By 1668 Henry Morgan had already acquired some fame, and news of him reached the ears of the governor of Jamaica. It was not preposterous, therefore, the idea of entrusting the Welsh privateer to loot the Villa Santa Maria del Puerto del Principe. It was an almost frantic expedition that culminated with the payment by the residents of 500 cows and salt. Nothing impressive for the King of England, who must have laughed out loud on the size if the booty. While gains were meager in his first major attack after the events of Puerto Principe the corsair became a legend and was even knighted by the British nobility. What still doesn’t have a clear explanation is his most psychiatric obsession with religious ornaments. Vox populi through, until today has transcended the story of the theft -done by Morgan, of the first bell sent by the House of Trade in Seville to Spanish settlement in Punta del Guincho (current Nuevitas). Near the cross of wood, that was one of the few Christian garments that survived during the voyage of the Spaniards, when they migrated to the chieftainship of Caonao and subsequently to lands of cacique Camaguebax, following the massacre of...

A man looks and questions everything. With his house on a wagon, he has travelled for half a millennium, and now, finally, he finds safe ground. He comes to tell legends of the crossing begun in 1514 on Punta del Guincho beach, the horrors of the massacre of Indians at Caonao village, and details of the rebellion that forced the Spaniards to seek refuge in the lands of cacique Camaguebax. From his mud roof the snooper sees people passing and Camagüey’s intertwined streets as if five hundred years before the Spaniards to raise their hermitages without previous plan, and squares and buildings to be erected without considering the slightest knowledge of the rule and the string. From its height he manages to interpret each square and understand the mystery of each church. Between a temple and the other he finds difficult to list the houses: all the red tiles come together to form almost one roof, almost one eave, which sometimes rises and other declines to die just a few inches after the facade. Plaza del Carmen / Photo: Leandro Armando Pérez Pérez. It is the colonial city, with its high ceiling houses, its hanging covers and mud-brick walls, the...

To console his woes, a sick turtle by pollution of his habitat needs a bit of sky, a dewdrop and a flower. Gali, his grandson, undertakes a journey in search of appropriate remedies, which will be featured, along with the sunset in the chalk drawings of children on the pavement. Gradually the Joaquín de Agüero square in Camagüey has been filling with infants, and no one knows where to look, because in several blocks around there guys are painting and smiling. It's those little moments recorded in the memory of those who have had the opportunity to attend the XV National Theatre Festival which ran from October fourth through the 11th in this city. Camagüey is now a party. No one can deny it: there is no better venue for an event of such importance. The public is demanding and knowledgeable, the queues to access the features are immense and the cheers have brought tears to the eyes of more than one actor. The Pinar del Rio group TECMA, with its work En busca de una antigua ilusión (in search of an old illusion), it is noteworthy not only for the noble teaching of the tortoise and the animals of...

Dedicated to the bicentenary of the poet, novelist and playwright Gertrudis Gómez de Avellaneda, the fifteenth National Theatre Festival of Camagüey will be held on October 4 through the 11, according to information provided to Oncuba by Freddys Estenoz Núñez, president of the event. Twenty-nine plays, grouped into three thematic areas, will run on the theaters of the city, showing the public and the critics the most important plays of the Cuban scene in the last two years. Thus, and Reality and Pálpito will gather contemporary productions, while Good Memory will recall performances featured in previous editions (including "Delirio Habanero" by Teatro de la Luna). Also, Nuevas Escrituras will include those made ​​by and for young people. The program includes paintings and photographic exhibitions, book presentations and meetings with critics. Stands out the first meeting of directors of festivals in Latin America and the Caribbean, in order to exchange ideas and schedule meetings between Cuban and foreign companies this year. Nuñez explained that to achieve greater organization all functions are performed in the afternoons and evenings. In the morning in the Fénix hall of the reopened Casa Blanca movie the forums will take place, the premier of documentaries and other...

In 1994 we marked 65 years of the first performance of The Manisero by Rita Montaner. Apparently, the air of celebration and the rumble of the melody in his ears, pushed Manuel Rosello to resume, that year, the making of a truly Camaguey food. He lived at the same time as the singer, but in different situations: as Rita triumphed in Europe and the world danced to the beat of her rhythm, Manuel and hundreds of Cubans found in peanuts their only source of income. By the early 1930's, standing American companies in the country obtained high profits of the legume crop due to good prices for its butter during World War II. Thanks to this event peanuts became popular in Cuba, particularly the white variety, whose seed is composed of more than 40 percent of oils. Filled with roasted salted peanuts, the paper cones toured throughout the island and became famous even in Paris, where ¨The Only¨ represented masterfully those vendors at the Olympia Theatre. On like them Moses Manuel Simons found inspiration to compose his catchy chorus. First Rosello sold his cones on a bicycle. Then he sold nougat. After that, he went into sweets for Christmas. And...

It is said that back in 1952 someone known as Mr. Miller, a nice Yankee, didn’t allow Nene Alfonso and Manolo Docampo to buy the former sugar mill La Lucrecia, seven miles south of Lugareño, a town located 60 kilometers northeast of Camaguey province. By that time the metallic remains of about 30 mills in the area were still preserved and the two friends used to make their living by buying and selling iron. However, Mr. Miller was particularly fond of this one. That’s why; he ordered young Gonzalo the bitter task of “moving it intact” and placing it in front of the sugar refinery of six towers, which that same year would have the biggest sugar cane harvest during capitalism and the second largest in its history. “Gonzalo states that Mr. Miller knew every anecdote in detail” / Image: Courtesy of the author For some reason it was important for the “American”: during the early 20th century those pieces had travelled by ship from Brooklyn to New York, along with a steam locomotive made in Philadelphia. Miller also demanded the transfer of large cooper pans in which, out of spatula and charcoal, slaves used to get unrefined sugar in...