GerardoChávezGarcía.com

El autor, Gerardo Chávez García, nació en San Antonio de los Baños y allí permaneció durante los primeros 20 años de su vida. En 1961 salió de San Antonio, pero San Antonio nunca ha salido de él.

Durante su largo exilio en Miami, más de 60 años de ausencia, sus recuerdos se hacían más fuertes, era San Antonio siempre un tema de conversación con familiares, amigos y coterráneos en cualquier reunión, lo mismo de festejos que de condolencias. Siempre su tema favorito era y sigue siendo San Antonio de los Baños.

Desde que salió de Cuba buscó y persiguió cuanta publicación o libro mencionara a San Antonio. Con el paso del tiempo se fue dando cuenta que, a pesar de su amplia colección de libros y folletos, no existía un libro que cubriera la historia de San Antonio desde la Colonia hasta 1958. Todo lo que hay escrito hasta nuestros días es, mayormente, sobre la época colonial. La obra más completa solo incluye hasta 1929.

Los dos intentos de escribir una historia del pueblo fueron después de 1959, por autores

English translation (this book is currently NOT available in English)
The author, Gerardo Chávez García, was born in San Antonio de los Baños and remained there for the first 20 years of his life. In 1961 he left San Antonio, but San Antonio has never left him.

During his more than 60 years of exile in Miami, Florida, his memories have only served to strengthen his love for his hometown. San Antonio has continued to be a primary topic of conversation amongst his family, friends, and countrymen at any gathering, be it due to celebrations or condolences. His favorite theme was and still is San Antonio de los Baños.

Since leaving Cuba, he searched and pursued every publication or book that mentioned San Antonio. As time went by, he realized that, despite his extensive collection of books and miscellaneous literature on Cuba, there were no books that specifically covered the history of San Antonio from its early days when Cuba was a Spanish colony until 1958. Everything that has been written so far is mainly, about the colonial era. The most complete work only included up to 1929.

Post 1959, two books were written by revolutionary authors focusing on the history of the town but they too only focus on the colonial era. They purposely ignored the history of San Antonio during the Republic to avoid recognizing the significant degree of progress and success of the town in a period when Cuba was economically stable. Additionally, they also ignored the post-Republic period of San Antonio under the communist revolution where the once thriving town was now comparatively in a continuous state of decline like the rest of the island. San Antonio, as well as all the other towns, were now marked by typical communist oppression where shootings, imprisonment, and hunger are now the norm. The pro-revolutionary authors felt the sharp contrast of San Antonio between the successful period as a Republic and the oppressive and destructive years of the communist revolution were best left unmentioned.  

The author never considered himself a historian, just a lover of the history of his town who decided that San Antonio was going to have its history book, even if it was at the cost of his personal sacrifice and dedication. It would be a complete story from the time of the Siboneyes, until the arrival of the long night in 1959.

This effort began about five years ago with searching for additional data in addition to the books he already had, writing down pieces of history that were then put in the best possible order. Of course, there were several periods of inactivity, until just over a year ago, in October 2021, his health warned him that he should hurry up, there was a danger that the story would be left unfinished. Fortunately, he was able to finish his work, and here he gives us the result of his labor.



Publication date 2022, 2024

Historia de San Antonio de los Baños,
La Habana, Cuba
La Laguna y su Rio Ariguanabo

REVISED EDITION COMING IN 2024 !!!

revolucionarios, y sólo tratan de la época colonial. No hablan de San Antonio durante la República porque tendrían que reconocer el progreso del pueblo en todos los sentidos. Y no mencionan los años posteriores a la revolución porque notendrían nada positivo que decir, sólo fusilamientos, prisión, hambre y opresión, sin ningún logro que mencionar.

El autor nunca se sintió un historiador, solo un amante de la historia de su pueblo que decidió que San Antonio iba a tener su libro de historia, aunque fuera a costa de su sacrificio personal y dedicación. Sería una historia completa desde la época de los Siboneyes, hasta que llegó la larga noche en 1959.

Este esfuerzo comenzó hace unos cinco años con la búsqueda de datos adicionales a los libros que ya el tenía, escribiendo pedazos de historia que luego fueron puestos en el mejor orden posible. Por supuesto que hubieron varios períodos de inactividad, hasta que hace poco más de un año, en octubre de 2021, su salud le avisó que debía de apresurarse, había el peligro de que se quedara la historia inconclusa. Afortunadamente pudo terminar su obra, y aquí nos entrega el resultado de su labor.


Fecha de publicación, 2022, 2024