all men regardless of race or colour.

After writing his historic Manifesto of Montecristi in the Dominican Republic where he was a fugitive from the Spanish, Marti went to Inagua with five of his comrades. He was at first arrested by British authorities, but then released.

On April 11, 1895 in Mathew Town, he acquired a dinghy and persuaded the captain of a German ship which was in port at the time to take him and his comrades across to Cuba. They joined the uprising which had already started and Marti was killed in battle.

Among those going to Inagua for the unveiling will be Minister of Foreign Affairs and Immigration Fred Mitchell; Minister of Agriculture, Marine Resources and Local Government V Alfred Gray; Manuel Rojas Gutierrez, Cuban Deputy Minister of Culture; and Ernesto Soberon Guzman, Ambassador of Cuba.