On December 18, 1997, in Emmaus, PA, surrounded by the love of his wife, Mrs. Trinidad Rodríguez de Casas, his sons Baldomero, Antonio, and Luis, and his grandchildren, Mr. Baldomero Casas Fernández died at the age of 89. In his home, he shared exile with his family since 1959, always thinking on the return to his beloved adopted homeland, Cuba, for helping in its economic reconstruction through the planning of the development of industries and commercial and financial enterprises. His achievement as a new sugar mill owner (1945-59) made a great impact on the Cuban Sugar Industry due to his dynamic drive that shook the caution of an industry fearful of future production restrictions, but with an enormous potential for expansion; he demonstrated how to unleash that force and how to harness it towards productive ends.
Born in Spain in 1908, he arrived in Cuba at the age of 17 (1925). He started to work in a modest wholesale business of groceries and commodities owned by relatives in the city of Palma Soriano, Oriente. The principal items were coffee, local consumption sugar, and the importation of groceries and merchandise. He performed in the beginning the most humble tasks such as would correspond to a beginner. An intelligent and tireless worker, he soon rose in the confidence of his superiors and assumed bigger responsibilities to the extent that at the beginning of the 1940s he was the principal partner in Casas & Co. The experience acquired in the commercial and financial operations in which his business shrewdness shined, accompanied by a reliable fulfillment, translated themselves into the prosperity and consolidation of the business which he managed. By that time the firm had already become the largest in its class within its territory and one of the largest in the country. His reputation as a dynamic and honest businessman earned him many friends, grateful for his understanding and effective treatment.
He participated with great success in the sugar business, in the beginning through the financing of grocery stores in cane plantations and sugar mills. With great vision and daring, he acquires in 1945 the Borjita Sugar Mill--located near the towns of Dos Caminos and Palma Soriano, Oriente-- owned by the Royal Bank of Canada. He then devotes all his efforts to the administrative reorganization of this mill, and from a stagnant sugar production of 120,000 bags (250 lb.) he almost triples it in 1952 with a crop of 339, 236 bags. He does not stop and in 1948 buys the Baltony Sugar Mill from the Royal Bank of Canada. Just as before with the Borjita Sugar Mill, he increases the Baltony’s production from 338,550 bags in 1947 to a record crop or 501,347 bags in 1957, that is, an increase of 48%. By this latter date, both have become efficient and profitable units, checked in their expansion only by the restriction on sugar production imposed by international treaties; his success had been a resounding one.
He operated on a grand scale, without any littleness. He did not fear risks, calculated or unforeseen; his determination and talent overcame them.
Encouraged by the example of B. Casas F. and other Cuban businessmen, during 1940-58 some 35 foreign-owned sugar mills passed to Cuban ownership through sales, in fact a re-nationalization of the Cuban sugar industry, whose majority control had been lost by Cubans as a result of their ruin following the War of Independence (1895-98) and the opening of the country to foreign investment. It is noteworthy to observe that this new nationalization was carried out under the rules of free enterprise, without pressures and with the satisfaction of foreign sellers of mills. This transcendental transformation had many protagonists on the Cuban side and was the result of a common effort, but it can be added that it was B. Casas F. who jumped ahead and demonstrated that Cuban mill owners were capable of managing and improving sugar mills that had been sold off by foreigners. The Cuban homeland should be grateful to B. Casas F. for the prominent role that he played in the rescuing of the national patrimony without harming legitimate foreign interests. The coordinated effort of both Cuban and foreign sugar mills made it possible for the Cuban Sugar Industry to become the most efficient and largest sugar exporter in the world prior to the arrival of communism in 1959, and that it would reaffirm its position as the largest source of jobs and income in the nation.
He fought tenaciously for securing the best conditions for the Cuban sugar industry both in the domestic and international fields. Shortly after having arrived in Cuba, he noticed the necessity of having an education as it related to business activities. As his work permitted it, he took classes and learned through reading; in effect, he was a self-taught man. Worthy of remembrance are his interventions in the National Association of Sugar Mill Owners of Cuba against crop restrictions (1953) and his defense of Cuban sugar quotas in the U.S. and the world market. These interventions, along with his conferences in Oriente University and other institutions on the subject of sugar were published and disseminated by the media.
Endowed with a keen intuition to evaluate people businesswise, he was very skillful in building close relationships with those who were in key strategic positions in order to obtain positive results. But his people skills were not limited to material aspects, as he felt great affection for his businesses’ workers and the needy, whom he generously benefited; his kindness was extended to all whom he dealt with. A dedicated family man, he had the good fortune of marrying Doña Trini, an exemplary wife through all times, be these of triumph or adversity. He had his children educated in the best educational centers and today they occupy prestigious positions in exile here in the US. In this exile we had close ties with Baldomero and his family and that is how we were able to appreciate his magnificent personal qualities.
His passing away signifies a tremendous blow to the exile here in the U.S. and for the reconstruction of Cuba. Nevertheless, his spirit and his projections have not been lost since his sons and those of us who were fortunate enough to know him will follow his preachings and be inspired by his example. Rest then, in the Lord’s peace, the bold business leader, honor to Cuba, after having honorably accomplished his mission on earth.
SUGAR PRODUCERS OF CUBA, INC.
José Lopez Silvero
Alfredo Blanco, Jr.
Fernando Zulueta
President
V.P.
Treasurer
Miami, FL
January 13, 1998