Guarma is a Caribbean island located in the Cuban archipelago, off the east coast of the Cuban mainland. Guarma shared much of its history with Cuba, being settled by Spanish explorers who arrived at the Bahia de la Paz and founded the city of Aguasdulces and the fortress of Cinco Torres. Guarma was known internationally for its sugar industry and for its rum, and it was the site of a Spanish-American War battle in 1898. The exploitation of Guarma's plantation workers by the pro-US Cuban government following Cuban independence resulted in the Guarman Revolution of 1899, during which the Cuban governor Alberto Fussar was overthrown and killed, following which rebel backer Hercule Fontaine secured passage of formerly enslaved workers to Haiti.
By 1907, conditions on Guarma barely changed, with much of the arable land intended for food to feed the Guarmans being used for sugar cane production by American companies. These companies also hired locals to guard their plantations, being as cruel to the workers as Fussar's men were. Due to the hostile takeover, food had to be imported from other countries at exorbitant costs, the residents experiencing hyperinflated prices of essential resources including fuel.
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