By: César Hidalgo Torres. / Traslated by Isabel Domínguez Pifferrer
                      (Based on one of Antonio López ‘s work, historian of Birán).

                       Saint Peter of Láncara, or just like this: Láncara, is a municipality belonging to the province of Lugo, located to the  South of Galicia Central Plateau.

                      Coming from the distant Láncara, a man arrived to Holguín. (Someone that could never be considered one more Gallician). His name was Angel
                      María  Bautista  Castro Argis and he came to live in Birán, a place near Alto Cedro, Marcané, Cueto and Mayarí. All of them part of this province
                      and famous thanks to the Chan Chán, the well- known song by Compay Segundo.

                      Angel María  Bautista was the second son of  Castro Argis’ family,very poor day laborers that could never make to get out from the profound crisis
                      that was always a part of them.

                      It was theirs a little stone house where the Spanish  farmer’s costumes were strictly put into practice, such as to feed the cattle inside the kitchen.

                      The Castro Argis’s house had only a room without compartments and the parents and six children lived in it. People say Angel had an amazing
                      memory and he learned how to read just by looking how others did. In that same way he was gifted to organize the labor force and he was hard
                      working, calculator, very opportunist and he knew how to prevent the difficulties, face them and solve them practicing the discipline strictly.

                      They, equally, say that as any other Galician  he was grumbling, generous, giving and humanitarian. From the book  “ Fidel and Religion” by Frey
                      Betto: In 1895, when the  last War of Independence was taking place in Cuba, my father was sent to fight  as a Spanish soldier. My father was very
                      young and he was recruited by the Spanish Army as one of its soldiers. At the end of the XIX century, Galicia was one of the poorest and
                      underdeveloped  regions of the Spanish Crown. To recruit young men for the army was not a difficult task and even less when it was promised  to pay
                      them only a few coins. (They would become into the “ fifths” that would travel to the colonies to defend the king’s properties)

                      “After the was my father was taken back to Spain. It seems that he liked Cuba and, once among so many immigrants, he headed for Cuba in the first
                      years of this century, and without a cent  he started to work.” (Fidel in an interview with Frey Betto).

                      The United States intervened in  the Cuban-Spanish  War that had lasted thirty years. After Paris Treaty, Cuba became into a North American
                      neo-colony . The Spanish Army withdrew from the archipelago.

                      Angel Castro was thirty years when he returned to Láncara, his homeland. With the islands of Cuba and Puerto Rico, Spain had lost all his
                      possessions in America and blood in the Colonial Wars.

                      Those youngsters that would fight in combat for miserable coins, in their way back found a troublesome situation, which paved the way for the big
                      peninsular emigrations, mainly to the Antilles. They were willing to make fortune through the hard work and abandoned Spain forever.

                      In 1906, Angel Castro Argis, as many Galicians, arrived to Cuba together with his brother Gonzalo Pedro. (This one finally settled in Argentina).
                      According to family testimonies he got to the island through the Port of Havana; Later he went to the central part of the country because he had
                      references  that he had relatives in that area.

                      It seemed that he couldn’t find them or they didn’t want to help him. By that time the economic penetration of the United States to Cuba was already
                      a fact. (Mainly to exploit its lands where the sugar cane grew wonderfully).

                      North American companies like United Fruit Co settled in the CubanWest Region, as well as West Indian that owned the central province from North
                      to South.

                      From the area, Angel Castro moved into Santiago de Cuba where then was a strong Spanish settlement dedicated to Agriculture, Commerce, Mines
                      and Railways. (This was the time  in which the National railway was built).

                      When Angel got to Santiago, the Sugar mill  Preston was under construction by the United Fruit in Nipe. To work in there he settled in Guaro, a near
                      town. He met his great benefactor Fidel Pino, warehouse owner of a yankee company.

                      Helped by this man, Angel opened a cheap restaurant with the name: “The Progress” . Finally the business did not succeed and he closed it.

                      In 1910 Angel explored the mines and he got to be the co-owner of the mine “The Desire”. In 1911 he married María Argota Reyes, known as
                      “María the wealthy” because she used to wear gold jewelry and fancy cloths .

                      His most desired dreams were to live in Santiago de Cuba City, but her husband had other plans: to go deep into the forest, heading for the mountains
                      with the objective to dedicate to work the land.

                      The marriage ended up but with two children, Pedro Emilio and Lidia (both deceased).

                      In 1914, Angel owned a little woodcutter company composed by immigrants from Spain, Jamaica, Haiti and other Caribbean countries introduced in
                     Cuba by the United Fruit Company.

                      With his woodcutters he made contacts with the North Americans to grow the sugarcane fields in their mills. And he ended buying what it would be
                      his property: 200 mounts of land in Birán.

                      In 1917 the Ruz González family arrived to the place coming from Pinar del Río in the other extreme of the island. Perfecto Ruz Vázquez met Angel
                      Castro and between them a sincere friendship grew. A few time later Angel started a relationship with one of his friend’s nieces.

                      The girl’s name was Lina Ruz and she was the third of a large family.

                      There was a big difference of age between them, but she was a typical Cuban farmer and had inherited the bravery and spontaneity  from her family.

                      Lina was hard working, strong, with profound human feelings and a never ending love for her parents. She liked to ride a horse and enjoy nature. In
                      Birán were born the seven children that she gave birth to Angel, first Angela, then Ramón, later Fidel, Raúl, Juana, Emma and Agustina.

                      Birán: Located in the North center of the old West province, 42 kilometers away from Santiago de Cuba . There is huge flatland of 984,18 mounts of
                      fertile lands that go from North to South.

                      To the east and unbreakable mountain barrier is raised (Nipe Mountain Range), being the highest elevation with 900 meters above the sea level. In the
                      mountains there is a big number of rivers, being the Nipe River the most important as well as its flowing such as: Sojo, Bitirí, Colorado, Birán and
                      Manaca Stream.

                      By that time the main access to the place was The Royal Road of Cuba, founded by the town council of Santiago de Cuba in 1862. The Castro Ruz’
                      Villa in Birán was uncommon for the epoch : 27 buildings were part of it, among them there were: the school, the teacher’s house, cockpit , movie,
                      store, bar, billiard, telegraph post office, workshop, Haitians’ house, drugstore among other things.

                      And like he did before, he chose his own workers among the poor immigrants that, like him, had come to Cuba looking for newhorizons. In his Villa
                      everybody had the same opportunities; in the school the owners’ kids studied together with the workers’ children  without any distinction (social,
                      racial, or sex). It is real that some were barefoot and others had shoes, but they all were treated as friends if not brothers and sisters.

                      All children would swim in the river together and explore the nearby mountains hunting wild birds. They used  to have dinner as a big family for New
                      Year’s Eve and listen to the elders’ stories about the Independence War.

                      The neighbors would cancel their debts and start the new year in the cockpit, place that was often used for boxing practice.

                      In the workshop one of his sons became into a very capable mechanic (innovator). And the night parties in the Villa influenced on his oldest daughter
                      to learn how to play the guitar and the fourth son was interested on the economic problems.

                      What follows is a transcription of a letter fragment sent by Angel to his brother Gonzalo Pedro who had settled in Argentina:

                      “Birán, December 5th, 1939. My dear brother (…) I have turned into 64 years. May God allow me a few more to raise my kids, I have 9 (four boys
                      and five girls)”.

                      Don Angel Castro Argis died on October 21st  (by then his sons Fidel and Raúl were in Mexico getting ready to come to Cuba to fight against the
                      Cuban president Fulgencio Batista).

                      His last wish was to be buried in Birán, place that he considered his second homeland. When some years later Lina died, she went to rest next to the
                      grave of her husband.