Pinar del Río
—  Municipality  —
Cigar factory in Pinar del Río
Location of Pinar de Río in Cuba
Coordinates: 22°24′44″N 83°40′19″W / 22.41222°N 83.67194°W / 22.41222; -83.67194Coordinates: 22°24′44″N 83°40′19″W / 22.41222°N 83.67194°W / 22.41222; -83.67194
Country	Cuba
Province	Pinar del Río
Founded	1774
Area[1]
• Municipality	708 km2 (273 sq mi)
• Urban	70.7 km2 (27.3 sq mi)
Elevation	60 m (200 ft)
Population (2004)[2]
• Municipality	190,532
• Density	269.1/km2 (697/sq mi)
• Urban	152,200
• Urban density	2,152.8/km2 (5,576/sq mi)
Time zone	EST (UTC-5)
• Summer (DST)	EDT (UTC-4)
Area code(s)	+53-48
Highways	Carretera Central
Website	Pinar del Río webpage

Tobacco plantation

Pinar del Río is a city in Cuba. It is the capital of Pinar del Río Province.

Inhabitants of the area are called Pinareños.

Neighborhoods in the city include La Conchita, La Coloma, Briones Montoto and Las Ovas.

History[link]

Pinar del Río was one of the last major cities in Cuba founded by the Spanish. The city and province was originally founded as Nueva Filipinas (New Philippines) due to the large influx of Filipinos who had arrived by traveling on the Manila Galleons. They brought with them tamarind (also known as sampaloc), camisa de chinos, and arroz caldo (also known as arroz caldoso)

Known as Chinos Manila among the local population, the Filipinos worked the huge tobacco plantations much as they did in the present provinces of Ilocos Sur, Tarlac, Ilocos Norte, Cagayan and Isabela in their home country. During that time, the Spanish colonizers had a virtual monopoly of the tobacco trade through their company, the Tabacalera.

The world renowned La Flor de Isabela cigars (named after her Royal Majesty Queen Isabella II) were first cultivated in the Philippines in the Hacienda San Fernando, Hacienda Isabel, Hacienda Antonio and the Hacienda Luisita (all of these haciendas were later purchased by the Tabacalera or the Compañia General de Tabacos de Filipinas). After Mexico declared independence (1815), the trade of the Manila Galleons was broken. The Tabacalera shifted the cultivation of these cigars to Cuba since the Philippines was too far to govern without Mexico in between. The Isabela cigars achieved much fame due in part because of the American's appetite for cigars when Havana was a Las Vegas-style playground before the tenure of President Fidel Castro.

Nueva Filipinas was renamed Pinar del Río in 1774 at the same time that the old colonial capital of Guane lost its superiority.

(Previously, the old capital of Guane was named after the Gaane district in the Maluku Islands. During the Spanish times, the area was referred to as Las Islas Moluccas. Gaane in Indonesia is still located in the southern tip of Halmahera island. To this day, the Moluccas island group is the only area in predominantly Muslim Indonesia that has a Christian majority. The Moluccas or Spice Islands is also the scene of ongoing violent communal fighting between Christians and Muslim Jihad groups. During the 16th and 17th centuries, Ternate island was the most important of the Moluccas islands in Indonesia. Ternate island is right off the coast of nearby Halmahera island where the town of Gaane is also located. At that time, Spain, Portugal, England and the Netherlands quarreled over their claim to get hold of the monopoly of the spice trade of the world. In fact, Isabella I of Castile (for whom the city of Isabela, Basilan and Isabela (province), Philippines was named) and her husband Ferdinand II of Aragon coveted the islands so much they sent Christopher Columbus and many conquistadores to find it. In 1655, however, the Spaniards had to withdraw from the Moluccas in order to concentrate their forces in Manila. This was to fortify themselves against the threatened attack of a Chinese warlord, Koxinga. In moving out of the Moluccas, the Spanish missionary who went with the troops took along with him some 200 Moluccas Christians, better known as Márdikas. To this band of 200 Moluccas Indonesian immigrants can be traced the origin of Chabacano or Creole Spanish in the Philippines).

Afterwards, some Filipinos moved to Havana's big Barrio Chino or Chinatown. Others jumped ship to Louisiana. Others sailed back to Sinaloa and Jalisco in Mexico. Those with money went to Spain or back to Manila (and brought with them Escabeche a la Cubana which is a favorite dish to all Filipinos which they almost always serve using fish). The rest intermarried with the Cuban population.

Those who stayed quickly lost their Filipino ties since many among the Filipinos were like the local Cubans. They can speak Spanish, they were Catholic, they have to pay taxes or tributos, and they were treated like slaves by their Spanish masters. (Back in the Philippines, entire provinces were assigned to grow tobacco and nothing more. Those caught stealing a single leaf of tobacco or caught growing the food staple, rice, were hit with sugarcane or sentenced to death by garrote). Nonetheless, their children survive to this day. That is why there are Filipino or Chinese-Filipino sounding surnames in Cuba, such as Tampico, Magalan (from Magalang or to show respect), Batunbacal (from Batungbakal), Maquilin, Sumayao (to dance), Parian, Mabolo, Pilapil, Alimoron (from Alimurung), Nacpil, Gotiaco, Piat, Singson or Singzon, Tuason or Tuazon, Hizon or Hison, Dizon or Dison, Hinojosa or Hinohosa, Gandionco, Quiambao, Salambao, Puyat, Edralin, et al.

Important Cuban-Filipinos include the Azcarraga Fessner family, whose patriarch was Marcelo de Azcarraga y Palmero, the first Prime Minister of Spain with Indian blood, whose mother was a Filipina from the Lizarrabal and Palmero families. ^[3]

During a 1970s state visit to Cuba, Philippine First Lady Imelda Marcos remarked on the similarities of Cuba to the Philippines, including coconuts, tobacco leaves, mountains, carabaos, and food. Both peoples enjoyed cockfighting, playing mah jong, dama and cara y cruz, and eating lechon. Many older Filipinos and Cubans have a sense of bilateral cultural affinity that eclipses that with geographically adjacent nations.

Economy[link]

The city is located in a major tobacco-growing area and is a centre of the cigar industry. The main farming tool in this province is the Carabao which is similar to the Carabaos in the Philippines.

Cayo Conuco[link]

Cayo Conuco is a municipality in Pinar del Río. The closest airport is LCL - La Coloma, located 20.0 km south of Cayo Conuco.^[4]

Education[link]

The main secondary education institution is the University of Pinar del Río.

Demographics[link]

In the 2002 national census, the following statistics were recorded:

• Area: 70.7 km² (city); 708 km² (municipality)
• Population: 189,221 (total); 152,200 (city); 30,417 (surrounding rural area)
• Density: 270,4 /km²

In 2004, the municipality of Pinar del Río had a population of 190,532.^[2] With a total area of 708 km² (273 sq mi),^[1] it has a population density of 269.1 /km² (697 /sq mi).

Notable people[link]

• Danys Báez, currently plays for the Philadelphia Phillies
• Mario Bencomo, an internationally exhibited painter
• René Capo, moved to the United States at an early age, becoming an Olympic Judoka.
• Willy Chirino, Cuban Singer-Song Writer
• Yunesky Maya, pitcher for the Washington Nationals
• Rudy Pérez, composer and producer
• Alexei Ramírez, currently plays for the Chicago White Sox

Polo Montañez: Cuban singer and songwriter.

See also[link]

• Filipino Cuban

References[link]

External links[link]

• (Spanish) Pinar del Río.cu

v t e Provinces of Cuba Current Artemisa Camagüey Ciego de Ávila Cienfuegos Ciudad de La Habana Granma Guantánamo Holguín Isla de la Juventud Las Tunas Matanzas Mayabeque Pinar del Río Sancti Spíritus Santiago de Cuba Villa Clara Historical La Habana Santa Clara (Las Villas) Camagüey (Puerto Principe) Oriente (Santiago de Cuba) Provincial capitals Bayamo Camagüey Ciego de Ávila Cienfuegos Guantánamo Havana Holguín Victoria de Las Tunas Matanzas Pinar del Río Sancti Spíritus Santa Clara Santiago de Cuba Municipalities of Pinar del Río Consolación del Sur Guane La Palma Los Palacios Mantua Minas de Matahambre Pinar del Río Sandino San Juan y Martínez San Luis Viñales

Polo Montañez (June 5, 1955 - November 26, 2002) was a Cuban singer and songwriter.

Montañez was born Fernando Borrego Linares in Sierra del Rosario, Pinar del Río, in a farm known as El Brujito. At an early age he worked various jobs including driving a tractor, milking cows, making coal, assisting on the family farm, and as a lumberjack. In his spare time, Montañez would go from house to house singing and later began to sing in local parties and family gatherings.

In 1994, Montañez formed his own ensemble of family and friends. He quickly became the house act at a resort in the nearby touristic community of Las Terrazas, and in 1999, Montañez signed with European record label Lusafrica after being discovered by one of their directors that was staying at the resort.

Montañez had his biggest success in March 2000 with his first CD "Guajiro Natural" and the song "Un montón de Estrellas". He became known as the Guajiro Natural (Natural Countryman) because of his humble personality and songs about the peasant life in Cuba.

Polo Montañez died on November 26, 2002, six days after being hospitalized in the Carlos J. Finlay Military Hospital, as a result of a tragic car accident in the Coronela zone near San Cristóbal, Pinar del Río. The Centro Cultural (Cultural Centre) on the main square in Viñales, Pinar del Rio, is named in his memory.

Discography[link]

• Guajiro Natural (2000)
• Guitarra Mía (2002)
• Memoria (2004)

External links[link]

• Obituary from canandiannetworkoncuba.ca
• Tribute from cuba-junky.com

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