Of Rum and History
The Bacardi Company has paraded the fact that they are the largest family-owned spirits and liquor company in the world. But apart from this, a recently published book on the illustrious Bacardi Family explores not only how Bacardi rum got winded up in almost every bar in the world, but how the clan got involved in history and helped shape Cuba to what it is now.
A Spanish wine merchant that goes by the name of Facundo Bacardi started the enterprise in 1862 together with his brother Jose. Due to the success of their distilled rum, the name Bacardi became a sensation in the world of drinkers and party goers. In his book entitled Bacardi and the Long Fight for Cuba, Tom Gjelten explains how the success of the Bacardi name became a pivotal point during the country’s dark times.
Facundo’s eldest son Emilio was a high-profile freedom fighter during the Cuban War of Independence against Spain. Apart from Emilio, other members of the Bacardi Clan were banished from Cuba because of their contributions to the revolution. Emilio eventually became Santiago de Cuba’s mayor after the war.
Bacardi and the Long Fight for Cuba also delves into issues such as the pulling power of the Bacardi clan on the Cuban masses, which was critical during Fidel Castro’s campaign to end then Cuba’s elite uniformly backed dictator Fulgencio Batista. Bacardi was very supportive of Castro and this had an effect on people who considered the Bacardis as good-hearted Cuban citizens. But, as Tom Gjetlen admits, the Bacardi-supported Castro regime was a disaster.
The history of the Bacardi Family has worked in parallel with the political history of Cuba. Tom Gjetlen’s book, Bacardi and the Long Fight for Cuba, with all its wit and engaging content, does not fails to illustrate that the Bacardi name is very much part of Cuba’s past, present, and future.
