Ad un soldato, in particolare, il Capitano Russell della U.S. Signal Corp, viene attribuito il merito di aver dato inizio a questa moda quando un giorno dell’agosto 1900 ordinò il mix di Rum, lime e Coca-cola in un bar dell’Avana. Il Capitano propose un brindisi: “Por Cuba libre!” per celebrare una “Cuba libera” dagli spagnoli. Ma fin qui parrebbe una leggenda, ma entra in gioco un testitmone: Fausto Rodriguez.
Rodriguez era un messaggero personale del generale Wood, nominato governatore militare di Cuba dopo essere entrato a Santiago de Cuba il 17 luglio 1898, in seguito alla vittoria di Roosevelt nella battaglia di San Juan Hill. Dopo la nascita della Repubblica di Cuba, il 20 maggio 1902, il generale Wood lasciò Cuba e Fausto Rodriguez ritornò a Santiago de Cuba. Sessantacinque anni dopo, il 21 dicembre 1964, Rodriguez raccontò a Emilio Bacardi tutta la storia sotto giuramento. Ed è la seguente:
Durante il periodo dell’intervento militare, due americani aprirono e gestirono un bar chiamato The American Bar in via Neptuno, tra il Consulado e il Prado all’Avana. Era frequentato quasi esclusivamente da soldati americani e da civili americani che lavoravano nei vari uffici governativi dell’Avana.
“In 1899 I was employed as a messenger in the office of the U.S. Army Signal Corps, I became quite friendly with an American whose last name was Russell (I do not remember his given name). He worked in the office of the Chief Signal Officer. Mr Russell frequently took me to The American Bar where we used to drink Bacardi Rum and Coca-Cola.
One afternoon in August 1900, I went to The American Bar with Mr Russell, and he drank his usual Bacardi Rum and Coca-Cola. I just drank Coca-Cola, being only 14 years old. On that occasion, there was a group of American soldiers at the bar, and one of them asked Mr Russell what he was drinking. He told them it was Bacardi Rum and Coca-Cola and suggested they try it, which they did.
The soldiers who drank the Bacardi Rum and Coca-Cola said they liked it, and wanted to know what the drink was called. When Mr Russell told them that the drink did not have a name, one of the soldiers said, “Let’s give it a name”. Another said, “How about calling it ‘Cuba Libre’?” They all agreed and ordered another round of Bacardi Rum and Coca-Cola, calling it a Cuba Libre. To my best knowledge, this is the first time this phrase ‘Cuba Libre’ has been applied to a drink. Thus, the first Cuba Libre consisted of Bacardi Rum and Coca-Cola.
During the American intervention, the words Cuba Libre – meaning Free Cuba – had a special political significance, and were used a great deal by the Cubans and Americans in Cuba. It seemed quite natural that the American soldiers selected and applied this popular slogan to this drink, which they considered indigenous to Cuba, consisting of Bacardi Rum and Coca-Cola. The name caught on quickly, and has remained popular to the present time.”
