Sanchez Ramirez Province

Sánchez Ramírez is one of the 32 provinces of the Dominican Republic and is located in the center of the country, in the Cibao subregion known as Cibao Central or meridional, in the Yuna Valley. Its capital is the municipality of Cotuí.

The province was created in 1952. Before its creation, it was a municipality of the Duarte province since June 18, 1945; it had been a municipality in the province of La Vega since the founding of the Republic.

Limits

This province borders Duarte province to the north, Monte Plata province to the east and south, and Monseñor Nouel and La Vega provinces to the west.

Toponymy

The province was named after Brigadier Juan Sánchez Ramírez (native of Cotuí), hero of the battle of Palo Hincado (1808) and governor of the colony since he was legally elected by the representatives of the town in the assembly de Bondillo on December 12, 1808, until his death on February 11, 1811.

History

What is today the Sánchez Ramírez province began with the founding of Cotuí, its main municipality, according to the work "La Mejorada Villa del Cotuy" whose author is Francisco A. Rincón, this population was the tenth of 17 villas that the Commander of Lares Frey Nicolás de Ovando ordered to populate while he was governor of the colony between 1502 and 1509. Ovando ordered his Lieutenant Rodrigo Trillo de Mexía, to to found a town or settlement around the gold mine and where the Nitaíno Cotoi used to be located. After its foundation, Villeta del Cotuy belonged to the Villa de Buenaventura, which is why Cotoy was not favored with the coat of arms granted by the crown and arrived on the island in 1508. (Royal Decree to Lic. Figueroa, Judge of Home).

He also says in his book that the founding of Cotuí was due to the abundant amount of gold found in the mines located exactly in the place where an indigenous community called Cotoi existed, which was at the same time a Nitaíno from the Chiefdom of Maguá. The conquistadors destroyed the Nitaíno and founded a Spanish community on its ruins in 1505, baptizing it with the same name as Cotuí, turning the Indians into slaves in order to use their labor to exploit the precious metal. Both Las Casas and Oviedo agree in their respective work on Las Indias, that twelve leagues from the city of La Concepción, where the Indians call Cibao, was the only gold mine in that region and that it was rich and abundant, which from which it can be deduced that they were referring to the Cotuí. A text of the unpublished documents of the archive of the Indies, states Emilio Tejera in his work Indigenismo published in 1977, that in Cotuí was the place where the first coin foundry of the Indies was established, it was founded according to said text in 1530.

A few years after its founding, Cotuí exhibited characteristic of the city, Álvaro de Castro, a character, by the way very controversial, according to Mario Concepción in his work: "La Concepción de La Vega", was attributed the construction of the first church in Cotuí, he also said that he was the first to put the Blessed Sacrament in the small town's church, celebrated the first mass and built the first royal road.

It seems, according to what was exposed by the Dominican historian Leónidas García Lluberes on page 43 of his work: "Crítica Histórica", that in 1514 or 1515, Cotuí suffered a decline, which is He attributes it to the premature extinction of the Indians in the work of the mines, but due to the great work of the African slaves, by 1519 Cotuí had already resurrected Mejorada, being renamed La Mejorada. For the reason already mentioned and because it was Father Jerónimo Fray Luis de Figueroa who named it that way because it was the name of a monastery in Spain of which he (Figueroa) was the Prior.

In 1533 Cotuí acquired the category of town, then it began to be known as La Villa Mejorada del Cotuí. In the middle of the 16th century, La Mejorada del Cotuí was struck by a plague of ants, which had already killed some newborn children, Carlos Nouel, in his "Ecclesiastical History of Santo Domingo" refers to this aspect. These calamities were accompanied by the urgent need of the cotuisanos to feed themselves, so they searched for a new means of production on the land, and since the mining land was not suitable for agriculture, they had no other alternative than to leave the place, making a definitive settlement in a savannah approximately two miles from the Yuna River, exactly where it is located today.

In the 17th century, the historian Nieto Valcácer carried out a meticulous investigation in this place by order of the Spanish monarchy, according to Rincón comments in his work Página 29, he gave the report that he found the ruins of a Spanish city that gave unequivocal signs that a devastating telluric phenomenon had originated there, therefore the hypothesis cannot be ruled out, continues Rincón, that the earthquake that destroyed the city of La Concepción de La Vega in 1562, was the same one that finished destroying La Villa del Cotuí and cause the collapse of its mines.

In the middle of the indicated century Cotuí had become one of the main cities in the northern part of the Island of Santo Domingo, its inhabitants, realizing that they had much in common with the other towns of the island territory, went from the first to rise up in defense of nationality. In May 1655, Santo Domingo was invaded by more than ten thousand Englishmen, with the aim of storming the capital and then seizing the entire island. Thirty-seven specialized Cotuisan lancers moved to Santo Domingo to defend the city, they were: Ensign Don Álvaro Otáñez, Blas Pérez, Francisco Matheo, Antonio Suárez Otáñez, Don Alonso de Joan de León, Andrés Hernández, Diego Monegro, Joseph Reinoso, Cristóbal Reinoso, Asencio Méndez, Julio Martín Benito, Julio Díaz Pizaña, Luis Daza, Diego Rodríguez, Hernando Gallego, Gaspar de Peralta, Luis Germán Francisco Pérez, Andrés de Rivera, Cristóbal Louis, Jerónimo Hernández Gallego, Andrés Hernández, Juan de la Torre, Francisco Ruiz, Diego Pimentel, Don Julio Gallegos, Pedro Sánchez Raya, Antonio de Mendoza and Luis García.

The audacity and courage of determined men once again manifested itself in the Cotuisanos, 18 years after the fury of their swords wreaked havoc on the invading properties to prevent the city of Santo Domingo from being taken by assault. By the year 1673 the main cities of the region: Santiago, La Vega and El Cotuí had been subjected to constant attacks by filibusters, who set up their base on Isla de la Tortuga and managed to seize Samaná, where they could carry out their vandal activities against these three Cibao cities. Tired of the frequent incursions of these intruders, the Cotuisans decided to expel them by blood and fire from Samaná, since the invaders had established a kind of colony in this place led by their commander Beltrán Ogeron, who had no choice but to abandon the coveted territory..

Another great feat of the Cotuisanos was their massive and determined participation in the glorious battle of Palo Hincado on November 7, 1808. The native brigadier from Cotuí went to fight accompanied by more than a hundred Cotuisanos at the head of which included his brother Remigio Sánchez Ramírez and Bernardino Suárez. Juan Sánchez Ramírez positioned himself as the leader of the Dominicans to defeat the French in the memorable battle, then under his leadership the Dominicans expelled the foreigners from this territory through the historic fight called La Reconquista, because the Dominicans in this process reconquered their nationality and preserved their identity.

Juan Sánchez Ramírez was born in 1762 in his parents' house in front of the Plaza de Arma in the center of the city of Cotuí. His father was Miguel Sánchez, a wealthy landowner of the time and a prominent militia officer, he held the Arms Command of Cotuí for several years and Francisca Ramírez his mother, also another brother of Juan Sánchez Ramírez was Rafael Sánchez Ramírez, Justice of the Peace in Cotuí the year 1825, (data located in the file of the Palace of Justice of Cotuí).

The brigadier married Josefa Pichardo y Delmonte in the Inmaculada Concepción parish in Cotuí. Two children were born from the marriage, Juana and later José, both baptized in the indicated parish.

In the struggle for Independence and then for the Restoration of the Republic, countless cotuisanos also stood out, the most notable were: Presbyter Juan Puigvert, Colonel José Valverde, Basilio Gavilán, Esteban Adames, Francisco Suriel, José Epifanio Márquez and Tomás Castillo. On June 24, 1844, Cotuí received the honorable visit of the Father of the Nation Juan Pablo Duarte y Diez.

Administrative division

The province is divided into four municipalities and nine municipal districts.

Municipalities

• Cotuí, municipality
• Cevicos
• Fantino
• It kills

Municipal Districts

• Cotuí
  • Silver
  • Quita Dream:
  • Knight
  • Upstairs
  • Zambrana

• It kills
  • The Bija
  • Angelina
  • Hernando Alonzo

• Cevicos
  • The Cave

• Fantino

Culture

Public school education, as confirmed by Rincón in his aforementioned work, began in Cotuí on September 10, 1846, when the country's primary schools were created by resolution. That same year, the American Nixon Porte visited Cotuí and mentioned a school in this community. Other of the oldest schools dates back to 1880, it was located in front of the Plaza de Armas (today Parque Duarte) currently there is the Banco de Reservas, one of the first teachers was Don Eliseo de Peña, later he worked in that same school as director Don Carlos Jiménez, his sister Elena Jiménez had a school for women on Sánchez street.

In the forties (1940) Ramón Oviedo Adames together with Francisco Núñez Jerez founded the first Secondary School, but nocturnal, on the street 27 de febrero at the corner of Luis Manuel Sánchez. The first students of this school were the young Antonio de Js. Casso, Benavide de Js. Nicasio, Jacobo Sánchez José, Idalina de la Cruz Joaquín, Milvio Núñez Cortorreal, Héctor Rafael Soto, Elsa Deprat Velázquez and Andrés Méndez Acosta. In 1957, the Cotuí High School was made official to teach Daytime, its first director was Dr. Miguel Ángel García, Ana Antonia Manzueta, Francisco Reyes Rincón among others worked as teachers.

La Mejorada Villa del Cotuí by Francisco Rincón on pages 146 and 147, reveals that in 1982 the first Higher University Center was born in the province of Sánchez Ramírez, its name: Instituto Tecnológico del Cibao Oriental, ITECO, its founding father was the Pro-Development Board of the Sánchez Ramírez Province, an entity that administered and invested the funds from the five percent that corresponded to the province for the exploitation of gold carried out in the provincial territory by the semi-state company Rosario Dominicana. The most outstanding members of the Board of Trustees who made what UTECO University is today possible were: Dr. Francisco I. José García, the merchant Héctor Rafael Soto, Cutie, the Deputy Octavio Rodríguez and the adviser Ing. Ramón Alburqueque who were in charge of to talk with Ing. Ramón Flores, who was the founder of INTEC in Santo Domingo, who can be considered as the academic founder of the UTECO University.

In another administration of the Board of Trustees, Dr. Antonio de Jesús Cassó paid special attention to this important university center that continues to carry out fruitful work in the region today. ITECO, today UTECO, obtains its legal status on February 25, 1983, through decree 820 of the executive branch, which authorizes the issuance of titles and degrees with the same force and validity as other higher institutions accredited for such purposes.

Carnival

The carnival of Cotuí is one of the oldest in the country, the diversity of its characters, its characteristics and other important elements, irrevocably link this festivity to the colonial era of which Cotuí cannot be oblivious, since this town just celebrated its fifth centenary. But it is fair to recognize that the carnival of Cotuí, although it descends from Spain like all Dominican carnival traditions, since Cotuí was a mining town since its foundation, the first African slaves arrived here, after the closure of the mines they formed part of the population center of La Mejorada Villa, embracing it with its cultural influence and impregnating the cotuisano carnival of Hispanic origin with the rich African custom.

The most important character of this carnival is Papelús because it constitutes its carnival identity, but there are also others no less important such as: El Platanús, El Murciélago, El Fundús, El Medio Día, La Culebra y los siete pecados, Satan and The Little Outside and the Big Covered. Likewise, characters have emerged in life such as Juampa, who dresses in different ways every year, as a pod man, the winged Papelús and others. Juampa with these characters, just like the Cotuí carnival, have won countless national and provincial awards such as the Felipe Abreu award, granted by the Ministry of Culture.

One of the most famous carnival-goers in Cotuí was known by the nickname of Patón or Pateca, a fine artisan of masks and costumes, he passed away a few years ago, when the carnival season was approaching, Patón was the first of the artisans from Cotuí who mounted his exhibition of lame devil masks with gold teeth: Pico de Cotorra, Creta de gallo and trompa de puerco. Patón also dressed up as a bat. Another prominent carnival fan and worthy representative of the Cotuisano carnival is Jesús María Estévez, an artisan of masks and costumes, with more than fifty years dedicated to these folkloric tasks. Currently he is dedicated to representing his group of platanuses, for his great cultural work the State Secretariat for Culture paid him a tribute and also awarded him the Felipe Abreu prize. Another carnival fan for many years and who is also an artisan is old Negrote.

Other culture

The festival of the Holy Spirit is celebrated between the months of May and June of each year in Cotuí, it is another of the deeply rooted cultural elements, its celebration dates back to the 16th century, which makes it the first brotherhood of the Holy Spirit that is founded in the country. It is a syncretism, since in this celebration homage is paid to a Catholic saint based on the influence of African rituals, enlivened by dances and the songs of the sticks or drums.

The Feast of the Immaculate Conception

Since the early days of the founding of Cotuí, the Virgin Immaculate Conception has been the patron saint of the city. Emilio Rodríguez Demorizi in his work: Música y Baile en Santo Domingo, collected unpublished data from Father Pùigvert (Cure of the Parish of Cotuí from 1836 to 1886) which refers to the popular dance of that time called the Fandango, and says that There was a lot of dancing to celebrate the feast of Our Lady of La Concepción. This story by Puigvert gives us a clear idea that at that time, before and after Independence, the patron saints were celebrated in Cotuí in honor of the Immaculate Conception. Some four decades ago, in Cotuí the patron saints were celebrated in a very simple way compared to the pompous celebration that takes place today. Beginning on November 30, after the mass ended, the music band cheered the attendees with a concert of Christmas meringues, while fireworks were launched, constituting a pleasant emotion especially for the children and the other people because they spent a very nice moment. On the other hand, the public enjoyed the giant balloons made by the cotuisano Fonso Ureña, these balloons rose so high that in other communities they believed they were unidentified flying objects (UFO).

Starting in 1982, Francisco Rincón added to the celebration of these patron saint festivities, a contest to choose the queen of this festivity, Corisandra Abreu was elected first queen, then Corisandra Abreu went to reside in the United States and was elected queen there of the Dominican diaspora.

Art

Since the 1970s, artistic activities have developed progressively in Cotuí, mainly due to the emergence of the La Zafra group, a cultural organization founded by Bienvenido Mejía. Different brush artists have sprouted from the Zafra, headed by Juan Bravo, Valentín Acosta, Domingo Fabián, Francis Robles, Dalis Jáquez, Henry Fabián, among others, likewise as a sculptor Rubén Sánchez has stood out, who has been in charge of sculpting almost all the works that the city of Cotuí exhibits today, such as the bust of Juan Pablo Duarte in the Park of the same name, the one in the ITECO plaza, the Cotoi Indian, the bust of Gregorio Luperón in Los Cocos Park and recently just finish his masterpiece, the statue of brigadier Juan Sánchez Ramírez, which is already on display in the park of the same name in front of the provincial government. Carlos Hinojosa is another great cotuisano artist of the brush, his works are exhibited in many parts of the world, including the Gallery of the Mexican economic group chaired by businessman Carlos Slim, considered the richest man in the world and who has an important art collection. Carlos Hinojosa represented Sánchez Ramírez in 1997, in the collective of painters at the Cibao Book Fair.

In Cotuí there is a School of Fine Arts, which was founded in 1988 by the Trustee at the time Dr. Francisco I. José García with the collaboration of the cultural group La Zafra and the Department of Culture directed by Francisco A. Rincón. The classes were taught in the Assembly Hall of the Municipal Palace. Before concluding his four-year term, Dr. Francisco José asked the chapter house to donate to the School of Fine Arts the premises where the Court of First Instance used to function, which was owned by the Cotuí City Council, and thus was done, the School was directed by a board chaired by Lic. Pedro Lanfranco Otáñez, another of the members was Lic. Ramona Viloria, who managed the first government of Leonel Fernández (1996-2000) the construction of premises for the School in that same place and Manuel Jiménez, who was president of the Council of Culture, obtained approval from the government.

The greatest exponent of Cotuisan pictorial art is José Rincón Mora, who lived in Munchen, Germany half of each year (he died in 2016) was a fine artist of the sacred stained glass window, he is one of the most important painters of the Republic Dominican Republic, which fills the Sánchez Ramírez province with pride, his works adorn different organizations and residences not only in the country but in Europe, one of his most famous works is a mural in the courtroom of the Criminal Court of the Supreme Court of Justice: "Seven Deadly Sins".

In addition to good and famous painters and sculptors, Cotuí is the birthplace of the famous singer and composer Manuel Jiménez, who has raised the profile of his province both nationally and internationally. José Peña Suazo, performer and composer, director of the Banda Gorda, is from Cotuí, the singer-songwriter Juan Lanfranco, as well as the bachatero and composer Joe Veras, and the great composer and singer, Carlos David, a native of La Mata. They are natives of the Sánchez Ramírez province, two greats of international cinema, Zoe Saldaña and Dania Ramírez, the first, recently one of the stars of the most expensive and most famous science fiction film of recent times, Avatar, while Dania Ramírez has been part of interesting cinematographic films like X-MEN.

Sports

The province of Sánchez Ramírez is not far behind in sports disciplines, especially in baseball, the king of sports in the country. In 1999, this province won the national double-A baseball championship. The first player signed as a professional was the star pitcher Farilo Abreu of the 1960s. Currently, the province has several pitchers and players in the major leagues, headed by: Ramón Ortiz, Duaner Sánchez, Rafael Rodríguez, Pedro Liriano, Wilton Abréu and José Capellán; as well as Willy Otáñez, who has excelled in Dominican winter ball.

In boxing, the Sanchezramirences have also stood out: Isidro Mosquea, participated in the Pan American Games and won the silver medal, Rogelito Martínez has obtained several gold medals in the Central American and Caribbean Games, as well as Francisco García, heavyweight who has traveled the world as an amateur boxer, making the entire province proud.

In motorsports, we Cotuisans have a great champion, who has stood out both nationally and internationally, we are referring to RENATO ALBA, his first victory was obtained in 1987 and then he has reaped various victories in his category in consecutive years.

In karate: illuminates the sporting firmament of Sánchez Ramírez, ANA VILLANUEVA who won a gold medal out of the seven gold medals won by the Dominican Republic at the Pan American Games held in Guadalajara, Mexico in 2011; In the next Pan American Games, in 2015, of the three gold medals the country won, ANA VILLANUEVA won one, becoming one of the best athletes in the Dominican Republic and the best athlete born in the Sánchez Ramírez province.

In Volleyball, NOLBERTO SOTO, who was on the team of the Autonomous University of Santo Domingo, UASD, stood out in the 1970s. Recently, this important university recognized him for having been a star player; He was also an AUCTIONER member of the Santo Domingo Cubs Volleyball team, when an interesting tournament of that exciting sport was played every year.

Taino Guacaras

Many provinces of the Dominican Republic have these caverns, a product of the geological formation of the earth, but we doubt that some of them compare, especially in their archaeological and historical importance, with those that exist in Sánchez Ramírez. We will only mention two, they are: El Hoyo de Sanabe and the guácara del Comedero, the first is found across the lake from the Hatillo dam, you walk for half an hour along a mountain path, before the construction of the dam it was known like the guácara of the Peñón de la Sabana, say the archaeologists, that it seems that the natives there worshiped nature by immolating children from 12 to 14 years old, since they found human skeletons of approximately those ages, in addition this The cave contains pictographs of great importance, we are referring to the Siamese twins, constituting the largest mural of Taino pictographs detected so far in the country, and near these a quadruped that some experts confirm is a jaguar, among other animals that adorn the walls. of the guácara known as the great Taino temple of the Island.

Regarding the guácara del Comedero, it has some hieroglyphics on its walls that seem to have been chiseled, and crosses in the shape of a labyrinth, which according to archaeologists mean or express the rainy months of the Taino calendar, rain that did so much good to their crops, the diversity of crosses should be interpreted as the various months in which the rains tend to occur more frequently or the times in which the rains are periodic

Geography

The Sánchez Ramírez province is located in the Cibao Sur region: its main municipality is Cotuí, bordered to the north by the Duarte province, to the south and east by the province of Monte Plata, to the south part of the province of Monsenor Nouel, to the west with the province of M. Nouel and to the northeast part of the province of La Vega. Its coordinates are latitude 19.0; length.70.1666667; west longitude. Climate: Tropical humid forest, with a temperature of 25 degrees Celsius and annual rainfall of 1,787 millimeters. (Territorial Division of the National Statistics Office, ONE, Dom. Rep., year 2009.)

Hydrography

The main river that crosses the Sánchez Ramírez province is the Yuna, it is the largest river in the Dominican Republic, passing a short distance west of Cotuí. The Yuna River is born on the hill of El Castillo in the Central Cordillera. In 1952, in addition to the inauguration of the province, the Yuna dam was inaugurated with the channel of the same name, beginning a great development in the rice production of the province. Then, in the 1980s, the great Hatillo dam was inaugurated, ensuring the irrigation of more than twenty thousand hectares planted with rice in the region. But with the Hatillo Sánchez Ramírez dam, he not only benefits from irrigation, but also from the dam reservoir that is used for the production of various types of fish such as tilapia, trout and others, as well as for the practice of different sports. nautical In the area of the Hatillo dam, the exploitation of ecotourism is projected, which would contribute to the socioeconomic development of the province.

Other important rivers are the Camú, Maguaca, Chacuey and the Cevicos River

Hatillo Dam

The Hatillo dam is located in the community of the same name, six kilometers southwest of the municipality of Cotui, capital of the Sánchez Ramírez province, and 113 km northwest of the city of Santo Domingo. Its construction began in August 1977 and was completed in 1984, at a cost of 41 million plots, financed with the Dominican Government's own resources. The dam's supply source is the Yuna River, with a length of 138.6 kilometers, an average flow of 35.4 m³/s, average normal precipitation of 1,562.47 mm/year. This is the hydrographic basin of dams with the highest rainfall in the Dominican Republic: its extension is 5,235.63 km². This dam supplies water to the rainiest area of the country, for this reason these lands are the most appropriate for planting rice. The main tributaries of the Yuna River from the dam upwards are the Camu and Jima rivers and other minor ones such as Las Avispas, Río Blanco, Masipedro, Yuboa, and Hato Viejo streams. Maimon, Arroyon and Tireito.

The operation from 1984 to 2001, the reservoir of the Hatillo dam had an input volume of 23,905,985,000 million m³ of water. Of which 11,591,063 million m³ were turbined; 4 billion 347,197 m³ drained and 8 billion 591,302 m³ discharged. The Hatillo dam that stores the waters of the Yuna River has multiple purposes, but its priority is to serve as flood control. This also guarantees the irrigation of 198,612 ha of land, in its middle part and 401,088 ha in the lower part.

Orography

The Sánchez Ramírez province lacks a pronounced relief because a large part of its territorial extension is located in the eastern end of the Cibao Valley, which, because it is dominated here by the mighty Yuna River, is known as the Yuna Valley, only interrupted by the foothills of the Sierra de Yamasá, with hills such as La Naviza at 680 meters above sea level, Guardarraya at 592 meters above sea level and La Trinchera at 496 meters above sea level.

Economy

The economy of Sánchez Ramírez is based on Production, especially in rice production. Currently, 240,000 hectares of rice are planted in the area annually, of which more than 80% is sprouted, with fruits such as pineapple and citrus with some 38,000 tasks planted with orange groves, 2,200 hectares planted with sour lemon, 8,500 tasks with chinolas, 7,000 with corn, 10,000 with cassava, in addition to some minor fruits such as yautía, yams and auyama. In the 1980s, this province made a significant leap forward that should not go unnoticed, due to the exploitation of gold and silver from Pueblo Viejo, for which 5% of the net profits were granted in its favor. of gold production. With these resources, works of great importance for the province were carried out, such as the foundation of a University Center and two polytechnics. After the depletion of gold from oxides, the province suffered a decline, however, reaching 90, it rose again as a result of the push of remittances.

Just as in Sánchez Ramírez there are countless rice factories, the province also has several fruit packing houses, where a somewhat timid pineapple export trade is achieved. In 2005, 155.3 million pineapples were exported. pineapple units. Another fruit that is exported to the important European market is ackee, the only province in the country that produces it. Despite the fact that cocoa production has decreased in recent decades, its production is still felt, especially among those who are dedicated to marketing the product. In the area of the municipality of Cevicos, spices are produced, like in no other region of the country, cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg and peppers are harvested, but we cannot fail to mention the famous and delicious heart of pejibaye which is produced there, a year ago. time these products are reaching the markets.

The National Statistics Office (ONE) published information on data from the 2010 census and reveals that Sánchez Ramírez is among the provinces with the highest level of human development, together with the National District, Santiago, La Vega and San Francisco de Macoris. Human development has to do with the way of life of a people, where such important elements such as food, health and education, among others, come together.