Martínez Santaella was born and raised in Ponce, Puerto Rico. In 1889 she married journalist and typographer, Sotero Figueroa and the couple moved to New York soon thereafter where Figueroa owned and operated a printing establishment. Involved in the independence movements of Cuba and Puerto Rico the couple formed a close friendship with José Martí. Figueroa published the revolutionary newspaper, Patria and founded the Club Borinquen, while Martínez Santaella organized the first women’s club of the Cuban Revolutionary Party, (PRC), the Club Mercedes Varona. Following Martí’s death on the battlefield, the couple was instrumental in founding the Puerto Rican section of the PRC in 1896. Martínez Santaella also helped found the Club Hermanas de Ruis Rivera which organized clothing and medicine drives, fund raising and other related activities to aid the war effort. Both she and her husband moved to Cuba after the Spanish-Cuban-American War.

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