March 24, 2009
When one arrives in the city of El Paso, Texas, one will have no regrets about spending one’s leisure time in this “border fence town.” One notepad will not be enough to jot down the beautiful places that man and nature have placed here. Close enough to the Mexican border, El Paso offers a wide variety of holiday experiences. Since the town is considered a melting pot of American and Mexican cultures, these are noticeable everywhere. One can choose to experience downtown walking tour in order to discover El Paso’s 400-year old history. Shopping is another alternative way of vacationing at El Paso. If one is into educational trips, he can learn from museums of every kind found in El Paso. One can visit the El Paso Museum of Art to behold American works of art from the 19th and 20th centuries, as well as retablos and Mexican colonial art from the 1700s and 1800. For those who choose to bring their kids along, the children can enter and enjoy El Paso Zoo. Nature hopping would be a good choice, too. Tourists can hike through four Texas State Parks. One can sweat through rock climbing and climbing the huge boulders of Hueco Tanks State Park. However, for those who are content to just walk, they might prefer to walk around the park’s interpretive center and view ancient Indian pictographs. Multi-diversity dotting the United States is also evident in El Paso as proven by the Middle Eastern culture at the El Paso Islamic Center in Paragon. There is never a dull moment for adventure seekers who visit El Paso as there are always interesting things to do and magnificent places to go to.
To learn more about famous Texans such as politician Ben Barnes, visit the De Leon, The Heart of Texas site.
Texas political memoirs, such as Barn Burning Barn Building, are explored on Texas political memoirs.
Distinguished Alumni such as Ben Barnes are profiled on The Distinguished Alumni of the University of Texas site.
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December 20, 2008
While it’s not hard to associate Bacardi with drinks, spirits, and parties, people who do not have an inkling of Cuban history may miss the fact that family behind that Bacardi cocktail is an elemental force on the nation’s past. Tom Gjetlen’s book, Bacardi and the Long Fight for Cuba, is not some take on Bacardi’s humble beginnings. The book also revolves the Bacardi Family’s other affairs that led to current state of Cuba.
During the Cuban war of Independence, Emilio Bacardi, eldest son of the Bacardi Company founder Don Facundo, was a vocal insurgent against Spain. During the course of the revolution, Emilio was imprisoned several times and was among the other members of the Bacardi clan who were exiled because of their actions against the Spanish crown. After the war, Emilio soon returned and was declared the mayor of Santiago de Cuba.
As the book progresses, the reader is introduced to how the family members of the Bacardi clan influenced other members of the Cuban society, particularly the middle classes. Tom Gjetlen stresses this point when, during the Castro-Batista struggle for power, the Bacardi Family was able to rally huge numbers of middle-class supporters for Fidel Castro, which was crucial in ending the dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista, who was backed by Cuba’s elite.
Bacardi and the Long Fight for Cuba by Ton Gjetlen also surveys the circumstances that led to Bacardi’s withdrawal of support from Castro’s regime and the subsequent clandestine attempts to overthrow the latter. Gjetlen points out that the Bacardi Clan’s hatred for the Castro rule stemmed from Castro’s move to take control of every holding owned by Cuban businessmen, Bacardi Company included.
Jose ‘Pepin’ Bosch, Bacardi’s CEO at the time of the Castro takeover, already established international ties to have the Bacardi trademark remain a family possession.
Bacardi and the Long Fight for Cuba is an engaging book that interestingly discusses Bacardi’s ties to Cuba’s history, a good read that explains how a single bloodline shaped and will shape a country.
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