He was born in Camagüey, Cuba, to Rosendo Arteaga Montejo and his wife Delia Betancourt Guerra. Baptized Manuel Francisco del Corazon de Jesus on April 17, 1880, by Father Vigilio Arteaga, he was confirmed by Archbishop José María Martín de Herrera y de la Iglesia on November 17, 1882. His paternal uncle, the priest Ricardo Arteaga Montejo, who had emigrated to Venezuela for political reasons, took Manuel there in 1892.
