Los amargos beneficios del dulce. Azúcar, Cuba y deuda ecológica

Abstract

This article is placed within the paradigm of environmental history. From a focus that is both macrohistorical and inductive, it offers a reflection upon the link between the deforestation registered in Cuba as a result of the expansion of sugar cane cultivation, and the transfer of part of the gains produced by sugar towards economies in other latitudes, particularly towards Catalonia. The study analyzes first of all the establishment of sugar cane “haciendas” in the old Cuban province of Las Villas during the second third of the 19th century. It then inquires into the life trajectory of several “hacienda” owners of the region, who in the last period of their lives settled down in Catalonia, where they transferred a large part of the capital they had accumulated on the island. Finally, the essay points at evidence that suggests that the proposed analysis may be applied to other regions in Cuba as well as to Puerto Rico.