Viñas

We walk the line built by the Julian Zulueta in 1877 to carry his sugar from his mill, Zaza, in Placetas to the port of Caibarien. The slight downhill slope, uphill to us, allowed the train full of cane to make it to the coast, spending no fuel for energy. The engines only needed enough fuel to carry the empty train back up the hill to Placetas, some thirty-six kilometers from the port. Zulueta, a Spaniard internationally linked to London and New York via trade networks, was also tightly linked to the Spanish government (his uncle was president of the Cortes and representative for Cadiz). He was a notorious slaver, who mounted his own slaving expeditions to provide labor for his mills. He had his comeuppance during the War of Independence when the Mambí army led by Maximo Gomez burned his prize possession, the Zaza mill, and freed all his slaves.