Oriente ([oˈɾjente], "East") was the easternmost province of Cuba until 1976. The term "Oriente" is still used to refer to the eastern part of the country, which currently is divided into five different provinces.
The origins of Oriente lie in the 1607 division of Cuba into a western and eastern administration. The eastern part was governed from Santiago de Cuba and it was subordinate to the national government in Havana. In 1807, Cuba was divided into three departamentos: Occidental, Central and Oriental. This arrangement lasted until 1851, when the central department was merged back into the West. In 1878, Cuba was divided into six provinces. Oriente remained intact but was officially renamed to Santiago de Cuba Province until the name was reverted to Oriente in 1905. Fidel and Raúl Castro were born in a small town in Oriente province (Birán). The province was split in 1976 into five different provinces: Las Tunas Province, Granma Province, Holguín Province, Santiago de Cuba Province, and Guantánamo Province. This administrative change was proclaimed by Cuban Law Number 1304 of July 3, 1976, and remains in place to this day. (Full article...)
Image 8Cuban victims of Spanish reconcentration policies (from History of Cuba)
Image 9A 1736 colonial map by Herman Moll of the West Indies and Mexico, together comprising "New Spain", with Cuba visible in the center. (from History of Cuba)
Image 10Depiction of an engagement between Cuban rebels and Spanish Royalists during the Ten Years' War (1868–78) (from History of Cuba)
Image 11Rebel leaders engaged in extensive propaganda to get the U.S. to intervene, as shown in this cartoon in an American magazine. Columbia (the American people) reaches out to help oppressed Cuba in 1897 while Uncle Sam (the U.S. government) is blind to the crisis and will not use its powerful guns to help. Judge magazine, 6 February 1897. (from History of Cuba)
Image 12Banrarra Afro-Cuban dance troupe (from Culture of Cuba)
The Zapata rail (Mustelirallus cerverai) is a medium-sized, dark-coloured rail. It has brown upperparts, greyish-blue underparts, a red-based yellow bill, white undertail coverts, and red eyes and legs. Its short wings render it almost flightless. It is endemic to the wetlands of the Zapata Peninsula in southern Cuba, where its only known nest was found in sawgrasstussocks. Little is known of its diet or reproductive behaviour, and its described calls may belong to a different species.
Pedro Pablo Zamora (born Pedro Pablo Zamora y Díaz, February 29, 1972 – November 11, 1994) was a Cuban-AmericanAIDS educator and television personality. As one of the first openly gay men with AIDS to be portrayed in popular media, Zamora brought international attention to HIV/AIDS and LGBTQ issues and prejudices through his appearance on MTV's reality television series, The Real World: San Francisco.
Zamora's romantic relationship with Sean Sasser was also documented on the show; their relationship was later nominated by MTV viewers for "Favorite Love Story" award, and the broadcast of their commitment ceremony in 1994, in which they exchanged vows, was the first such same-sex ceremony in television history, and is considered a landmark in the history of the medium. (Full article...)
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