© Latinas in History 2008
The
face that in all probability shifted American sympathy toward the Cuban
cause was that of a beautiful young woman, the eighteen year old, Evangelina
Cossio y Cisneros. Accused of conspiracy in Cuba, Cossio y Cisneros was
imprisoned in Havana’s Casa de Recogidas awaiting a transfer to a
Spanish prison in Ceuta. Her story, dramatically embellished to corner
the market on New York City newspaper sales, formed banner headlines across
the pages of William Randolph Hearst’s New York Journal,
and swayed public opinion in favor of U.S. military intervention into
the Cuban-Spanish War. The New York Journal initiated a campaign
to free the “delicate and innocent girl.” Following a daring
jailbreak covered by the Journal and engineered by Karl Decker, a Hearst
reporter, in concert with U.S. Consulate authorities and Cuban independentistas
in Havana on October 7, 1897, she lay hidden for two days in the private
home of Carlos Carbonell, the man she would ultimately marry. Smuggled
on board the ship, the Seneca, disguised as a young boy smoking an unlit
cigar, she was greeted upon disembarking in New York City by throngs of
well-wishers; bells, whistles and the kind of fanfare reserved for visiting
celebrities. She was honored at a reception in Madison Square Garden,
and received by the president in the White House.
A tour of the South Florida communities resulted in similar pandemonium and in tribute to Evangelina, dozens of newly organized clubs sprouted in her name. Her innocent demeanor not withstanding, Cossio y Cisneros was indeed guilty of treason, and had deliberately baited a Spanish official into her home for the purposes of taking him prisoner. She had not suffered the atrocities reported in the press but no one paid attention to the truth. Her celebrity was used by both sides to further political means. After a short stay in Maryland she became the wife of Carlos Carbonell, and the couple lived in the United States for several years before returning to Cuba where she lived the rest of her life.
A tour of the South Florida communities resulted in similar pandemonium and in tribute to Evangelina, dozens of newly organized clubs sprouted in her name. Her innocent demeanor not withstanding, Cossio y Cisneros was indeed guilty of treason, and had deliberately baited a Spanish official into her home for the purposes of taking him prisoner. She had not suffered the atrocities reported in the press but no one paid attention to the truth. Her celebrity was used by both sides to further political means. After a short stay in Maryland she became the wife of Carlos Carbonell, and the couple lived in the United States for several years before returning to Cuba where she lived the rest of her life.
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