This lady we saw in the center of Trinidad make a
cigar by hand
A cigar is a tightly-rolled bundle of dried and fermented leaf
tobacco which is rolled in a series of types and sizes that is ignited so that
its smoke may be drawn into the mouth
Cigar tobacco is grown in significant
quantities in the Vinale Valley in Cuba
Tobacco and other crops are cultivated
on the bottom of the valley, mostly by traditional agriculture techniques
The
origins of cigar smoking are still unknownIn Guatemala, a ceramic pot dating
back to the tenth century features a Mayan smoking tobacco leaves tied together
with a string
Sikar, the term for smoking used by the Maya may have inspired
the name cigar
The Battle of Santa Clara was a series of events in late December 1958 that led to the capture of the Cuban city of Santa Clara by revolutionaries
under the command of Che Guevara
The battle was a decisive victory for the rebels fighting against the regime of General Fulgencio Batista: within 12 hours of the city's capture Batista fled Cuba
and Fidel Castro's forces claimed overall victory
It features prominently on the back of the three convertible peso bill
Guevara's column travelled on 28 December 1958 from the coastal port of Caibarién along the road to the town of Camajuani, which lay between Caibarién and Santa Clara
Their journey was received by cheering crowds of peasants, and Caibarién's capture within a day reinforced the sense among the rebel fighters that overall victory was imminent
Government troops guarding the army garrison at Camajuani deserted their posts without incident, and Guevara's column proceeded to Santa Clara
They arrived at the city's university on the outskirts of the town at dusk
Guevara, who viewed the capture of the armored train as a priority, successfully mobilized the tractors of the school of Agronomy at the university to raise the rails of the railway
The train was therefore derailed as it transported troops away from the Capiro hill
The officers within tumbled out asking for a truce
At this, ordinary soldiers, whose morale was very low, began to fraternize with the rebels, saying that they were tired of fighting against their own people
Shortly afterwards the armored train was in the hands of the rebels and its 350 men and officers were transported as prisoners
The train contained a considerable amount of weaponry, a huge bonus to revolutionary forces, and it was to become a basis of further attack in the hands of both the rebels
and supportive peasants
Guevara himself described how the men were forced out by a volley of Molotov cocktails, causing the armored train to become a "veritable oven for the soldiers"
In the early hours of New Years Day 1959 Batista fled the capital HavanaA few days later, Che went with Camilo Cienfuegos in Havana, on January 8, 1959,