Sabino Pupo Milián was born in the East province in 1895, into a humble family. Since he was a child he dedicated himself to agricultural work with his brothers.

In 1943 he left for Camagüey, where he built his home on remote lands in Camalote, there he had to face pressure from landowners who tried to force the small farmers to pay rents.

As a result of this fact, the farmers made a protest, arguing that said lands belonged to the State and therefore they were not obliged to make a payment for their cultivation.

For all this Sabino Pupo always showed his dissatisfaction with the situation of the men of his class, becoming a leader of the small farmers. Later he joined the farmer association “Álvaro Reynoso” established in the area where he lived.

A life dedicated to the small farmers

Years later, he marched south in search of more fertile land, dragging several farmer families with him. He settled in a new place, which was also an area of ​​interest for the American company Manatí Sugar Company.

When Sabino settled on the site, the company itself began a series of pressures to get the farmers to leave the site. An opposition was quickly organized by the settlers organized and led by Pupo Milián to prevent the eviction. In September 1948, Pupo accepted the position of president of the farmer association to which he was linked at the proposal of his companions, who saw in him a firm and indefatigable figure.

On October 20th, 1948, the prominent agrarian leader was assassinated in Camalote. As soon as the sad news was heard, worker sectors sympathetic to the cause of the small farmers mobilized to transport the body to Nuevitas in order to pay tribute to him.

Translated by: Aileen Álvarez García