the state of misery most of the laborers still experienced, if that was the price to pay to redeem them from the economic system that enslaved them ¡Bendita sea la tea! ("Blessed be the torch!") Proposal to join Spanish–American War On March 5, 1898, the Captain-General of Cuba, Ramón Blanco y Erenas, proposed for Gómez and his Cuban troops to join him and the Spanish Army in repelling the United States in the face of the Spanish–American War. Blanco appealed to the shared heritage of the Cubans and Spanish and promised the island's autonomy if the Cubans would help fight the Americans. Blanco had declared, "As Spaniards and Cubans we find ourselves opposed to foreigners of a different race, who are of a grasping nature.... The supreme moment has come in which we should forget past differences and, with Spaniards and Cubans united for the sake of their own defense, repel the invader. Spain will not forget the noble help of its Cuban sons, and once the foreign enemy is expelled from the island, she will, like an affectionate mother, embrace in her arms a new daughter amongst the nations of the New World, who speaks the same language, practices the same faith, and feels the same noble Spanish blood run through her veins." Gómez refused to adhere to Blanco's plan. Retirement At the end of the Cuban Independence War in 1898, he retired to a villa outside of Havana. He refused the presidential nomination that was offered to him in 1901, which he was expected to win unopposed, mainly because he always disliked politics. Also, after 40 years of living in Cuba, he still felt that being Dominican-born, he should not become the civil leader of Cuba. He died in his villa in 1905 and was interred in the Colón Cemetery, Havana. Honors Máximo Gómez Command Academy, an educational institution of the Cuban Revolutionary Armed Forces. Máximo Gómez Park, a park in Miami, Florida, United States, better known as Domino Park, was named in his honor. Gómez's portrait is portrayed on Cuban currency on the 10 peso bill. The British alternative rock band Maxïmo Park named itself after a park in Florida, which had been named in his honor. A major avenue in the city of Santo Domingo, in the Dominican Republic, is named after him. A secondary school is named after him in his hometown of Baní, Dominican