San José de Suaita
A industrial village located in the department of Santander, Colombia. Officialy came out as "corregimiento" in 1924 by Suaita's municipality Council act.
Contents [hide]
1 Location
2 Geographic position
3 People
4 History
5 Industrial history remarks
6 Economy
7 Facilities
8 Culture
9 Wildlife and fauna
10 Point of interest
11 Knight's waterfall
12 Update and current information see also
LOCATION.
Located on the Oriental Cordillera in the Colombian Andes (The world's longest mountain range,) and ruled by the municipality of Suaita. San José de Suaita is about 199 kilometers north of Bogotá, (The capital of Colombia); about 196.8 kilometers south of Bucaramanga (The capital of the department of Santander), and 8.3 kilometers north of the municipality of Suaita. This village holds the ruins of an old cotton factory that was founded in 1908 on lands that belonged to the Caballero Barrera family, once responsible for about 10% of the national production of cotton cloth and thread. It also put a wheat mill up, chocolate factoty, licour distillery, and zebu Indu-Brazil cattle raising.
Ths picturesque village has beatifull landscapes such as the Knight's waterfall, where water pours from a cliff with a height of about 100 meters. The weather is consistently beautiful, and every year, at the end of June, a cattle and harvest festival takes place. This festival has traditional parties and a pageant or beauty contest as well.
GEOGRAPHIC POSITION
Latitude 6.1667 Longitude -73.4667. Altitude (feet)4189. Lat (DMS) 6° 10' 0N. Long (DMS) 73° 28' 0W. Altitude (meters) 1276. Time zone (est) UTC-5
PEOPLE
Demographics: According to colombian economic historian Luis Eduardo Nieto Arteta, indigenous in Santander were completelly destroyed and killed. From the Guanes, a Muisca indigenous branch, San josé de Suaita just keeps its name: "Suaita" that means "Sun's garden" as it can be seen in its Coat of Arms. Mainly people from San josé de Suaita comes from Spanish people (75%.) The times of the industry setup left a (10%) anglo and french-saxon descendants, and brought a(15%)of mestizos from closer departaments such as Boyacá and even Tolima
Population: 1,212 residents (323 in the town, and 989 in the rural areas). There are 280 households out of which 40.2% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 59.8% of all households are made up of individuals and 9.2% have someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average family size is 4.35.
Far away from those days of the industrial past, San José is slowly becomig in a peasant town. Although this village has a comercial high school, quite a few young people must go to Bogotá, Bucaramanga or even abroad to find a better future. There are few work places to apply for, and those that still exist are given by the goverment whitout hope to be expanded, rather it is been cut off.
HISTORY
The San jose de Suaita history begins with the development of the industrial proyect. Although there are many facts linked with indigenous settlements, it belongs to the Suaita official history.
San José de Suaita as a largest property, was a old pay given to the Caballero Family, an elite politician family which claimed other lands like Silvania in Cundinamarca, and Tipacoque in Boyacá from colonial times, such as it was revealed by the 1974-1978 former Colombian president Alfonso López Michelsen whose matrimony whith Cecilia Caballero, a Caballero member, give him a special place to know how it was the land adjudication: Through a legal possession case.
Lucas Caballero Barrera, a liberal party member, who signed the pace among liberales and conservadores in Wisconsi treatisein 1902, and who was Rafael Reyes' administration treasure minister, administration known in Colombia as the begining of the modernization age, brought about the birth of a chocolate factory, a small sugar refinery and a distilleryon, which turned into (SIFB)textile corporation founded in Antwerp in 1912 whith Belgium and French Capital (economics)
The new textile corporation faced many challengers, all the machinery was brought from abroad through Atlantic ocean and Magdalena river, carried on mule back, and even by ferry on "Fuquene" lake. The hard task was managment by foreign people in a no traditional way for many years, and soon the factory had to face issues such bringing cotton from far crops, lacks of transportations means, and whitout count wiht a qualified labour accustomed to industrial discipline.
The violence age pay his toll as well, and many fights were made in all levels. Although the 1886's Constitution and its reforms had been given a lot of advantageous to the industrial class, the factory direction got inlvolved to give some aims to the work force. It has been aimed that the factory granted some benefits relationated with social security, medical care, pension plans, elemtanty school, and there also were security manuals, etc. However, financial, technology, and economic issues left the factory in ruins, moreover, long strikes worsen the panoramma throught 1960's and 1970's. Finally the factory was out of business in 1980 then of some financial scandals linked to the Lopez Caballero presidential family, which put the finishing touches to the national highway planed to throught this land.
The large legal fight between pensioned, former workers and the corporation last almost 15 years. In these time the village survived but many eldery people died without receive their rights. In the meantime, several guerrilla actions were made during this period, and there was at least one killed person by facts linked to the factory bankruptcy. Finally, around 1995 when the legal process finished, and then of one failure land partition plan, the ruins were sold to the San Ciriano Foundation by almost US$ 45.000, amount that close a chapter of misery.
Nowdays, this region is a wonderfull place to go on vacation, has a police corp which gives protection to people who wants to meet this awesome land, and spend pacefull days in companiship of the nature, near Bogotá and bucaramanga. Now it is just history.
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY REMARKS
Outline from Sorbbone University's resercher Pierre Raymond. Early 1980's daysAs a pioner of the industry in Colombia, San jose de Suaita has a high place in the economic history of this country. It starts as a proyect to face the modernity which throught several stages until 1980 when it was in business out. Here we have some explanations about this failure. It mainly follows a Max Weber point of view.
ECONOMY
Nowdays San José de Suaita has mainly incomes from the agriculture and cattle and chicken raising. Sugarcane, shade growing coffee, yucaor cassava, plantain, arracacha, pineapple, citrus fruits, are the most important harvest. There are some milk explotations ranches, and cattle raising ranches. The bigggest employer in San José de Suaita is the goverment, following the land owners.
FACILITIES
As Industrial concentration, San José de Suaita had electrical services first than Bucaramanga, there are telephone, cellphone, and fresh water utilities. It has three basketball, volleyball courts, a football camp, a kid pool, a sort of big pool aside to the "la laja" stream, kindergarden, elementary school, high school, elderly house or rest home, small market, public squares, three parks, daily transportation network, postal services, and traditionals restaurants.
CULTURE
San José de Suaita is well known as the industrial cradle of Santander. Near the factory ruins is placed a Cotton museum which was openning in 2005. It also has a public library whit almost 5000 books. Every year takes place at least four festivals: From December 15th to 24th Christmas' novena" in which people are waiting nine days whith songs and performing acts until the birth of Jesus; On march 19 takes place San josé day, it is the croos-class games openning and religious celebration; In the last days of June takes place the biggest one festival, it last 5 days and many people celebrate with bull entertainments, night parties, beauty peagants, fireworks, and picnics at the lands close to the Knight's waterfall; and finally it also takes place a small festival on octuber 12th. with theatrical, traditional dancing, song performing.
WILDLIFE AND FAUNA
SanJosé de Suaita has a private wildlife sanctuary, whose colombian laws foresee as a public resource. It contains a 1000 Acres secondary forrest whit important species, some of them extincted at kms from this region such as oak tree. There are many orchideas, and according to National University of Colombia Biologist reserchers José Luis fernández-Alonso and Jeroen P. groenendijk, there is new register for the Science. The Zephyranthes Carinata
This forrest provide about 85% of fresh water aside of a dam placed in Guadalupe municipality, which holds at least three aqueducts to the farms and the village necessities.
There are many species of birds, the biggest one is the Gavilan o also called sparrow-hawk.There are armadillos, anteater, tow-toed sloth,faras, snakes which one of them is poisonuos Coral snake althought are hardly found. It lacks of big fishing sources, although it is a miracle to find little sardines and "cabezon" big-head fish in small brooks at about 150 mts of a clift as happen in the laja stream.
POINT OF INTEREST
La cascada de Los Caballero (Knight's waterfall), Iglesia Principal, Pozo del Cura, Quebrada La Vega, Piedra del reloj en San Roque, La cueva del Indio, La meseta, La fábrica.
Knight's waterfall
Church
The factory ruins
A Country house
waterfall
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