History
Diego Velazquez founded the capital of Oriente province in 1514 and named it Santiago de Cuba. The province comprises 22 municipalities and is Cuba's largest province containing about one third of the country's population. Oriente Province is in the most eastern region of Cuba with a population of 1,797,606. It stretches across and consists of various mountain ranges with the Sierra Maestra region having Cuba's highest mountain peak and elevation in Pico Turquino. Oriente Province is the cradle of much of Cuba's history being the place of Fidel and Raul Castro's birth. José Martí was killed in battle in Dos Ríos and many guerrilla wars have also taken place in Oriente. Cuba's first guerilla-style war was in 1523. against the advancing Spaniards in the Sierra Maestra Mountains. Some of Cuba's oldest cities are in Oriente Province (such as Baracoa) and carry a rich history of Cuba's struggle for independence and racial equality. Throughout the 1800s a significant number of enslaved African people were brought to Cuba to work at the sugar mills, although some were brought from Haiti and other neighboring islands because they were also cheap and efficient labor. Open warfare broke out after an independence movement and lasted from 1867 to 1878. Slavery was finally abolished in 1886, but life for many Afro-Cubans remains a struggle, especially in Oriente Province. After the occupation of the Spanish ended in 1899, Oriente Province became a refuge for Afro-Cubans. Oriente had the highest number of individual land owners and renters with 96% of the population being native-born. Afro-Cubans constituted as many as 26% of the land workers. Of the total land owned by Afro-Cubans, 75% were in Oriente Province. Even though Afro-Cubans fared better in Oriente, poverty was still rampant in the province and they remained oppressed by wealthy Cubans and foreign land owners. Sugar and coffee were the main agricultural products produced. And at the highest there were forty-one sugar mills spread throughout the region. Foreign investors saw opportunity within the province and began to buy as much land as possible to increase sugar production. As investors bought land, local farmers were pushed out and frustration increased. Poverty grew and by May 1912 Cubans in Oriente Province had reached a boiling point. Massive demonstrations erupted and Afro-Cubans began to loot and burn businesses and property owned by foreign investors. In response, the Cuban government sent in the army to burn the property of the Afro-Cubans and slaughtered many. Within two years, half of the sugar mills in Oriente were owned by U.S. investors. For Cubans working within the province, life had become near unbearable. The presence ofList of governors
1500–1799
* 1511 Diego Velázquez de Cuéllar * 1528 Pedro de Barba * 1532 Gonzalo Ñuño de Guzmán * 1538 Juan de Rojas;1800–1902
* 1800 Pedro Alcántara de Urbina * 1814 Pedro Celestino Duharte; Antonio Mozo de la Torre * 1816 Eusebio Escudero * 1821 Marqués de San Felipe y Santiago * 1822 Juan de Moya; Gabriel de Torres y Velasco * 1824 Juan de Moya * 1825 Francisco de Yllas * 1826 Juan de Moya; Isidro Barradas; Francisco de Yllas * 1828 Juan de Moya * 1830 Francisco de Yllas * 1831 Juan de Moya * 1834 José Santos de la Hera; Fernando Cacho * 1835 Manuel Lorenzo * 1837 Santiago Fortuns; Juan de Moya; Tomás Yarto * 1839 Joaquín Escario; Pedro Becerra * 1840 Juan Tello * 1843 Cayetano Urbina * 1846 Gregorio Piquero * 1847 José Mac-Crohón * 1851 Joaquín del Manzano * 1852 Joaquín Martínez de Medinilla * 1854 Marqués de España * 1855 Carlos de Vargas Machuca * 1859 Primo de Rivera * 1860 Antonio López de Letona * 1862 José Colubrí Massort * 1863 José Ramón de la Gándara * 1864 Casimiro de la Muela; Blas Villate de la Hera, Conde de Valmaseda * 1865 Marqués de la Concordia; Juan de Ojeda; José del Villar y Flores * 1866 Juan de Ojeda; José del Villar * 1867 Juan de Ojeda; Ramón Vivanco y León; Joaquín Ravenet y Morantes * 1868 Juan de Ojeda; Fructuoso García Muñoz * 1869 Simón de la Torre y Orsuaza; Juan de Ojeda; Félix Ferrer y Mora; Blas Villate, Conde de Valmaseda * 1870 Juan de Ojeda; Conde de Valmaseda; José Melero y Calvo; Zacarías González Goyeneche * 1871 Carlos Palanca y Gutiérrez * 1872 Arsenio Martínez de Campo; Luis Riquelme; Adolfo Morales de los Ríos * 1873 Juan García Navarro; Sabas Marín; Adolfo Morales de los Ríos; Juan Nepomuceno Burriel * 1874 Juan Nepomuceno Burriel * 1875 Sabas Marín * 1876 Ramón Menduiña * 1877 José Sáenz de Tejada; Enrique Bargés y Pombo; Luis Prendergast y Gordón; Camilo Polavieja; Andrés González Muñoz * 1878 Luis Daban y Ramírez de Arellano * 1880 Luis M de Pando; Camilo Polavieja; Emilio March y García * 1881 Camilo Polavieja; Emilio March y García * 1885 Luis M de Pando; Antonio Molto y Díaz-Bario; Francisco Acosta Alvear * 1887 Santos Pérez y Ruiz; Alvaro Suárez Valdés * 1889 Luis Izquierdo Roldán; Andrés González Muñoz; Ramón Barrio y Ruiz Vidal * 1890 Francisco Javier Obregón * 1891 Andrés González Muñoz; Leopoldo Barrios Carrión * 1892 Andrés González Muñoz; Francisco Rodríguez del Rey; José Blanco y González Calderón; Rafael Suero Marcoleta; Antonio Gálvez y González * 1893 Rafael Suero Marcoleta; Agustín Bravo y Jóven; Enrique Capriles y Osuna * 1895 Sebastián Kindelán y Griñau; Jorge Garrich y Allo; José Giménez y Moreno * 1897 Carlos Denis y Trueba; Juan A Vinent y Kindelán; Federico Ordax y Avecilla; Enrique Capriles * 1898 Francisco Oliveiros y Jiménez; Enrique Capriles; Leonardo Ros y Rodríguez; Leonardo Wood * 1902 Samuel WhitesideMunicipalities
Present day
See also
*References
Bibliography
* * (3 volumes) * * (fulltext)External links