The place name Baraguá is of aboriginal origin, it means a place of abundant water, which is confirmed in terms of the presence of the underground basin that crosses the municipality, one of the largest in the province.
It has been determined that the first population nucleus was settled on the hill of Saint Nicholas. According to the Geographical Dictionary of the island of Cuba, it is known that in 1775 the small village was equipped with a parish temple dedicated to Saint Nicholas. In 1846, it had four houses, distant from each other, inhabited by fifteen whites, two free blacks and seven slaves. The plague and typhus decimated the nascent village and its inhabitants, attracted by the impetuous flourishing of Morón and Ciego de Ávila, flocked to these villages, leaving only two or three houses on that mound around 1868.
According to mortgage annotation records, it is known that in 1761, María de la Soledad Miranda sold Hato Cumanayagua for 2,425 pesos per possession to Nicolás Rodríguez de la Piña and Lorenzo de Boza, who six years later sold the land to Francisco José Sánchez and Zayas in 2407 pesos of possession.
At the beginning of the 19th century, Francisco José Sánchez owned control of almost the entire Hato Cumanayagua. His sons inherited the property, and the main farms were named: Santa Catalina Potrero, Hato Potrero or San Pedro Nolasco, Cumanayagua, Santo Tomás and San Nicolás.
On October 25, 1855, Doña Soledad Sánchez sold her niece Carmen Recio y Sánchez a site of her property, named San Nicolás; it had 300 cattle, 30 beasts, a black named Miguel and 375 pesos of possession, in the Hato de Cumanayagua.
In 1869, the Hato Potrero or San Pedro Nolasco property was granted as a loan to Juan de Moya Rodríguez, married to Celestina Montejo Loynaz. This is how the Moya Montejo couple moved to it in March, becoming the first settlers of Gaspar
In the town of Baraguá is the Ecuador sugar factory, the main industry of the current municipality, which since its construction gave way to a process of Anglo-Caribbean population settlement, which generates, together with the existing culture, a rich range of stories and traditions linked to the economic, political and social work.
The arrival of the American company Sugar S.A. in Ciego de Ávila in its expansion to the East reached Baraguá in 1914-1915 and the construction of the Company began, together with a socioeconomic and commercial structure of the locality. The Baraguá Sugar Corporation bought 1,181 caballerias for cane development, plus 26 slabs of land. They formed a single farm called (Baraguá Sugar Refinery) with a total value of $8,762,500 dollars by deed 142 of March 27, 1916.
In 1915, land clearing began in an area of 80 caballerias, forming crews of 2 to 11 workers who were paid $120.00 per caballerias of cane planted and ready for cutting.
At the end of 1915, the construction of the mill began. The islander Donet ceded three caballerias of land for the plant to be installed. It was located in the southern part of the province, 30 km from Ciego de Ávila and 484 from the capital. Besides, the place initially chosen was Colorado due to its proximity to the central work line; this idea was discarded with the new intention of shipping sugar through Boca Grande, the pier to the south of the territory.
In 1916, the works on the railway line were completed, the cargo and passenger trains that went from Colorado to Baraguá and vice versa did so every three hours. In 1917, the engineer from Santoya delivered ready to grind to his first administrator Godschueu, the harvest lasted 131 days, consuming an average of 783 tons of bagasse for every 100 tons of sugar, using only this fuel in his first three harvests.
Development of the territory
In the municipality, as in the rest of the province and the country, the geographical environment has been changing since the first important settlements were produced at the beginning of this century; towards the areas of the Guanales neighborhood first and San Nicolás later due to the foundation of the sugar mills. This brought with it the planting of large extensions of sugar cane and other crops for self-consumption.
In general, before the triumph of the Revolution, the transformations of the environment were quite limited. It is from 1959 that the environment is transformed with the aim of satisfying the demands of society, becoming more notable with the development of agriculture, from the creation of new agricultural and livestock plans, as well as the emergence of new populations and the increase of the existing ones.
An important transformation occurs in the northeast of the municipality with the construction of the Sabanas Nuevas dam, the promotion of agriculture in the area and the creation of the center for the rearing of fingerlings attached to the hydraulic work.
Liberation struggles
In August 1869, the lieutenant colonel of the Spanish army vilely murdered the rebel general Honorato del Castillo, in Los Naranjos estate, near Morón. For this reason, General Ángel del Castillo Agramonte left with his troops for Ciego de Ávila to confront the Spanish officer. The meeting takes place in Júcaro, where the enemy is defeated, including the death of Ramón del Portal.
The day after this action, the troops of General Ángel del Castillo Agramonte undertake the return to Camagüey, and camp affected by cholera, in the Guanales farm. According to the testimony of Serafín Sánchez, "twenty-four hours after arriving at the aforementioned Guanales farm, there were more than a hundred dead or attacked by the disease."
It was necessary to leave the place. After a heartfelt harangue from the head of the troops, Officer Manuel Rodríguez, known as La Bujiíta, decided to stay to assist the dying and bury the bodies. Fifteen soldiers accompanied him, in addition to Serafín Sánchez with five of his men.
About forty hours we remained in that disastrous place burying the dead. All those attacked died. Of the twenty-two who remained, fifteen died, such was the ferocity of that terrible disease.
Once the work was finished, the seven survivors headed towards the surroundings of Magarabomba where they allowed the necessary time to pass for the epidemic to be extinguished, which ceased completely when the forces spread throughout the Camagüey territory.
At the call of the country, the first uprisings of Ciego de Ávila`s patriots take place; the brothers Marcial, José and Felipe Gómez Cardoso stand out, who joined under the orders of the first Cuban chief operating in the region: Colonel Manuel de Jesús Valdés Hurra (Chicho).
Historical curiosities
In June 1872, Marcial de Jesús Gómez Cardoso, while participating with his brothers in a war action that took place in La Julia, near Lázaro López, was seriously wounded in the left leg. For this reason, it is necessary to urgently transfer him to the east of the trail so that he can be treated at the rebel blood hospital, located on the Cumanayagua estate.
While confined in said hospital, he was surprised by a group of soldiers of the Spanish commander Manuel Hernández Hernández. The soldier José de los Santos González, who participated in the burial of the decapitated body, said that it is known that "while Commander Marcial Gómez was confined in the ranch, accompanied by his assistant, the black Emilio Oliver, he was surprised by the guerrilla that he commanded. Captain Freire, the Cuban chief, killed the three men who had gone ahead of the troops and then went out through the back door of the ranch, trying to get to the jungle, crossed through the middle of the tomb of recently fired mountain, with such bad luck that he faced the rest of the guerrilla. After the first discharges, Marcial was wounded in the other leg and rolled to the ground, so he defended himself by shooting, until he ran out of capsules... Then he stood up on the ground and with the machete in his hand he challenged to the opponents, yelling at them: "Bad Cubans, they have to kill me to catch me"».
Once murdered, his corpse was subjected to barbarism: his head was lopped off and taken to Ciego de Ávila where it was exhibited in public. That day, at the Cumanayagua mill, his brother Felipe, accompanied by Manuel Santiago, Rafael González, José Valdés and Juan de Moya buried the body next to a mango tree, surrounding it with jiquí stakes so that it could be identified later.
Featured personalities
Among the rebels residing in the town who participated in the war of independence are:
Juan Gomez Morales. He was born in 1868 and died in 1976. He participated in the war of 1995, under the orders of General Antonio Maceo, he was in Los Mangos de Baraguá battle. He baptized a daughter of Maceo.
Basilio Espinosa Salazar. He was born in 1876 and died in 1962. He participated in a firefight in La Playita, where four of his brothers died. He was injured in the leg in the Palo Prieto battle.
Diego Valdés, Arturo Ortega, Wenceslao Alonso, Juan Castillo, Pastor Rabí, Manuel Ajete and Severo E. Castañeda also participated.
Mario Páez Inchausti. The father of all Gaspar citizens. Doctor, with a great knowledge of Gynecology, Pediatrics and Orthopedics. He visited the colonies to see the sick without charging a single penny, his humanism prevailed above all, he said that medicine should be socialized; he suffered for anemic and barefoot children, helped the Revolution, sold bonds, collected contributions to help the cause, founded the Gaspar polyclinic in 1960 and died on June 9, 1962. The town collected bronze so that her dear friend Zenaida Díaz García would sculpt a bust. The one who fell on December 3, 1964, the day of Latin American medicine. In the museum are possessions such as two chairs that belonged to his medical office and objects that dignify his life.
Juan Páez Inchausti, brother of Mario Páez Inchausti, doctor and commander of the rebel army.
Irene García Moreira Primera nurse who worked alongside Mario Páez and founder of the Cuban Red Cross. In the local museum, there are pieces that attest to her career in the health sector where she worked without charging a single penny.
Zenaida Díaz García, a personality of the culture that has stood out the most in the town: she is a sculptor, a painter, she has taught more than 900 children to paint. The painting La Ceiba, is a piece that has the first prize in the international painting event in Germany in 1989. This exponent was echoed by the press around the world, she composes children's music, she is a poet where she stood out with the poem of 9 pages dedicated to the kite, her exhibitions have traveled to various countries such as Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Sahrawi, United States, Colombia, among others. In 2002, she was given the status of personality and in 2005, the Communist Party of Cuba and the Government gave her the status of illustrious daughter. In the local museum, more than 300 documents are stored that are witnesses of her artistic career
Chronology
- The council of Sancti Spíritus, grants some allowances in the area of the current municipal territory.
- Juan de Moya Rodríguez and Celestina Montejo Loynaz moved to the Hato Potrero or San Pedro Nolazco mill, becoming the first settlers of Gaspar.
- Gaspar urbanization.
- At the end of the year, the construction of the Baraguá Sugar Factory, today Ecuador, begins.
1915-1920. Accelerated immigration of citizens from Jamaica, Saint Vincent, Barbados, Antigua, Tobago, Grenada and Panama in search of sources of employment and with the dream of improving their economic situation.
June1872. On June 5, while recovering from a wound sustained in combat, at the Rebel Blood Hospital, located on the Cumanayagüa ranch, the patriot Commander Marcial de Jesús Gómez Cardoso fell in an unequal fight.
January 5, 1875. The invading column arrives in Baragüá under the command of Máximo Gómez.
November 29, 1895. The invading column crosses the municipality under the command of Antonio Maceo.
April 28, 1897. Forces of the Path Brigade, of the Third Corps of the Liberation Army, commanded by Armando Sánchez Agramonte, set fire to and destroy Fort San Nicolás, near the current town of Gaspar.
January 31, 1917. The engineer Santoya delivered the Baraguá sugar mill, ready to be milled. His first harvest lasted 131 days.
January 1918. The Pilar sugar mill is founded, it carried out a trial harvest of just 23 days.
- Last harvest of the Pilar mill.
- It is founded the Refinery of the then Baraguá Sugar Factory.
April 9, 1958. The territory on strike dawns. Raúl Martínez Alfonso, Eugenio Conte Ramos, José Ascanio Pérez and Esteban López Ainé, who had been protagonists of the strike in the territory, sabotaging the power plant of Vicente and paralyzing traffic on the central highway.
September 26, 1958. In the early hours of the morning, the invading column number 2, Antonio Maceo, commanded by Camilo Cienfuegos, arrived at the municipality, crossing the territory diagonally, from south to north, and during the journey, it remained in the following camps. Holy Mary day 26.
September 29, 1958. Column number 8 Ciro Redondo arrives, commanded by Che, bordering the coast and having the following camps. Sailor number 1 (September 29), Sailor No. 2 (29 and 30), los Puercos Mount and la Virgen Mount (October 3).
October 10, 1976. The first assembly of popular power in the municipality is constituted.
July 26, 1984. Baraguá, municipality that hosts the central provincial act for the 31st anniversary of the assault on the Moncada Barracks.
Economy
The main crop is sugar cane, but important extensions of land are also dedicated to the development of bananas, potatoes, fruit trees and other root crops and vegetables. Livestock activity and the exploitation of important mineral reserves of kaolin and sand are significant.
Numerous economic objectives are located in the territory, the Ecuador sugar factory; La Cuba Various Crop Company and the Patricio Sierralta Livestock Company stand out for their relevance. There is a young fish station, in charge of the production and aquaculture exploitation of fish.
Baraguá is one of the regions with the greatest potential for high-yield production, as evidenced by its status as a millionaire in the production of tubers and vegetables in recent years, there are sufficient natural and human resources to exceed current production figures in years to come.
New dairy and dual-purpose lines are introduced in livestock development, training and education of technicians are developed that contribute to the achievement of greater production and increased yields.
The Agrarian Reform Law was the starting point for the achievement of the transformations that are proposed in the program of the revolution, hence its historical scope and its influence on the life of the territory.
The first steps of industrialization in the municipality were carried out with the training of a group of workers who would work in the candy store in Gaspar and the conditions to develop capacities in the sugar industry began to be created.
The economic development strategy in the agricultural sector during this period showed positive results with the application of the latest scientific advances to the development of livestock, to the increase of agricultural plans to which great attention was devoted.
Counterrevolutionary demonstrations
During this period, some manifestations of counterrevolutionary activities took place in the Ecuador sugar mill, where several citizens were arrested and subsequently prosecuted for hindering the production process of sugar manufacturing, for which one of these elements was sanctioned the maximum penalty.
The author of a sabotage to the general office of the industry on May 8, 1970 was also caught and imprisoned. Faced with the defamatory campaigns against the revolution and the strengthening of the economic blockade, the popular masses maintained a combative and determined attitude in the form of in support of the Revolution.
Industrialization in this period did not have great development because it was an eminently agricultural territory that had only one industry due to its characteristic of sugar monoproduction.
In other lines, the construction of the Makenaff factory in the Colorado cruise begins under the guidance of Commander Ernesto Che Guevara who visited it on different occasions and which represented employment for a large group of workers, while developing a new industry in the territory.