By Ciro Bianchi Ross ce is a story that a Venezuelan wom- an, an active member of a rightwing party in her country, came to Cienfuegos, walked through. the city, visited its industrial centers, talked with the workers and saw for herself the new social and economic achievements which the Revolution has brought to Cuba. At the end of her vacation, she told her tourist guides: ‘‘I never would have believed it if I hadn’t seen it for my- self.” Another tourist, from France, said that what he had seen in Cienfuegos was the “best brainwashing” he could ever have received in regard to Cuban reality. The beautiful, bustling city, its historic sites, places of interest and recreation faci- Cuba in 1494. He ventured inland through a channel giving access to the bay. The natives called the bay Jagua, that is, the first one, the source, the origin, wealth: > It is the region’s most notable geographical accident and one of the best bays in the world. Diego Velazquez, Cuba’s first Spanish ‘governor, ordered the founding of Trinidad and Sancti-Spiritus. Many years were to _pass before Cienfuegos was founded. In 1819, Colonel Luis de Clouet obtained royal authorization to establish a settlement with 46 French colonists on the peninsula of Majagua from where, using a tree as a central point, he traced out diagonal lines so that all the streets of the city would run straight. Even before the city was born, the region had an economic importance at-- tested to by the constant attacks of cor- saires and pirates — Jacques de Sores, Above: City of Cienfuegos founded in 1819, during colonial times it was an important com- - mercial port. Below: One of the beautiful beaches which have not been: exploited touristically. THE UPRISING OF SEPTEMBER 5, 1957 ienfugos has had a naval base since 1825. During the Republic the city became headquarters of the Southern Naval District. On the morning of September 5, 1957, a group of men broke into the base and imprisoned its chief and the rest of the officers. immediately, Lieutenant. Dionisio San Roman, who headed the uprising, began to distribute arms to the population amid cheers for Fidel, then in the Sierra Maestra. The rebels liquidated Army troops stationed in the city and occupied the police sta- tions and other key civilian points. The city was liberated. That same day, in the af- ternoon, jet planes sent by Batista savagely bombed the city and the civilian popula- tion. Tanks and infantry troops completed the destruction of the insurrectionary move- ment. Cienfuges was held by the tyranny until its final liberation on January 1, 1959. lities, as well-as the industrial and agricul- tural wealth of the region, have turned Cienfuegos, often called the Pearl of the South, into a favorite tourist spot for both Cuban and foreign visitors. Located on the shores of the Bay of Jag- ua in the southwestern part of Las Villas, Cuba’s central province, Cienfuegos is linked to the rest of the country by road and air line. Two new hotels and a number of first-class restaurants and cafeterias are being built in the bay area. The first tourist who visited what is - today Cienfuegos was Christopher Colum- bus who sailed along the southern part of Juan el Temerario, Henry Morgan. The authorities realized the necessity of building a small fortress at the entrance to the port (1738). Expanded later, the for- tress in 1745 became one of the most im- portant in the country. Today the Castle of Jagua stands as a majestic symbol of Span- ish colonial rule. A great many residents of Cienfuegos enlisted in the Mambi Army during the independence wars against Spain in the 19th century. Faithful to this tradition of strug- gle, Cienfuegos also fought against the Batista tyranny. On August 2, 1957, its inhabitants went on a general strike which bh oor ere at an art aa in pre ese The building vollects the ane Spanish background of Cuba. _ PACIFIC TRIBUNE—SEPTEMBER 12, 1975—Page 6 paralyzed the city. The cells of the July 26th Movement defied government vigi- lance and established contact with the rev- olutionary members of the Cuban Navy. They organized what was one of the most heroic acts of the insurrectional stage: the uprising of September 5, 1957, which tem- porarily liberated the city. The Revolution has transformed the city and the entire region around it. Cien- fuegos today has a bulk sugar terminal with a shipping capacity of 1200 tons per hour, a fertilizer plant with a production capa- city of 500,000 tons a year, a fishing com- plex and a factory for machine parts and accessories. Two thermoelectric units with a capacity of 115 megawatts have made it possible to electrify a number of - -towns, old and newly built. A great percentage of the visitors to the city come to see these changes and also to vacation in comfortable and beautiful surroundings. A favorite tourist attraction is the Palace of the Valley, built by 30 ma- sons brought from Morocco. A bourgeois politician had wanted to turn the palace into a gambling casino. Today it is a mu- seum of folk art directed by the famous folklorist Samuel Feijoo. Its art collec- tion includes the works of the painter Benjamin Duarte, one of the finest expon- ents of Antillean culture. Other places of interest are the Terry ‘Theatre, built in 1890, the Botanical Gar- dens, Jose Marti Park, the Rancho Luna Beach and Cura Lagoon. . Hotel capacity is. already insufficient. Under construction is a modern 190-room hotel in Pasacaballos at the entrance to the bay. The Rancho Luna Beach Motel will have 240 rooms. Both will be inaugu- rated this year. But best of all, as far aS the visitor is concerned, is the traditional hospitality of the city’s inhabitants. —Prensa Latina IN 1959 O’Bourke, with 10,000 kilowatts. TODAY tion of 300 tons of shaved ice. of 30,000 tons. ' meters a year. UNDER CONSTRUCTION © A500-bed hospital. © Ateachers’ training school. © Two hotels. Cienfuegos had only one important industry: electric energy. Two small plants one in Paseo del Prado, with 3,500 kilowatts, disactivated in the first years of the Revolution because of its obsolete and broken down equipment, and another in © Two modern thermoelectric units which génerate a total of 60 milliwatts. © A bulk sugar terminal, the Tricontinental, with a shipping capacity of 1,200 tons per hour and a storage capacity of 90,000 tons. © A factory for nitrogen fertilizers, with an annual capacity of 500,000 tons. © Aplant for the production of machine parts and accessories. e The fishing port, with a storage capacity of 3,500 tons of frozen fishanda produc- ‘e A wheat mill with a production of 600 tons of flour in 24 hoe and a silo capacity © Atile factory for the production of 900,000 square meters of flooring a year. © A stone grinding-washing plant, with a production capacity of 300,000 cubic ® Astadium, which will be one of the largest in Cuba. WORLD MAGAZINE sates 5 ns foe Py ok ce a