Mayabeque, Cuba: The Valley of Peru, 60 years ago, was like a huge swamp and for that reason it was known as, "The swamps of Zenea." In 1966 Fidel first came to these places to explore its potential for the development of livestock.

It was difficult for him and his teammates to access this remote region. The swamps, the ravines and the absence of good roads and highways caused some setbacks to which he later referred: “We must say that several times we penetrated through the south but we could not reach there. We were coming in a jeep. It must be said that on one of the occasions we get stuck fourteen times, fourteen times! And it must be said that on one occasion we melted the jeep. ”

But they finally managed to examine the area and in doing so Fidel was moved. A road was the first of his promises fulfilled within a few months. Then it was the school, like a pearl, which since then adorns the Valley of Peru apart, silent and forgotten for so long.

Referring to the building of the school, Fidel said: “To make this school hundreds of workers worked hard. (...) They did it in record time. It must be said that they did it underwater. It must be said that the workers who worked in this school made a remarkable effort, the workers and technicians who designed and directed the construction of this school in a spring of plenty of water and in a rather difficult terrain. In spite of everything they have done this school that is wonderful. ”

And finally the day arrived to inaugurate the new seminternado of the Valley of Peru. It was on the sunset of November 15, 1968, Year of the Heroic Guerrilla. Hundreds of peasant families gathered in that place to meet Fidel and closely appreciate the wonder he had helped create.

Camilo Cienfuegos' parents made the moment more historic, who shared the joy of the people that left ignorance and sadness behind. As the sun went down behind the mountains, Fidel told the people like that.

“But it is so far the most perfect that can be conceived in primary school. Yes, it can be said without any exaggeration or anything. ”

And then came an unknown and unexpected brightness, which made the whole building of the new elementary school more visible. It was electricity, and then Fidel exclaimed: “I think it is a great historical event that here in this valley the electric lights have been turned on at this time; It is a historical event together with others. The road is, and the school is! ”

Certainly this school was wonderful: its spacious classrooms, the hallways as mirrors, the large square, the areas for sports where the Physical Education teachers were premiered, as part of the educational teaching programs. Beautiful walls bordering the gardens, the library crowded with books, the little park, the Marti, the flag.

On January 8, 1969, two months after the inauguration of this school, Fidel returned to fulfill another of his commitments to the people of the Valley of Peru, the foundation of a modern Polyclinic, today Mayabeque’s Psych pedagogical Center.

There were two friends from Germany, Eirk and Nadia, the parents of Tamara Bunke, the revolutionary who fell fighting in the Che Guerrilla in Bolivia in 1967. It was at those moments when he announced that the school would carry on, the name of Tamara Bunke

The road, the school and the polyclinic stood like flashes in a valley where thanks to Fidel the diseases were reduced, ignorance was expelled and the exploitation was over.

But another dream of his was founded in the middle of the picturesque place, a community of ten buildings and 256 apartments, in 1975. The new houses sheltered humble families of workers who started the modern machines recently released in dairy units and others to break the green fields under the sweat and passion of people inspired by an ideal and a name, Fidel!

Those who were in danger were also favored by the overflow of the Mampostón Dam that flooded kilometers in the rainy seasons, the peasants who sought and deserved more comfortable and safe houses.

When giving the key to the family, this was a great surprise, next to the four walls was enough to be happy: mattress beds, gas kitchen furniture and even a very large mirror that many, including my mother, preserve to this day.

The grocery, the beautiful park, the banks and the white sidewalks inviting to walk and feel, formed another great work that Fidel promoted in the Valley of Peru.

Time passed, and although the brightness was lost in the built due to the erosion of time and neglect, they remain intact, the tranquility and harmony of the first years, as unforgettable is the memory of Fidel and everything he conceived for the humble people, who inhabit these mogotes.

Compartir / Share