Majagua is one of the 10 municipalities of the province of Ciego de Ávila , with a political structure organized into five Popular Councils: Majagua and Orlando González as urban councils and Guayacanes , Mamonal and Limones Palmeros in the rural area, all of them grouping 53 Districts. Its foundation as a town dates back to 1906 .

Location

The municipality Majagua is located in the southwest (SW) of the province of Ciego de Ávila and has as limits:

• North: Florencia and Ciro Redondo municipalities .
• South: La Sierpe municipality .
• East: municipality of Ciego de Ávila and Venezuela.
• West: Jatibonico municipality .

The location to the west of the Trocha de Júcaro to Morón and because it is a kind of border region between the old provinces of Camagüey and Las Villas , the territory acquired traits of Hispanic culture through settlements of islanders who dedicated themselves to the cultivation of minor fruits, tobacco and livestock, which establishes certain differences with the part of the province located to the east of the Trocha where there is a greater influence of Caribbean immigrants.

Extension

The territory occupies a total area of ​​541.5 km², its shape is elongated from northeast to southwest, forming an irregular polygon. The extreme points are located at the intersection of the Majagua-Marroquí highway to the north and in the southern portion at a place located 2.5 km southwest of the Ramblasón track in Cayo.

As a matter of interest, it can be established that in Europe there are five countries smaller than this municipality: Andorra, Liechtenstein, Monaco, San Marino and Vatican City.

Climate

The main climatic characteristics include seasonal and calm winds, as well as continental influence in winter. The climate is tropical savannah, influenced by arctic air masses in winter.

During the summer, weather variability is associated with disturbances typical of the tropical circulation zone, such as wave disturbances of the easterly (E) flow and cyclones.

The annual sum of daylight hours ranges between 2700 and 2900. March and April are the months with the highest occurrence of clear days.

The average annual temperature is between 25 °C and 26 °C. The particular regularity of this variable becomes noticeable in the months of July and August with average values ​​of 28 °C.

The tendency for average temperatures to fall below 25 °C from November to May is related to the arrival of cold polar air. This explains why minimum temperatures can vary from year to year, while maximum temperatures vary relatively little, because the warm air masses arriving from the equatorial regions have approximately the same temperatures as the local air.

From 1916 to 1989, 1,080 cold fronts reached the municipality (73% of those that reached the country). The causes of the seasonality and irregularity of the occurrence of rains are due to the influence of atmospheric processes, conditioned by the general circulation system and the irregular warming of the earth’s surface and coastal waters.

The spatial distribution of precipitation with data since 1931 shows that it rains more in the northern half (N) where the annual average reaches magnitudes between 1400 and 1600 mm, while in the south these are in the order of 1200-1400 mm.

The cause of this distribution is that the northern portion of Majagua is located within the Central Convective Belt , as well as the convergence of the Trade Winds and Breezes from the north with the breezes coming from the south.

In the surroundings of the main town the average is 135, the maximum for the town is recorded in June (249 mm) and the minimum in December (17 mm). The rains in summer are generally of the direct type (squalls) and are greater when the waves from the east and tropical cyclones pass . In winter they are frontal, related to the passage of cold fronts and occasionally low pressure organisms .

The average annual relative humidity at 7:00 am is 95% and at 1:00 pm it is 60%.

When we look at the relatively stable landscape around us, it is difficult to imagine that everything was different in the past. Over the course of geological time, changes have occurred that have given rise to new geographical features .

Everything seems to indicate that in the Eocene, the area of ​​the municipality was covered by sea water and deposition predominated. The substratum of the territory where Majagua is currently located was formed more than 42 million years ago, these rocks lie under sedimentary cover at different depths.

After the Upper Eocene , portions emerge as flat areas; in the Miocene everything falls below water level again, to emerge again in the Pleistocene .

The relief is characterized by being flat, to the north in the foothills of the Cordillera to Las Villas it is higher and undulating, its height above sea level is 180 meters.

In the vicinity of the town of Majagua, the altitude is 100 m and in the southern part only 5 m above sea level. The slope inclination to the south ranges between 30 and 50.

Hydrography

The distribution of water within the municipality is not homogeneous in time and space. The period of occurrence of the rains determines the hydric regime of the rivers; the runoff is greater and permanent during the rainy season (May-October) and during the less rainy period (November-April) the rivers and streams noticeably decrease their flow, even drying up in some sectors.

The volume of surface water is greater in the northern half, where there is more rainfall and less infiltration than in the south due to the characteristics of the rocks.

The river currents are characterized by having little flow, not suitable for navigation, the basins are small and flow towards the south, which is determined by the dip of the relief in that direction.

The longest river is the Majagua or Grande, measuring 72 km in length, its basin occupies an area of ​​226 km², and its flow rate (water flow) is 2.2 m² (square meters). It originates in the hills of Tamarindo, Santa Clara Heights at 2203′ north latitude, and 7858′ west longitude, at an altitude of 250 meters, and flows into the Sancti Spíritus plain. It runs in a north-south direction. Much of the river runs over limestone rocks and in some places, especially in the South, its waters contribute to enriching the water table. Its highest elevation is in the Sierra de Jatibonico with an altitude of 443 meters.

The Los Negros River is born in the north of the municipality, near Mamonal with the name of Arroyo Corrales, flows towards the South and along its course receives the waters of different streams such as Farfán, the Cristóbal ravine and the Guayacanes River , the latter joins the Los Negros River approximately 500 meters from the town of Guayacanes. This river enters the municipality of Venezuela to the south of the territory .

The third hydrographic basin is the intermittent Limones stream, to the southwest (SW) of the municipality. This channel has its source to the west (W) of the town of Majagua, in the territory of the province of Sancti Spíritus.

The water surface of Majagua is 7.13 km². According to the new National Atlas of Cuba , in the north of the territory there are combinations of brown soils with carbonate and calcemorphic humic soils with the former predominating. The brown soils are characterized by a relatively young sealitic evolution and present clayey minerals.

Calcimorphic humic soils are soils where the humification process (accumulation of humus) predominates due to the presence of high calcium and clay contents. In the centre there are combinations of hydromorphic ferralitic gley type and red ferralitic soils. Hydromorphic soils are distributed in flat areas, where hydromorphic conditions predominate due to the presence of an oscillating water table. Humidity conditions the gleyization process; these soils evolve from clayey sediments and alluvial materials. Ferralitic soils are characterised by an alteration of primary minerals. They evolve from calcareous rocks.

At the southern end, dark plastic gleyized vertisols are combined with hydromorphic ones.

Population

In the period from 1970 to 1980 the population increased by 18.1%, in the period from 1980 to 1989 the growth was less 13%. Currently there is a population of 26,479, which represents 6.3% of the population of the province of Ciego de Ávila .

Majagua ranks 110th in area among the country’s municipalities and 140th in population, as well as 47th in aging.

Birth rate

The birth rate, which was 12% in 1981 , rose to 16.1% in 1989. This was due to the fact that people who were between 15 and 19 years old in 1981 , who constituted the majority at that time, reached reproductive age.

Mortality rate

The mortality rate in 1989 was slightly higher than in 1981 , at 7.1% and 5.0% respectively. This situation is explained by the increase in life expectancy. Thus, in the early 1980s, the number of people over 65 was approximately 1,700, of whom 2.84 were over 85, and by 1989, for those over 65, the figure exceeded 2,200. This number of elderly people means that at certain times and for biological reasons, an increase in deaths is observed.

In 1981 the urban population was 42.2%, in 1989 it was 47%, which shows that the rate of urbanization has increased. The absolute population is 26,740 for a density of 50 inhabitants per km².

History

Main article: History of the municipality of Majagua (province of Ciego de Ávila)

Majagance shield

The shield, rectangular in shape with ochre-coloured corners, represents the majagua flower , with a pointed base and in the upper centre of which stands out the Yarey Hat with the white star, symbol of the Cuban peasant and his struggles. It is finished at the bottom by a red and blue ribbon with the name of Majagua that defines our attachment to traditional popular culture: the Bandos festival.

Inside, a wooden frame made from the Majagua tree, typical and abundant in the area, with its nuances and strength, represents the unity of the people. This tree is one of the hypotheses that gives rise to the name of our town.

Inside there are four well-defined squares on the five rays of the sun that extend inside it, representing the five Popular Councils. In the upper left part there is a landscape with the River and the Palm, distinctive elements of our area, which is crossed by its capricious flow of clear waters, deep bends, beautiful waterfalls and a dense vegetation that surrounds it.

In the upper right corner appears the center of the sun that radiates to the other paintings mixing with the white that symbolizes the purest and brightest of our ideals. In the center is the Mambí Machete, with the ranks of Colonel Simón Reyes Hernández “The Eagle of the Trocha”, an example of the independence struggles fought in the Majagüense territory where important actions were also developed in the Campaign of La Reforma led by Generalísimo Máximo Gómez Báez and where our illustrious Doña Emilia González Echemendía had her blood hospital in the Mambisa Prefecture of La Vega.

On the lower right side, the main resources of the territory’s economy that contribute to the country’s development and are sources of income are highlighted; the sugar zone represented by the CAI Orlando González Ramírez, which has fulfilled its manufacturing plans for 25 years, and there is also a sign for the CUPET ( Petroleum Drilling and Extraction Company ) in the Central Basin of the country.

In the lower left frame there is a pair of dancers and a guitar , representing the cultural traditions of the municipality with the Red and Blue Bands, festivities that have been celebrated in the territory since the first decades of the century.

Economic development

See related article : Majagua Popular Savings Bank .

In Majagua, trade flourished rapidly as this was a crossing point, a vital link for many floating personnel. In 1913 , there were already 12 industries, 56 shops and 17 established trades. It had a post office and telegraph office, a police station, although the farms did not have a cemetery, hospital, asylum, first aid station, circle, guilds, churches, press or theatre. There were two hotels, “Las Delicias” on Palma Street and “El Sol” on Comercio Street. Later, new hotels were opened: “Centro Comercio” and “Centro Gallego” located on La Plaza Street, as well as the “Central” hotel.

The territory was made up of emerging neighborhoods among which we find: Ángel del Castillo and La Ceiba, both rustic and their economic activity was related to livestock and agriculture.

In 1903 the railway company established a railway station on the Dominicas Madrigal estate. This station was called Guayacanes, which gave its name to the town that would later be developed. The main economic activity was the export of wood and the processing of precious woods for national exploitation and consumption and the supply of carved wood to the sugar mills.

Numerous population settlements were developed:

The lemons were harvested in the fields of San Juan, Puerto Rico, and were then …

In these early years it was not easy to establish the exact population data given the number of neighborhoods in the territory and the neocolonial political administration, however in different censuses the following data appear:

Table #2.

Census date Population

September 15, 1919 6,022

September 21, 1931 7,680

July 25 , 1943 9,541

The population grew in line with the development of economic activity until the 1930s , when the Machado dictatorship gave rise to the phenomenon of violent emigration in order to survive the worsening of the ills of the mediatized republic.

Majagua presented urban characteristics similar to those of other towns that emerged at the time, in light of the development of the railways and the economic activity that originated in these areas.

Its streets were built parallel to the railroad heading southeast and northeast, which in their order from East to West were named after flowers:

1- Adelfa Street ———————- (Orlando Gonzalez)

2- Cuba Ave. Street ———————- (Martí Walk)

3- Magnolia Street ———————- (Justo Sanchez)

4- Camelia Street ———————- (Republic)

5- La Rosa Street ———————- (Jose A. Echevarria)

6- Poppy Street ———————- (Ignacio Agramonte)

7- Carnation Street ———————- (Cándido González)

From south to north they were drawn with names of trees in the area:

1- Railway Street ————————————- (Orlando Gonzalez)

2- Commerce Street —————————————- (Antonio Maceo)

3- Las Palmas Street ————————————- (Independence)

4- Cocos Street —————————————– (Freedom)

5- Almácigo Street ————————————– (Frank País)

6- Almiqui Street ————————————— (Ricardo Perez)

7- Public Road Street ——————————— (Granma)

The original layout of the town consisted of 25 blocks, although they were not all inhabited. A school was built, No. 20, located on Maceo Street and the beginning of República Street, and a blacksmith shop. Most of the newly-established businesses were owned by Spaniards looking to prosper.

Places for recreation and leisure appear alongside prosperous businesses. The boom in trade is due to the fact that the place is an area of ​​influence of rural population centres and other towns; there was an influx of merchants, Chinese, Polish, Libyan, etc., many of these went bankrupt during the economic crisis of 1919-1921, many of the merchants could never again raise their small fortunes or businesses, however, the economic life of the town is maintained with its commercial boom and the transit of a large number of people in the shopping centres, bars and hotels.

Social ills, corruption and impoverishment in the town were manifested through lucrative businesses. There were four or five houses of prostitution, without health controls, with different categories and prices: “La Viña Aragonesa”, which was a hotel inn, “La Casa Atalay”, a boarding house, “La Casa de Rosario”, “La Isleña”, blacks could not enter them, the most expensive women were $2.00! for fine people, there was also a neighborhood called “La zona” with several individual prostitution businesses, each house had five to six women and during the season when they had the most work was the harvest season. In these places they offered drinks, music, but not food. Most of the women who worked there did so out of necessity or as a means of subsistence.

Social development

Culture, with its rich traditions of partying and guajiro dances performed by the Blue and Red Bands , as well as sports and other commercial, gastronomic, technical and personal services, completes an adequate network of establishments and units that cover the five Popular Councils of the territory.

Despite the difficult economic situation of the peasantry in the Majagua Municipality, they held their celebrations through family parties, and in the spring the most important were the parrandas that also took place at Easter. Other cultural activities were: dance halls, saints’ wakes, ball games, ribbon races and baptism ceremonies.

In the town of Majagua there were five societies; three for whites and two for blacks:

• Spanish Colony Faculty in Majagua (white race)
• Union Club Faculty in Majagua (white race)
• Martí Faculty in Guayacanes (white race)
• Santa Teresa Los Manrique Faculty (black race)
• Gloria Maceo Faculty in Majagua (black race)

From the activities of the Unión Club association, the guajiro dances were born in the house of Encarnita Martínez and her husband between the years 1920 – 1930. Initially, fashionable ballroom dances such as danzón and son were danced; they were enlivened by the Majagua sextet Hatuey. These dances were very successful and remained as a folkloric tradition of the culture until today.

Other traditions of the town were the carnivals, these parties were organized by the different societies; costume balls were held, parades of comparsas paraded through the streets where there was a jury made up of merchants, these parades were in the afternoon since at night the comparsa came out and did its characteristic evolutions and dances.

Another peculiarity of the cultural movement in the town was the activity of the societies and clubs as explained below:

Society Club of the 30’s. It was a black club founded around 1928 – 1929 mainly by young people, since the “Gloria a Maceo” society had already disintegrated. Among its organizers were Aurelio Carballo, Rafael Suárez, Lorenzo Llera (Public Attorney), Ismael Recio (Orchestra Director), Julio Chávez, Baldomero Companionis (Apothecary), Sandalio Reynoso, Juan Bello, Epifanio Herrera and others. It had a board of directors whose president was Sandalio Reynoso and vice president Agustín Agramante. Dances were held there where young people from Sancti Spíritus , Jatibonico , Ciego de Ávila and other places attended and their passage was paid, demonstrating a high level of brotherhood.

Latin Union Society. In the 30s the consequences of the capitalist economic crisis that occurred worldwide were still manifesting in struggle. In Majagua there was a wide trade, several of them closed down and due to the prevailing situation the two societies, Union Club and Colonia Española held a general meeting at the Masonic Logic “Fidelity” (Institution that was inaugurated on October 24 , 1921 ) in which the agreement was adopted to merge both societies into one, calling itself Latin Union, based in the premises of Union Club (Today Cabaret Guajaca) and the assembly was presided over by Emilio García, the first venerable master of the lodge “Fidelity”.

The society was made up of founders, protectors and honorary members. Its first board of directors was composed of:

• President: Manuel Garcia Leyva.
• Vice President: Jesus Fernandez Alvarez.

The society was attended by members, friends and guests, but never by blacks. There, one could play dominoes, listen to the radio, watch television, drink coffee, etc.

Every year, renowned dances were held with dancers from different towns, which were enlivened by important orchestras and singers such as Barbarito Diez, the Antonio María Romeo orchestra, the women’s orchestra and others.

Among these dances the following became traditional:

• Dance of the Flowers (May)
• Grape Dance (December 31)
• Cotton Festival (October: everyone wore cotton clothes)
• Guajiro dances (First week of April)
• On December 31st, at the Grape Dance, there was joy everywhere and it was a way to forget the difficult situation and the problems of the town. Those who did not attend the dance sat in the doorways and there they received visits from a doll representing the old year, which went through the streets saying goodbye and at 12:00 m it was burned in the park. Each of these parties had the launching of rockets, giving a touch of joy to the town, except for the Guajiro dance, which because it was Guajiro and it was understood that they did not know it, rockets were not thrown as the comparsa passed by.

It is significant that the black race was discriminated against, since in the bands they only expressed their liking for the preferred color but black people did not dance.

According to research, there is a consensus that it was Pedro García, who lived in Majagua and came from Sancti Spíritus, who organized and taught the dances in both dances. His children, Irene and Alejandro, he divided them (his own children) into both sides and that in addition to being a party-goer and a great dancer, his father played the accordion and the lute and sang tenths without being a poet.

The bands were organized and participated in the first guajiro dance in the Unión Latina society (1932-1933). From then on, it was customary for each band to bring a married couple or a man and a woman to represent them. In the first year that the bands were represented, Pedro García and Encarnita Martínez were on the red side and Pablo Sarmiento on the blue side, although the woman who accompanied him is not mentioned.

In those years there was little rehearsal and each group did it in private houses, since the comparsas were made up of 30 couples. The comparsas went in carts and danced within the society; they surrounded half a block and outside the premises they placed the rooster hut, the hut, the cow, etc. Pablo La Cruz and Catalina Alfonso, dancers of that time, said: “the society was decorated with palm leaves, banana and yucca plants, huts were placed…, at 10 PM. the groups had already performed. The shops decorated their windows with allegorical motifs of the festivities.

The jury was usually made up of some members of the orchestra, who would meet and the director would quickly announce the winning side, starting the music and with it the party.

In the blue group, the fundamental figure was and continues to be Don Pepe and the comparseros sing when dancing: “Go on, Pepe, get on the back, the mare is leaving you.” On the other hand, the red group has Doña Joaquina as its main figure and the comparseros sing: “Doña Joaquina, keep watch, the mare is leaving you.”

Since the bands emerged, at the front of each comparsa there is a peasant trailer pulled by oxen, decorated with guano, carried by a beautiful girl dressed in the colors of the flag of the solitary star and a Phrygian cap representing Cuba and the young man who accompanies her is of small stature, representing Liborio as a symbol of the peasantry; both upon arriving at the place of performance, listen to the National Anthem and recite its verses, then the evolution of the comparsa begins.

Health

Health situation in the Majagua Municipality from 1912 to the present.

In 1912 the first doctors and nurses were established in the municipality of Majagua.

his private offices, among them was Dr. Ramón Aruz, located at the end of Paseo Martí where the Sergio Pérez Castillo school stands today on the land donated by Aruz’s widow for the construction of the school, Dr. Nodal, Justis Madraso and Aurelio Jorge.

One of the first pharmacies in the town was built in 1915-1920, located on Adelfa Street, today Orlando González, owned by Pedro Torres Hernández.

In the period from 1925 to 1940 , the health sector was poorly attended to in the municipality. Mortality rates were very high due to the poor medical care received by the population, there were only private consultations in Majagua and Guayacanes, in the Algodones sugar mill the doctor only attended to the workers there, with the neighbors (relatives of the workers) complaining, proof of which is the news that appeared in the newspaper El Pueblo de Ciego de Ávila that literally said:

“Yesterday, a father from Batey del Central Algodones visited us and told us that there were five cases of typhus in that place, some of them quite serious,” the informant added. The situation is difficult for those who have these patients, since the current crisis made it impossible to pay for a doctor from Majagua to travel to that place on a daily basis. Therefore, those affected by this disease are abandoned and can spread.”

Another fact that shows to what extent the administration of the mill acted against the workers is the fact that five workers were dismissed from the mill for the sole reason of protesting against the conduct of the doctor, Dr. Jorge, who repeatedly abandoned his patients to the point that a child died of tetanus due to lack of adequate care. These dismissals caused great indignation among the workers.

At that time there were two pharmacies but the town did not have a hospital or first aid station.

Stage 1940 – 1959

From 1940 to 1959 , the health situation remained the same as in the rest of the country. Residents who could afford to pay for private consultations went to doctors and pharmacies according to their means, otherwise they resorted to home remedies. There was no hospital or first aid center in the town.