José Martí was the Cuban rebel leader who fought for independence before the Spanish-American War. He organized the Cuban revolutionary movement and helped launch the Cuban War of Independence in 1895.
Martí spent years in exile after opposing Spanish rule, writing, speaking, and raising money for Cuba’s independence. In 1892, he founded the Cuban Revolutionary Party, which united Cuban exiles and coordinated support for a renewed uprising. He worked closely with military leaders Máximo Gómez and Antonio Maceo, but Martí was the movement’s principal political organizer and ideological leader.
Martí landed in Cuba in April 1895 and was killed at the Battle of Dos Ríos on May 19, only weeks after the rebellion began. Because he died before U.S. intervention in 1898, he did not participate in the Spanish-American War itself. Calixto García, Antonio Maceo, and Máximo Gómez were also major Cuban commanders, which is why they can be confused with Martí, but the question’s intended political leader is José Martí.