The American dream, in this case Cuban, from those bygone times, when nothing was heard about the Democratic Memory Law (LMD). We are at the end of 1920, in Villa de Moya; time and space, the coordinates of History. It was fulfilled in the figure of Federico Almeida, born in San Fernando de Moya, of a natural mother, as his name itself indicates, and an unknown or unknown father, according to the nomenclature of the time. Please “radical inclusives” keep the historical context in mind (PF-CH).
Well, as I said, that poor man who transposed or transposed (things from the RAE) very young, at the end of the 19th century, returned in 1920 with the nickname of the “Millonario de Moya”, as this is reflected in the press of the time. .
In a certain way, the Villa de Moya lived its “Marshall Plan”. It was her wish to thank the Virgin of La Candelaria for the request that her mother made to her, before leaving for the Pearl of the Caribbean, that nothing should happen to her child. At the same time, help the poor neighbors in their daily lives, even proposing a plan for prosperity beyond, at the other end of the Great Pond.
With the abolition of slavery in Cuba, overseas policy, in the Spanish province of the Antilles, focused on supporting immigration (migration, PF-CH) to repopulate the expanding areas of sugar cane and “ whiten” the race (PF-CH). The Santiago de Cuba area had a high presence of black Haitians, who came with the French who fled Haiti during the anti-French revolution.
The colony was the alternative to the slave mode of production, with the distribution among the settlers of plots of land for the cultivation of sugar cane. Over time, many settlers paid for their land with their work. Federico Almeida, with this type of activity, and the hiring of families from the Villa de Moya and the City of Guía, to a greater extent, had the system geared to produce in the sugar mills he owned; Along with other commercial transactions, with this he obtained a great accumulation of wealth, and many Moyenses obtained land ownership in San Luis de la Enrramada, Santiago de Cuba.
The visit he made to the Villa de Moya, at the end of 1920, is in that context. On the one hand, he presented himself to his neighbors as the famous Indian, filling the locals with joy, especially the poor who saw in his financial help to emigrate to eastern Cuba a possibility of prospering.
“ Very Illustrious Governor Ecco. of this Bishopric
The undersigned Priest of the Parish of Our Lady of La Candelaria de Moya, to NS With due respect, states: That on the twelfth of this year a festival will be celebrated to the Virgin, a promise of Don Federico Almeida, and wishing to give to the function The greatest possible solemnity is planned to make a major exposition of –, with some orchestral instruments accompanying the mass and women’s voices taking part, except on the eve of the Rosary, which will also be with an exposition.
Therefore
It begs Your Excellency to grant your superior authorization for the stated purposes. Grace you hope to obtain…
“Moya, December 3, 1820” [Archivo Diocesano del Obispado de Canarias]
Felipe Enrique Martín Santiago
Historian
