• Series 8: Cuba and the American Sugar Trade, 1921-1943: The Braga Brothers Collection

• Published by Primary Source Microfilm

From the holdings of George A. Smathers Libraries at University of Florida

The Braga Brothers collection is one of the richest archival sources on the modernization and expansion of the Cuban sugar industry in the 20th century preceding the rise to power of Fidel Castro. As the archive of a large North American company that did business in Cuba, it provides insights to the unique commercial relationship that once existed between Cuba and the United States.

The principal holdings in the collection are the records of the Czarnikow-Rionda Company. Present publication is continuation of Latin American History and Culture Series 7 that included correspondence of the officers of the company for the years 1897 thru 1920. Series 8 contains selected subject files of Manuel Rionda (1921-43) and a short collection of correspondence of Aurelio Portuondo (1933-35).

Series 7 ended with the collapse of the sugar market after World War I. In 1919 the United States lifted price restrictions on raw sugar. The result was a frenzy of market speculation now known as the "Dance of the Millions." In the space of a few months, the price of raw sugar rose and fell dramatically ruining hundreds of planters and merchants in the process. The collapse marked the zenith of Czarnikow-Rionda's fortunes. The 1920s began a period of gradual decline for the company and a loss of market share. In the 1930s, several of the company's subsidiaries were placed in receivership and restructured.

In 1921, Rionda reorganized his records files placing all of his correspondence, both incoming and outgoing, as well as reports, audits, and other documents into a single subject file. The file was maintained until his death in September, 1943. The time period includes the Great Depression, the Cuban Revolution of 1933 and the first years of World War II. Much of the series is taken up with the operations of the company's Cuban sugar estates-Manati, Francisco, Cespedes and Tuinucu-as well as independent plantations that sold their sugars through Czarnikow-Rionda. There is abundant documentation on the political and social forces that affected sugar production and marketing. Discussions of American tariff policy as well as attempts to regulate world sugar production figure prominently in Rionda's correspondence. Also contained in this series are materials created by the public relations firm of Ivy Lee to promote public sentiment in favor of lower sugar tariffs.

Included among the correspondents in this series are Alfred Jaretzki of the law firm of Sullivan & Cromwell (which owned stock in several of the Rionda sugar companies), Jose Miguel Tarafa, Viriato Gutierrez, and Thomas L. Chadbourne. The bulk of the materials, however, consists of detailed communication between Rionda and his subordinates in Cuba. Principal among them were Higinio Fanjul and Aurelio Portuondo, president and vice president, respectively, of the Cuban Trading Company of Havana.

Aurelio Portuondo was the Cuban Trading Company's primary liaison with the Cuban government. He was also an important delegate to both the U.S.-Cuban and international negotiations to establish bilateral and multilateral sugar stabilization agreements. Portuondo played an important part in the creation of the U.S.-Cuban Reciprocity Treaty of 1934. The treaty negotiations in Washington were played out against a backdrop of revolution and U.S. intervention in Cuba which are described in vivid detail in Portuondo's correspondence.

The collection holds broad scholarly appeal, especially because of the emphasis of the company's office on tracking not only the economic and financial situation in Cuba but the social and political ones as well. It should be of interest Cuban/Caribbean Studies; U.S. Diplomatic history; Business history; Political Economic history; Financial and commercial history; Technology history; Sugar/commodity studies.

Part 1: Manuel Rionda y Pollledo. Subject Files 1921-1943
101 reels

Part 2: Aurelio Portunondo Correspondence, 1933-1935
1 reel

Complete Collection: 102 reels

• Product number: 228211
• Shipping Weight: 0.00 lbs (0.00 kgs)