El Laguito Cigar Factory | |
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General information | |
Type | Cigar factory |
Town or city | Playa, Havana |
Country | Cuba |
Opened | 1967 |
Client | Fidel Castro |
El Laguito Cigar Factory is a Cuban factory building established by Fidel Castro in Havana, Cuba and recognized as the site where the Cohiba cigar was first manufactured. [1]
In the 1960s, the El Laguito factory was established by Fidel Castro with the help of Eduardo Ribera, a cigar maker. The factory was located in Havana, in the area of Playa. [2] The property was described as a palm-fringed colonial-style home originally owned by an English family known for producing Fowler's West India Treacle. [3]
The Cohiba, a trademark now owned by Habanos S.A., was conceived in the factory in February 1967. [4] The varieties included Exquisitos, Lancero, Behike, and more.
In the mid-to-late 1960s, one of Castro's bodyguards was noticed smoking a noticeably aromatic but unbranded cigar. After locating the cigar maker, Eduardo Ribera, it was agreed to establish the El Laguito Factory which would eventually brand the cigars as Cohiba and become Castro's signature brand. [5] Castro exclusively smoked the Cohibas before he gave up cigars for health reasons. [6] The El Laguito factory-made Cohiba Lancero cigars were originally presented as diplomatic gifts for allied countries and friends of Castro. [7]
The El Laguito factory produced a cigar brand called 'Trinidad' which included the Trinidad Fundadores and Trinidad Panatela. [8] Trinidad Fundadores were exclusively produced at the factory starting in 1980. Diplomatic Trinidads were presented as gifts by the Cuban Government which included former President Fidel Castro, his secretary of state, and other high-ranking Cuban diplomats. [9]
Cuba's foreign policy has been fluid throughout history depending on world events and other variables, including relations with the United States. Without massive Soviet subsidies and its primary trading partner, Cuba became increasingly isolated in the late 1980s and early 1990s after the fall of the USSR and the end of the Cold War, but Cuba opened up more with the rest of the world again starting in the late 1990s when they have since entered bilateral co-operation with several South American countries, most notably Venezuela and Bolivia beginning in the late 1990s, especially after the Venezuela election of Hugo Chávez in 1999, who became a staunch ally of Castro's Cuba. The United States used to stick to a policy of isolating Cuba until December 2014, when Barack Obama announced a new policy of diplomatic and economic engagement. The European Union accuses Cuba of "continuing flagrant violation of human rights and fundamental freedoms". Cuba has developed a growing relationship with the People's Republic of China and Russia. Cuba provided civilian assistance workers – principally medical – to more than 20 countries. More than one million exiles have escaped to foreign countries. Cuba's present foreign minister is Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla.
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