Che Guevara

Ernesto "Che" Guevara (June 14, 1928 – October 9, 1967), commonly known as Che Guevara, El Che, or simply Che, was an Argentine Marxist revolutionary, politician, author, physician, military theorist, and guerrilla leader. After his death, his stylized image became an ubiquitous countercultural symbol worldwide.

As a young medical student, Guevara travelled throughout Latin America and was transformed by the endemic poverty he witnessed. His experiences and observations during these trips led him to conclude that the region's ingrained economic inequalities were an intrinsic result of monopoly capitalism, neo-colonialism, and imperialism, with the only remedy being world revolution. This belief prompted his involvement in Guatemala's social reforms under President Jacobo Arbenz, whose eventual CIA-assisted overthrow solidified Guevara’s radical ideology.

Later, in Mexico, he met Fidel Castro and joined his 26th of July Movement. In December 1956, he was among the revolutionaries who invaded Cuba under Castro's leadership with the intention of overthrowing U.S.-backed Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista. Guevara soon rose to prominence among the insurgents, was promoted to Comandante, and played a pivotal role in the successful guerrilla campaign that deposed Batista. Following the Cuban revolution, Guevara oversaw the revolutionary tribunals and executions of suspected war criminals from the previous regime. Later he served as minister of industry and president of the national bank, before traversing the globe as a diplomat to meet an array of world leaders on behalf of Cuban socialism. He was also a prolific writer and diarist, with one of his most influential works being a manual on the theory and practice of guerrilla warfare. Guevara left Cuba in 1965 to incite revolutions first in an unsuccessful attempt in Congo-Kinshasa and then in Bolivia, where he was captured with the help of the CIA and executed.

Both notorious for his harsh discipline and revered for his unwavering dedication to his revolutionary doctrines, Guevara remains an admired, controversial, and significant historical figure. As a result of his death and romantic visage, along with his invocation to armed class struggle and desire to create the consciousness of a "new man" driven by "moral" rather than "material" incentives; Guevara evolved into a quintessential icon of leftist inspired movements, as well as a global merchandising sensation. He has been mostly venerated and occasionally reviled in a multitude of biographies, memoirs, books, essays, documentaries, songs, and films. Time Magazine named him one of the 100 most influential people of the 20th century, while an Alberto Korda photograph of him entitled Guerrillero Heroico, was declared "the most famous photograph in the world."

Cohiba cigars

Cohíba is a brand for two kinds of premium cigar, one produced in Cuba for Habanos SA, the Cuban state-owned tobacco company, and the other produced in the Dominican Republic for General Cigar. The name cohíba derives from the Taino word for "tobacco". The Cuban brand is filled with top-quality tobacco which, unique to Cohiba, has undergone an extra fermentation process; it is a type as well as a brand.

Cohíba was originally a private brand supplied exclusively to Fidel Castro and high level Cuban government and communist party officials. Often given as diplomatic gifts, the Cohíba brand gradually developed a "cult" status. It was released commercially for sale to the public in 1982.

Cuban Cohíbas are known to use some of the finest cigar tobacco available in Cuba. The tobacco for Cohíba is selected from the finest Vegas Finas de Primera (first-class tobacco fields) in da San Luis & San Juan y Martinez zones of the Vuelta Abajo region of Pinar del Río Province. The tobacco used to fill the cigars is unique among Cuban marques because it undergoes a third fermentation process in barrels, which is reputed to give it a smoother flavor than other cigars. Originally all Cohíbas were made at the El Laguito factory, a converted mansion located on the outskirts of Havana. Later, production of some Cohiba vitolas was expanded to other factories.

The flavour of these cigars tends towards medium to full-bodied.

Cohíba began with the cigars smoked by a bodyguard of Fidel Castro's named Bienvenido "Chicho" Perez. Castro noticed he often smoked a "very aromatic, very nice" cigar. When asked by Castro what brand he smoked, he replied that it was rolled by a friend of his who would give him some of these special cigars as gifts.

The man in question was a cigar roller working at the La Corona factory in Havana named Eduardo Rivera. Castro approached Rivera about rolling cigars for him personally and set him up with five other rollers in a former diplomatic mansion in a suburb of Havana known as El Laguito (Spanish for "the little lake"). Later, the factory became the first cigar factory to be staffed entirely by women torcedoras (cigar rollers). Historically, security at the factory was tightly regulated, with only designated officials and workers allowed entry into the most critical work areas of the factory.

The cigars were reserved for Castro and other high-ranking Cuban officials, and were often presented to foreign dignitaries as gifts. Additionally, with rumors and fears of a CIA assassination attempt running rampant, it made sense for Castro to smoke only cigars that were manufactured under extremely secure and secretive conditions. (The CIA had allegedly contemplated using exploding cigars as a means of assassinating Castro). Castro himself is said to be particularly fond of the long, thin cigars rolled for him, especially the sizes that would become the Lancero and Corona Especial.

Castro decided to release his personal cigars as a premium cigar brand for public consumption when the 1982 World Cup was held in Spain. When first launched in 1982 the Cohíba marque consisted of three vitolas or sizes: the Panetela, the Corona Especial, and the Lancero. In 1989 three more vitolas, the Robusto, the Exquisito, and the Espléndido, were added; the six are referred to as the Línea Clásica (classic line).

In 1992 Habanos SA launched the first sizes in what it calls the Línea 1492, commemorating Christopher Columbus and his voyage to the Americas, with each size named for a century since Columbus' discovery. The initial launch included the Siglo I, Siglo II, Siglo III, Siglo IV, and Siglo V, with a Siglo VI added in 2002. A long-standing rumor is that the original Línea 1492 was a replacement for the Davidoff marque that recently ceased production in Cuba (each of the first five "Siglos" corresponded to a size in the Davidoff line-up).

Besides regular production, Habanos SA regularly releases limited release Cohíba cigars for such events as the annual Habanos Festival, brand anniversaries, and their annual Edición Limitada (limited edition) release of special sizes of their various cigar brands wrapped in a darker vintage leaf. In 2007, Habanos released a new line of maduro-wrapped Cohibas, called "Maduro 5," in three sizes.

Cohíba also produces two machine-made cigarillos: the Mini and the Club.

Habanos SA have used their Cohiba brand name for non-cigar products, manufacturing Cohiba cigarettes since 1987 and Extra Cohiba Cognac since 1999.

As of late 2006 Cohíba had released three different Edición Limitada Cohíbas: the Pirámide released in 2001 and re-released in 2006, the Double Corona in 2003, and the Sublime in 2004.

The following list of the Cohíba marque includes the size in inches and ring gauge with metric in parenthesis. Also, the vitola de galera or factory name of that size is included along with its popular size name in American cigar vocabulary.

La Línea Clásica

• Lancero - 7 1/2" x 38 (192 x 15.08 mm) Laguito No. 1, a long panetela
• Corona Especial - 6" x 38 (152 x 15.08 mm) Laguito No. 2, a panetela
• Panetela - 4 1/2" x 26 (115 x 10.32 mm) Laguito No. 3, a cigarillo
• Exquisito - 4 7/8" x 36 (125 x 14.29 mm) Seoane, a cigarillo
• Robusto - 4 7/8" x 50 (124 x 19.84 mm) Robusto, a robusto or rothschild
• Espléndido - 7" x 47 (178 x 18.65 mm) Julieta, a churchill

La Línea 1492

• Siglo I - 4" x 40 (102 x 15.87 mm) Perla, a tres petit corona
• Siglo II - 5 1/8" x 42 (129 x 16.67 mm) Mareva, a petit corona
• Siglo III - 6 1/8" x 42 (155 x 16.67 mm) Corona Grande, a long corona
• Siglo IV - 5 5/8" x 46 (143 x 18.26 mm) Corona Gorda, a corona gorda
• Siglo V - 6 3/4" x 43 (170 x 17.07 mm) Dalia, a lonsdale
• Siglo VI - 5 7/8" x 52 (150 x 20.64 mm) Cañonazo, a toro

Maduro 5

• Secretos - 4 1/2 x 40 (110 x 15.87 mm) Reyes, a tres petit corona
• Magicos - 4 1/2" x 52 (115 x 20.64 mm) Magicos, a robusto or rothschild
• Genios - 5 1/2 x 52 (140 X 20.64 mm) Estupendos, a robusto extra

Edición Limitada Releases

• Pirámide (2001) - 6 1/8" x 52 (156 x 20.64 mm) Pirámide, a pyramid or torpedo
• Double Corona (2003) - 7 5/8" x 49 (194 x 19.45 mm) Prominente, a double corona
• Sublime (2004) - 6 1/2" x 54 (164 x 21.43 mm) Sublime, a large toro
• Pirámide (2006) - 6 1/8" x 52 (156 x 20.64 mm) Pirámide, a pyramid or torpedo; a remake of the 2001 EL

Special Releases

• Millennium Reserve Pirámide - 6 1/8" x 52 (156 x 20.64 mm) Pirámide, a pyramid or torpedo
• Behike - 7 1/2" x 52 (192 x 20 mm) Behike, a double robusto

Ibrahim Ferrer

Ibrahim Ferrer (February 20, 1927 – August 6, 2005) was a popular Afro-Cuban singer and musician in Cuba. He performed with many musical groups including the Afro-Cuban All Stars. Later in life, Ferrer became a member of the internationally successful Buena Vista Social Club. His increasing popularity lead to collaborations with contemporary acts such as Gorillaz.

Ferrer was born at a dance in San Luis, near the city of Santiago de Cuba. His mother died when he was 12, leaving him orphaned and forcing him to sing on the streets (busk) to earn money. The next year, Ferrer joined his first ever musical group, a duet alongside his cousin called Jovenes del Son (Spanish: Youths of Rhythm). They performed at private functions and the two youths managed to scrape together enough money to live.

Over the next few years, Ferrer would perform with many musical groups, including Conjunto Sorpresa and Orquesta Chepin-Choven.

The leader of the latter composed one of Ferrer's biggest hits, "El Platanal de Bartolo".

• In 1953 Ferrer started to play with Pacho Alonso's group in Santiago, Cuba. In 1959 the group moved permanently to Havana, renaming themselves Los Bocucos, after a type of drum widely used in Santiago.

• With Alonso, Ferrer primarily performed son, guaracha and other up-tempo songs. However, he yearned to sing boleros. It was not until almost 40 years later, with the release of Ry Cooder's Grammy Award winning, Oscar nominated Buena Vista Social Club recording in 1999, that Ibrahim Ferrer's talent as a bolero singer would become widely known.

• In 1996, Ferrer took part in the World Circuit sessions, when it was announced that an old*style bolero singer would be required. In that year, he recorded the album A Toda Cuba le Gusta with the Afro-Cuban All Stars, an album nominated for a Grammy Award.

• In 1998 he recorded an album for the Cuban label EGREM, Tierra Caliente: Ibrahim Ferrer con Los Bocucos. It features Ferrer's unique voice and phrasing, band leader Roberto Correra's rich, intricate arrangements and excellent lead trumpet, and tight, rhythmic playing by the Bocucos. The album's is in the style of son-jazz big band fusion.

• In 1999 Ry Cooder recorded Ferrer's first solo album, shown above.

• In 2000 Ferrer famously received a Latin Grammy for Best New Artist – at the age of 72.

• In 2001 he appeared on the track Latin Simone on the self-titled debut album of virtual-band Gorillaz.

• In 2004 Ferrer won a Grammy, but was denied permission by the U.S. government to enter the U.S. to receive his award under a U.S. law designed for "terrorists, drug dealers and dangerous criminals."

• Ferrer still toured internationally in Europe in 2005, and released his second solo recording, Buenos Hermanos, in 2003. He was an adherent of the Santería faith, a blending of traditional African religions and Catholicism.

• Ferrer's contributed in 2005 to the APE Vision (Artists' Project Earth) album Rhythms Del Mundo: Cuba, a collaboration with artists Coldplay, U2, Sting, Dido, Faithless, Jack Johnson, Maroon 5 and others.

• Ferrer's last recording was 'Mi Sueño', an album devoted to the bolero. It was released in 2006

He died at age 78 of multiple organ failure on August 6, 2005 at CIMEQ hospital in Havana (Cuba) after returning from a European tour. He was buried in the Colón Cemetery, Havana.

Discography

• 1960 - Mis tiempos con Chepín y su Orquesta Oriental
• 1973 - Recording with Los Bocucos
• 1999 – Buena Vista Social Club Presents: Ibrahim Ferrer
• 2000 - Tierra Caliente: Roots of Buena Vista
• 2002 - Mis Tiempos Con Chepín
• 2002 - La Collección Cubana
• 2002 - Tiempos Con Chepín y Su Orquesta
• 2003 - Buenos Hermanos
• 2004 - Que Bueno Está
• 2005 - Ay, Candela
• 2006 - Mi Sueño