Monument to the Victims of the USS Maine (Havana) Monument to the Victims of the USS Maine (Havana) The Monument to the Victims of the USS "Maine" (Spanish: "Monumento a las víctimas del Maine") was built in 1925 in on the Malecón boulevard at the end of Línea street, in the Vedado neighborhood of Havana, Cuba, built in honor of the American sailors that died in the explosion of in 1898, which served as the pretext for the United States to declare war on Spain thus starting the Spanish–American War. The ship had anchored at Havana three weeks prior at the request of American consul Fitzhugh Lee. The monument
Latin America–United States relations in 1898. Hostilities began in the aftermath of sinking of the USS "Maine" in Havana harbor, leading to American intervention in the Cuban War of Independence. The sinking of the USS "Maine" occurred on February 15, resulting in the deaths of 266 people and causing the United States to blame Spain, since the ship had been sent to Havana in order to protect a community of U.S. citizens there. American acquisition of Spain's Pacific possessions led to its involvement in the Philippine Revolution and ultimately in the Philippine–American War. Revolts against Spanish rule had been occurring for some years in