How to become a land owner:Heriberto Cuevas came into this world as one of twelve children to his Dad who owned two hundred tareas of land. With so many possible inheritors, the Dad decided not to divide the land but waited for someone to come along and purchase it. Heriberto had no money but he did have a good mind and a sense for political connections. He joined the Partido Revolutionario and helped Joaquin Balaguer win an election. The President in turn gave him a new apartment in a building complex in Enriquillo. Heriberto then sold the apartment and gave the money to his Dad, thus becoming a land owner.
How to transform your land into a coffee plantation:
With the land came new choices. Either Heriberto would deforest it in order to plant beans, corn and peas; or else he would aim to condition it into being a productive coffee plantation. Because the land is near the Nizao river and because he learned about the dangers of deforestation, Heriberto decided to go for a coffee plantation. He went to a bank and obtained a significant loan to buy coffee plants and pay for workers to condition the land.
How to weather storms:
Because coffee comes into harvest precisely during the hurricane season, and because Paraiso is on the coast and easily subject to hurricane winds, coffee growers in the area develop their holdings at significant risk. Often Heriberto was short of cash and needed to sell his coffee at flowering time (when it is worth half the price as at harvest). He had to have cash in order to pay workers to clear vines and cut back the weeds so that the coffee bushes could develop their fruit. Besides hurricanes, he also confronted dry spells, when the coffee developed without much taste and could hardly be sold on the market.
Educating his children:
Unlike most of the other families in Villa Nizao, Heriberto managed to send four of his children to the national university in Santo Domingo. Along the way, he became the President of the local Association of farmers and learned how to develop petitions for different projects that would enhance the community.
An extraordinary leader:
Without Heriberto Cuevas, the playground and community center (in the background) would not be in existence. He has used his intelligence and leadership position to advocate for his community in countless ways. Among all the coffee plantation owners in the area, he is one of the very few who lives near his holdings and employs people from the surrounding homes. What a blessing, if his children follow in his footsteps!
