|Back to Index| Christopher Columbus discovers Cuba Alberto
Gutierrez writes about the discovery of Cuba by Columbus; "After
San Salvador, Columbus discovered one key and two more
islets.Then on October 27, 1492 he sighted Cuban land before
dusk. For years many towns along the northern coast of Oriente
Province claimed to be his landing place. It seems that today
nobody cares. I remember a tall cross at Gibara commemorating
the event, but actually it was Bariay, a harbor a few miles to
the east, where Columbus reached the shore the following
morning.He christened this land Juana, after the Infante Don
Juan, a son of the Spanish monarchs Fernando and Isabel. The
aborigines always called it Cuba, and eventually this name
prevailed. The Cuban aborigines were also Arawaks. The most
advanced were the tainos, who lived under the constant threat of
the fierce Caribs, the cannibals from the Lesser Antilles. So
much for the noble savage of Rousseau! (Unfortunately, besides
the Caribs, the Spanish Black Legend in Cuba