Ciefuegos was founded in 1820 by a French émigré from New Orleans, Louis de Clouet, at a time when the Spanish government was seeking to increase the white population of the island. De Clouet proposed to the then Captain General, José Cienfuegos, that he should found and populate a city on the bay of Jagua with colonists from Bordeaux, New Orleans and Philadelphia.
The city quickly became capital of an important sugar-producing zone and to this day has an aura of prosperity, if not wealth. The port on the huge bay of Jagua – an excellent hurricane refuge – also holds Cuba’s oil refinery, as well as ship-building and other industries. The city’s lay-out is spacious, with broad streets (on the traditional grid pattern) and a huge main square covering 2 blocks and overlooked by the cathedral (undergoing repairs…).
Again we were in a 19th century casa particular, with double double doors like those of the house of 100 doors! – and a rooftop balcony on which to drink Leonor’s famous mojitos (our hostess)! She and her charming husband Armando (both in their 80s) have run the house as a casa particular for 15 years – it must have been one of the first. She inherited it from her parents and proudly told us that she had changed nothing!
A feature of the city is the Tomas Terry Theatre on the square, built in 1889 with the money of Venezuelan capitalist Tomas Terry – who however did not live to see it completed. It has a rich programme of plays, opera etc. and has resounded to the voices of Caruso and Anna Pavlova, among many others. It is kept in excellent condition, almost as it was when it was built.
The following day we took a trip up to the mountains – actually the western end of the same massif that I was in at Topes de Collantes. We walked up to see a waterfall, and Magda took the photo of the trogon!
On the way down we stopped at the Cienfuegos Botanical Gardens, now run by the state. It was originally formed in the late 19th century by an American sugar magnate to develop new varieties of sugar cane. It now holds a large collection of mainly exotic trees – including a large number of different types of palm tree.
There was also a brazil nut tree with its extraordinary bee-hive-shaped seed pod!
Our driver was an engineer who had given up professional work to become a taxi driver. Both his children are at university. Cuban universities are free and high quality. In some areas such as medicine they are as good as in any developed country. Entry is strictly by merit. The aspiration to increase the number of graduates in society – now around 50% – has the disadvantage that very few people want to work the land. This is not a problem in a country like USA or England, where agriculture is highly mechanised and efficient. But in Cuba it has been one of the factors which has made the island unable to feed itself. Another factor is that since agricultural reform in the 1960s no one is allowed to own more than about 40 hectares of land. The government took over about half the island’s land in 1959, mainly sugar estates which it continues to run. All other estates were split up. As a result much of the land has been abandoned and large tracts invaded by an introduced thorn called marabou; and Cuba, with rich soil and an enviable climate, is dependent on imports for food. The only serious production crop continues to be sugar which was bought by the Russians for political reasons until 1989. When the Iron Curtain came down, the bail-outs stopped and the country entered on the “Special period” when it virtually starved for 10 years. It was Hugo Chavez who extended a lifeline when he came to power…
China now purchases Cuban sugar – who am I to say whether for political reasons?!
The following day we took a trip up to the mountains – actually the western end of the same massif that I was in at Topes de Collantes. We walked up to see a waterfall, and Magda took the photo of the trogon!
On the way down we stopped at the Cienfuegos Botanical Gardens, now run by the state. It was originally formed in the late 19th century by an American sugar magnate to develop new varieties of sugar cane. It now holds a large collection of mainly exotic trees – including a large number of different types of palm tree.
There was also a brazil nut tree with its extraordinary bee-hive-shaped seed pod!
Our driver was an engineer who had given up professional work to become a taxi driver. Both his children are at university. Cuban universities are free and high quality. In some areas such as medicine they are as good as in any developed country. Entry is strictly by merit. The aspiration to increase the number of graduates in society – now around 50% – has the disadvantage that very few people want to work the land. This is not a problem in a country like USA or England, where agriculture is highly mechanised and efficient. But in Cuba it has been one of the factors which has made the island unable to feed itself. Another factor is that since agricultural reform in the 1960s no one is allowed to own more than about 40 hectares of land. The government took over about half the island’s land in 1959, mainly sugar estates which it continues to run. All other estates were split up. As a result much of the land has been abandoned and large tracts invaded by an introduced thorn called marabou; and Cuba, with rich soil and an enviable climate, is dependent on imports for food. The only serious production crop continues to be sugar which was bought by the Russians for political reasons until 1989. When the Iron Curtain came down, the bail-outs stopped and the country entered on the “Special period” when it virtually starved for 10 years. It was Hugo Chavez who extended a lifeline when he came to power…
China now purchases Cuban sugar – who am I to say whether for political reasons?!
No hay comentarios:
Publicar un comentario