Carlos García y Vélez (April 29, 1867 - November 6, 1963) was a

Cuban Cuban or Cubans may refer to: Related to Cuba * of or related to Cuba, a country in the Caribbean * Cubans, people from Cuba, or of Cuban descent ** Cuban exile, a person who left Cuba for political reasons, or a descendant thereof * Cuban Americ ...

dental surgeon A dentist, also known as a dental doctor, dental physician, dental surgeon, is a health care professional who specializes in dentistry, the branch of medicine focused on the teeth, gums, and mouth. The dentist's supporting team aids in providi ...

and army general during the

Cuban War of Independence The Cuban War of Independence (), also known in Cuba as the Necessary War (), fought from 1895 to 1898, was the last of three liberation wars that Cuba fought against Spain, the other two being the Ten Years' War (1868–1878) and the Litt ...

and

Spanish–American War The Spanish–American War (April 21 – August 13, 1898) was fought between Restoration (Spain), Spain and the United States in 1898. It began with the sinking of the USS Maine (1889), USS ''Maine'' in Havana Harbor in Cuba, and resulted in the ...

Biography

Early history

Carlos García y Vélez was born in Santa Rita,

Jiguaní Jiguaní () is a town and municipality in the Granma Province of Cuba. It is located east of Bayamo, the provincial capital. Overview The municipality is divided into the barrios of Babiney, Baire, Bijagual, La Villa, Los Negros, Maffo, Rihit ...

Oriente Province Oriente (, "East") was the easternmost province of Cuba until 1976. The term "Oriente" is still used to refer to the eastern part of the country, which currently is divided into five different provinces. The origins of Oriente lie in the 1607 di ...

(now

Granma Province Granma is one of the provinces of Cuba. Its capital is Bayamo. Other towns include Manzanillo (a port on the Gulf of Guacanayabo) and Pilón. History The province takes its name from the yacht '' Granma'', used by Che Guevara and Fidel Castro ...

Spanish Cuba The Captaincy General of Cuba () was an administrative district of the Spanish Empire created in 1607 as part of Habsburg Spain's attempt to better defend and administer its Caribbean possessions. The reform also established captaincies general ...

on April 29, 1867. He was the son of Cuban General

Calixto García Calixto García y Íñiguez (August 4, 1839 – December 11, 1898) was a Cuban general in three Cuban uprisings, part of the Cuban War for Independence: the Ten Years' War, the Little War, and the War of 1895, itself sometimes called the C ...

and Isabel Vélez Cabrera. In his early years, he migrated to the United States. He studied dentistry in the United States and graduated from Penn Dental. By 1893, he worked as a

Madrid, Spain Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

, and was noted in a medical paper for his use of

anesthetic An anesthetic (American English) or anaesthetic (British English; see spelling differences) is a drug used to induce anesthesia ⁠— ⁠in other words, to result in a temporary loss of sensation or awareness. They may be divided into t ...

. García Vélez was the director of The Madrid Stomatological Journal () in 1894. In 1895, he served as the recording secretary of the Spanish Society of Dentistry () formed in Madrid, to enact reform in dental education.

Cuban War of Independence

During the War of 1895 and

Spanish-American War Spanish Americans (, ''hispanoestadounidenses'', or ''hispanonorteamericanos'') are Americans whose ancestry originates wholly or partly from Spain. They are the longest-established European American group in the modern United States, with a ...

in 1898, he was

colonel Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a colon ...

in the ranks of the

Cuban Liberation Army The Cuban Liberation Army (), colloquially known as the Mambises, Mambí Army () was an insurgency, insurgent army which was formed in the last third of the 19th century and fought for independence from Spain and the abolitionism, abolition of ...

. He was later promoted to Brigadier general. In 1898, his father Maj. Gen.

died in Washington, D.C.

U.S. occupation of Cuba

He was among the founding members of the

Cuban National League The Cuban National League () was a political party in Cuba. The league was one of two political groupings (the other one being the Cuban National Party) that emerged from the '' Junta Patriótica'' in Havana Havana (; ) is the capital and lar ...

in March 1899. On January 18, 1900, Military Governor of Cuba

Leonard Wood Leonard Wood (October 9, 1860 – August 7, 1927) was a United States Army major general, physician, and public official. He served as the Chief of Staff of the United States Army, List of colonial governors of Cuba, Military Governor of Cuba, ...

created the office of General Inspector of Prisons of Cuba, appointing García Vélez. He held the position of Inspector General of Prisons until 1902, working to clear the prison abuses that characterized Cuban prisons. During the

Second Occupation of Cuba The Provisional Government of Cuba ( Spanish: ''Gobierno Provisional de Cuba'') lasted from September 1906 to February 1909. This period was also referred to as the Second occupation of Cuba. When the government of Cuban President Tomás Est ...

in 1906, liberal military and political leaders including García Vélez opposed the Cuban Rural Guard and advocated the creation of a regular military force as its replacement.

Minister Plenipotentiary

During the

José Miguel Gómez José Miguel Gómez y Gómez (; 6 July 1858 – 13 June 1921) was a Cuban politician and revolutionary who was one of the leaders of the rebel forces in the Cuban War of Independence. He later served as President of Cuba from 1909 to 1913. Ea ...

administration, Gen. Carlos García Vélez was named the Envoy Extraordinary and

Minister Plenipotentiary An envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary, usually known as a minister, was a diplomatic head of mission who was ranked below ambassador. A diplomatic mission headed by an envoy was known as a legation rather than an embassy. Under the ...

of the

Republic of Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...

in the United States. He attended the 1909

Wright Brothers The Wright brothers, Orville Wright (August 19, 1871 – January 30, 1948) and Wilbur Wright (April 16, 1867 – May 30, 1912), were American aviation List of aviation pioneers, pioneers generally credited with inventing, building, and flyin ...

Homecoming Celebration medals ceremony held on June 18, 1909, at the Montgomery County Fairgrounds in

Dayton, Ohio Dayton () is a city in Montgomery County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of cities in Ohio, sixth-most populous city in Ohio, with a population of 137,644 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The Dayton metro ...

. As a delegate of Cuba, he travelled to

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...

for the 4th

Pan-American Conference The Conferences of American States, commonly referred to as the Pan-American Conferences, were meetings of the Pan-American Union, an international organization for Free trade agreement, cooperation on trade. James G. Blaine, a United States pol ...

. The delegates were duly authorized to approve the recommendations, resolutions, conventions, and treaties which they might deem advantageous to the interests of the American republics.

Standing committees A committee or commission is a body of one or more persons subordinate to a deliberative assembly or other form of organization. A committee may not itself be considered to be a form of assembly or a decision-making body. Usually, an assembly o ...

were appointed and García Vélez was assigned president of the first committee with the topic of 'Rules and Credentials'. He also participated in the fourth committee which included one member for each delegation. On August 11, 1910, he attended the Pan-American Copyright Convention for the Republic of Cuba. He attended the Pan-American Trademark Convention of 1910 on August 20. As

plenipotentiary A ''plenipotentiary'' (from the Latin ''plenus'' "full" and ''potens'' "powerful") is a diplomat who has full powers—authorization to sign a treaty or convention on behalf of a sovereign. When used as a noun more generally, the word can als ...

, he represented Cuba at Christiania, Paris, Chile, and Madrid. In 1913, he retained his place as a Cuban diplomat under the new administration of

Mario García Menocal Aurelio Mario Gabriel Francisco García Menocal y Deop (December 17, 1866 – September 7, 1941) was the 3rd President of Cuba, serving from 1913 to 1921. His term as president saw Cuba's participation in the Allies in World War I. Early li ...

. In 1914, the Cuban Minister to the England who had been in Cuba on leave of absence, arrived in New York. Germans held the Cuban envoy's son in prison in October 1914. The Cuban Government withdrew its consuls from Germany and ordered its

legation A legation was a diplomatic representative office of lower rank than an embassy. Where an embassy was headed by an ambassador, a legation was headed by a minister. Ambassadors outranked ministers and had precedence at official events. Legation ...

in Berlin closed. At the 5th International Conference of American States held at

Santiago, Chile Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile (), is the capital and largest city of Chile and one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is located in the country's central valley and is the center of the Santiago Metropolitan Regi ...

, March 25 to May 3, 1923, he served on the first committee known as the Political Committee with

Manuel Márquez Sterling Manuel Márquez Sterling (born Carlos Manuel Agustin Márquez Sterling y Loret de Mola on August 28, 1872 in Lima, Peru – December 9, 1934, Washington, DC, United States) was a Cuban diplomat and interim President of Cuba for 6 hours on Januar ...

as delegates of Cuba. He was the dean of the Cuban diplomatic corps and Cuban Minister to Great Britain in 1923.

Veterans' and Patriots' Movement

García Vélez was also the president of the Supreme Council of the Veterans' and Patriots' Association. From 1923 to 1924, he led the movement in opposition to the

Alfredo Zayas y Alfonso Alfredo de Zayas y Alfonso (February 21, 1861 – April 11, 1934), usually known as Alfredo de Zayas under Spanish naming customs and also known as Alfredo Zayas, was a Cuban lawyer, poet and political figure who was President of Cuba. He ser ...

administration's nonpayment of military retirement benefits. In August 1923, at the Martí Theater in

Havana Havana (; ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.El Heraldo de Cuba ''El Heraldo de Cuba'' was a national newspaper in Cuba founded by future President of Cuba The president of Cuba (), officially the president of the Republic of Cuba (), is the head of state of Cuba. The office in its current form was estab ...

. The Cuban junta, dedicated to overthrowing the current Zayas Administration, was covertly active in New York, where García Vélez arrived on March 20, 1924. By the summer of 1924, the majority of leaders were either imprisoned or in exile, with some accepting Zayas' offer of

amnesty Amnesty () is defined as "A pardon extended by the government to a group or class of people, usually for a political offense; the act of a sovereign power officially forgiving certain classes of people who are subject to trial but have not yet be ...

Death

Carlos García y Vélez died on November 6, 1963, in

Havana, Cuba Havana (; ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.Cuban revolutionaries 19th-century Cuban military personnel Cuban independence activists 1867 births 1963 deaths People from Granma Province People of the Cuban War of Independence People of the Spanish–American War