Jose Marti would have been 156 years old today. Who is he? One of the founding fathers of the revolution that freed Cuba from Spanish colonial rule. No, not that revolution. The one before it. If you've ever visited Cuba, you'll know that it is branded by three clear icons - the Cuban flag, that picture of Che Guevara, and stone statues of Jose Marti. Soon, not this year or next, but maybe in a decade, Cuba will see a lot more branding than its people are used to. In Havana, they queue avidly outside stores selling Adidas and Italian clothing brands. Clearly, as Cuba celebrates 50 years' freedom from the capitalist yoke, its people can barely wait to welcome it back. Yet, without Jose Marti and the Castro revolution that followed half a century later, the majority of Cuba's people would still not be able to read an Adidas label never mind crave one.
As the latest revolutionary slogan goes, "Un mundo mejor es posible".
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