Por Yaima García 
There are places where time seems not to have passed. Its places, its people, keep alive traditions that make them unique.
Thus, in the batey William Soler, a former San Ignacio sugar mill, history is breathed to the surface. It is located to the south of the town of Agramonte, to which it belonged since its foundation under the name of Cuevitas.
As in the all demolished places on the first years of the revolution, their population changed the working activities, in case of the crop of the citric and the farm although a significant number remained linked to sugarcane production and to the Santa Rita de Baró mill, to where their sugarcane was taken by the railway line.
The consultation of several documents, as well as the contact with the families and descendants of slaves allow today the approach to its history and validity.
When Lic. Humberto Rodríguez Hernández, historian of the City of Jagüey Grande, talks about San Ignacio, the emotion takes you back to those moments in 1810, when there were 600 mills in Cuba and most of them were in the west of the country. At that time, a differentiation in the economic development between the east and the west of Cuba began.
«The existing plantations on the island spread rapidly throughout the different regions of the country, in order to use the excellent existing land. In this way, the fertile extensions that would make the future province of Matanzas the sugar empire of Cuba would be integrated into economic zones of great importance,” the historian reports.
«Already in the period of 1840-1868, the Jurisdiction of Colón was part of the sugar empire of the province of Matanzas, contributing to the increase and export of Cuban sugar. In this historical moment, from 1845, the Santa Rita de Baró sugar mill, known today as René Fraga, was founded. Subsequently, others arose in the Cuevitas area, belonging to the Jíquimas party and through which the sugar development entered next to the Claudio area, then belonging to Macurijes.
In the year 1895 got started the construction of the domain by the Spanish Evaristo Masa, In 1870 Ignacio Urviztago dies and buys the factory Joaquín Polledo, a native of Asturias, an altruistic man who was in charge of building the barracks, the fort and the house, and came to issue his own, local currency, which for a part had the image of the Indian and on the other the Spanish flag and with the inscription P. Polledo. He also built what is known as the sugar mill house.
According to Rodríguez Hernández in his research San Ignacio, history and validity, in 1870 Ignacio Urviztago died and bought the factory Joaquín Polledo, a native of Asturias, an altruistic man who was in charge of the construction of the barracks, the fort and the house , and came to issue its own, local currency, which on one side had the image of the Indian and on the other the Spanish flag and with the inscription P. Polledo. He also built what is known as the sugar mill house.
Joaquín Polledo brought from Jamaica a Mascavaro, a steam engine, and with it he began to grind in 1878. In 1880 he introduced a Fulton tander with three mills to the industry, and increased the milling to 160 thousand arrobas of cane in 24 hours.
He also built 18 km of railways and six cane ferries, and planted three areas of the batey in the form of stars, one with carob trees, another with framboyanes and the last one with acarias. He also surrounded the entire park with pine trees, many of which still exist. It is precisely Joaquín Polledo who names the mill as San Ignacio and brings an image of Ignacio de Loyola to the residence.
In 1906 Joaquín Polledo died, and his son sold the mill to Don Aurelio Fernández de Castro, another Spaniard who also owned the El Carmen sugar mill, who rented it until 1928, the year in which Manuel García Herrera took over the industry. who became a senator of the pseudo-republic.
«In the first days of August 1960, the process of confiscation of the Agramonte power plants began, and the so-called Santa Rita de Baró and San Ignacio passed into the hands of the revolutionary power and were called from that moment on René Fraga and William Soler .
«Later, he ground two more harvests, that of 1961 and 1962, and by October of this year his machines stopped and the dismantling began. A long history was left behind, 104 harvests, and the formation of a sociocultural tradition that continues to this day”, highlights the historian from Jagüey.
Despite having been demolished the San Ignacio sugar mill since 1962, to this day it is admirable how its inhabitants have preserved their traditions and customs and protected their properties. «Here, unlike almost all of the sugar mill bateyes, the new neighborhood does not exist. There are very few houses that were built later”, clarifies the historian Humberto Rodríguez Hernández.
«Despite the years, the barracks with their entrance arches, one on both sides of the mill, remain in some state of conservation. Many are still the homes of numerous families, and various elements of colonial architecture stand out. In the same way, the fort rises majestically in good condition, as well as the house of the mayoral, the infirmary and the house of residence «
Time has not been able to transform religiousness in San Ignacio. There, in the William Soler, a Changó settlement founded in the 19th century by slaves is still fully active. Years ago they have retaken a space for the Catholic chapel and the old laboratory, since the building that had these functions was given to a family for housing. These elements of tangible heritage are accompanied by some old carob trees that remain standing, despite the inclement weather and the activity of men.
Community in transformation…
Batey William Soler, formerly San Ignacio, is today an inexhaustible source of history and traditions. If on the one hand it has contributed to the conservation of heritage, the failure to carry out construction works or other projects has placed the place as an area with social disadvantages.
That is why in recent weeks the work of the authorities of the Jagüeyense municipality, of organizations and institutions, have turned to the transformation of this site of undeniable historical value for the province.
«The Office of the Historian and the Enrique Rodríguez Loeches Municipal University Center, together with the factors and the delegate, carried out the diagnosis to determine the weaknesses, threats, strengths and opportunities there,» says Rodríguez Hernández.
Based on this study, a revival of the access roads to the batey and the restoration of the central park and the children’s playground, the social circle, the warehouse and other spaces are intended to provide a long-term solution to the housing problem and the claims of its residents. settlers.
“Old buildings have already been delivered to be used as housing. In the same way, a children’s home will be created to support working mothers and a classroom has already been opened for the continuity of studies, «adds the historian.
Other works with a social impact were planned in the batey in the medium and long terms, such as an organoponic and a small square. In addition, work is already being done on specialized care for vulnerable people who are unrelated to study and work.
Undoubtedly, the conservation of heritage, as well as significant elements of the spirituality of its inhabitants, make Batey William Soler, formerly San Ignacio, a place with the potential to be placed as a living testimony of The Slave Route. (ALH)
Translated by Casterman Medina de Leon