Por Ernesto Arturo Santana García del Busto 
The deep waters of the Bay of Matanzas hosted, in the year 1628, the capture of the La Plata Fleet, an operation led by Admiral Piet Hein. The monetary gains brought to the Netherlands promoted the West India Company, and the event led to the independence of the Netherlands from the Spanish Empire.
Almost 400 years later, Dutch documentary makers cross the bay of Matanzas, accompanied by the city’s historian, Ercilio Vento Canosa. Europeans seek the legacy of the National Hero of the Netherlands, who for years guarded the calm waters of Yumurina.
“This was a religious, disciplined man, an excellent sailor, who brought 4,000 men and 620 cannons with the purpose of capturing the Spanish fleet. When General Juan de Benavides y Bazán realizes the enemy maritime maneuver, he can no longer return to Havana and his pilots tell him to arrive in Matanzas Bay. In such a way, on the night of September 8, 1628, Piet Hein put his feet on top of the flagship, which is empty and full of treasures”, highlights the historian.
Vento defends that after the capture of the Silver Fleet, Spain lost control of the Caribbean forever; Holland became an independent country and for the first time the Spanish king took into account the need to build a city in Matanzas.
Documentary about Peat Hein
Filmographers Tim Van Den Hoff and Ruben Hamelink weave together the story of the documentary with two other sculptures by Hein, erected in the city of Rotterdam. Tim, the director of the audiovisual project, finds in the figure of Hein an architect of the flowering of the Dutch Empire.
“The film we are making is about the journey of Admiral Piet Hein, who in the 17th century captured Spain’s La Plata Fleet, full of silver, gold and other valuables, so that the Dutch could gain independence from Spain. The fact made the Spanish Empire lose its power, and it happened right here, in the bay of Matanzas, a place where there was a statue,» said the film’s director, Tim Den Hoff.
The Dutch creator added that the documentary is an independent production, initiated with a commission from the Rotterdam Department of the Arts, where the other two Piet Hein statues are being restored. In addition, different institutions have joined the realization, such as a television channel in Rotterdam.
“We will also work in Cuba with local Spanish organizations and public television stations in Spain by 2024.”
As a result of the importance of the fact for the Netherlands, Dutch streets bear the name of the city of Yumurina. In the schools, the children sing to the bay, and the name of Matanzas appears in the history books of the Netherlands as the place where, thanks to the intelligence and skill of Admiral Hein, the new course of the European nation was ruled. (ALH)
Translated by Casterman Medina de Leon