El cabildo carabalí viví: alianzas y conflictos por el derecho a la libertad. Santiago de Cuba (1824-1864)

One of the most important signs of mobility in a pro-slavery society takes place with the step from captivity to freedom. In Cuba, if we apply this obvious situation regarding to the Cabildos de Nación, we find out that one of the most important aims of the congregations of Africans was to assist, in whole or part, the manumission of their members. This assistance was, at the same time, one of the most contentious issues on which their lives turned. However, not all those who joined the cabildos asked for help for their manumission; some achieved it through their own efforts. This paper concerns the different strategies that its members used to achieve their freedom, and at the same time, it also looks at the creation and application of cabildos regulations, the only ones known until that point. These regulations, besides other topics common to different societies of this type, formalised specific articles referring to this controversial issue in Cuban pro-slavery society.