The day of my departure my emotions had never run so high. I felt sadness, happiness, fear, hope, anticipation, and exhilaration all at the same time. It was a beautiful morning with bright, blue sunny skies that seemed more brilliant than ever before. We all arrived at the port in Havana, as always, together. This reunion was different because I was going to follow my dream and that colored the occasion with sadness and at the same time with joy. It is a feeling very hard to explain unless you have experienced it. Everyone wished me luck, especially my brother, Santiago, who always supported and encouraged my dream. He was a mountain of a man at over six feet tall and 250 pounds. With tears in his eyes he gave me a big hug, shoved $50 into my shirt pocket and wished me luck. I will carry the tender thoughtfulness of this gesture with me forever.

The final departure whistle blew and I boarded the ship. I stayed on deck and watched as the ship sailed further and further away until the people became as small as ants and the coastline disappeared out of sight. I retired to my cabin and began to organize my thoughts.

I remember saying to myself: “Well Angel, you are 18 years old. It’s time to construct your future for you and your family and you have nothing to fear. You know the value of work because you have worked endless hours under the hot sun without rest. You have carried heavy loads here and there without help.

What, then, is there that you cannot conquer? Nothing!” The two days flew by and before I realized it I made the announcement over the loudspeakers that we were approaching the port of Tampa.

I immediately went on deck and caught my first view of Tampa. Gray rocks jutting from the coast line and the clusters of wooden homes about dimly lit streets. It was July 12, 1925 and I became confused among the multitude of people speaking a strange language with apparently different customs. I felt fear and panic but immediately calmed myself thinking “You are here and this land is yours to conquer”. I grabbed my small bag and giant dreams and walked off the boat and on to what I consider to be the greatest country in the world. Among all the conglomeration of people awaiting the ship was the friend of my brother-in-law, Adolfo Diaz, who cordially helped me with the few things I had and took me to his home. It was there that I met Estela (or Meca as she was affectionately called) Diaz, the young lady that was to be my future wife. She was Adolfo and Estela’s daughter and was not yet 12 years old and, odd as it may seem, I fell instantly in love with her. She had beautiful long, black, wavy hair that fell loosely to her shoulders and framed a stunningly beautiful and delicate face with a perfect complexion and big, piercing brown eyes.

At this same time, I had formalized my relationship with Meca. She was 18 years old and had blossomed into a beautiful and sensitive woman. We were married on December 22, 1932 at St. Joseph’s Church in West Tampa. It was a small ceremony in a small, quaint, beautifully simple church.

We had a simple but very joyful reception at Meca’s home. I remember this event as if it had happened yesterday. We left that same day on our honeymoon to my native Cuba. I wanted all my family to meet my wife. The round-trip steamship fare cost $22.00 for me and Meca. I rented a car in Havana and proceeded on to Pinar del Rio where my family had prepared a small surprise welcome in our honor. On December 24th, I bought a small pig so we could all celebrate and spend the traditional “Noche Buena” together. We had a wonderful time.

Upon our return to Tampa, we moved to a small furnished home I had rented for $3.00 per week. We bought a stove for $1.50 and a refrigerator for $1.00. The bedroom suit we purchased was new and paid for in 90 days. It was one of the few things I ever bought and paid for on time. Although we had very little, the home looked full to me, at least with love and happiness. Times were rough. The United States was going through a depression. I continued to work with Mr. Johnson and things got worse financially.

It was at this time that the Suarez brothers (El “Mochin” and Emilio), suggested I open my own tobacco operation. Remembering my experience with the laundry business, I agreed under the condition that they would be my partners. It was October 1934 when we incorporated what is today Oliva Tobacco Company.

After building up the company, I decided to bring my youngest brother, Martin or “Cucho”. He arrived on July 4 and moved in with Meca and me. We went off to see the local fireworks celebration where he proceeded to practically blow off one of his fingers on a bet that he could let a cherry bomb blow up in his hand. I also brought my parents and gave them a 10-day tour of Florida. This was the first trip outside the Island of Cuba either had ever made. My mom was a diabetic and died at the age of 63. In the years that followed, I brought my father a number of times. He would help in the warehouse and we spent many New Year’s eves working. Meca was always with us cooking and working alongside us. We worked very hard and had some unforgettable experiences. One that comes to mind is an incident with my brother, Cucho. I had a fellow working with me, David Busto, who would take the packages to the post office every day. On one occasion, Cucho, who loved to ride around every time he got the chance, offered to take the packages to the post office. He became distracted and forgot to open the glass door to the post office and ran right through it. The door shattered into a million pieces. Fortunately, he did not get hurt, but I had to pay to replace the door.

In March of 1935 our first son, Angel, Jr., was born. He was practically born at our place of business since Meca helped us every day. With the help of close friend, I was able to purchase my first home for $7,000. In November of 1937 I became an American citizen. This was a great moment for me. Our business continued to flourish and in 1939 one of the Suarez brothers, “El Mochin”, died of a stroke. His widow decided to sell me his interest in the business. His brother, Emilio, had always wanted to retire to Spain and, a short time later, sold me his interest in the business. I then hired a young girl of 16 out of business school, Alice Rivero, as our secretary. Her and my brother, Cucho, eventually fell in love and were married. Emilio Suarez had retired and we had no one to get us tobacco so Meca and I began going to Cuba once a month to make contacts. We would spend about 15 days and return. World War II began. My brother, Cucho, went off to war and spent his 3-year-tour, mostly in India, where he contacted a crippling form of arthritis. I was in the Coast Guard and took turns guarding the waterfronts. It was a bad time. Everyone helped in whatever way they could with the war effort. In April of 1942 our second son, John, was born.

The year was 1958. Fidel Castro comes to power in Cuba. I am proud to say he never fooled me. I immediately began to liquidate our corporation in Cuba and scout other potential places to replace the raw material which would eventually be banned from the United States. In 1960 Cuba cultivated the last crop of tobacco that would be sorted and distinguished by farms. I took 13 manufacturers that used Cuban tobacco to Havana as guests of a Communist colonel and I was named their representative. I gave them and all my competitors the opportunity to buy whatever they needed. Some took my offer and others saw no threat from Castro and passed up the offer.

I committed to purchasing this entire crop of about 2.5 million pounds of tobacco from the Cuban government and pay for its sorting, stripping, and handling under the condition that they would allow me to supervise this entire operation and keep the crop segregated by farms. We opened 14 different sorting, stripping, and packing operations and handled this entire crop in addition to 1.35 million pounds of tobacco from more than 20 sharecroppers.

We honored our commitment and shipped the last crop of tobacco grown in Cuba by independent growers. We immediately began growing tobacco in Honduras and moved into Quincy, Florida and the Connecticut valley to replace the “Candela” wrapper no longer coming out of Cuba. We formed a co-op in Quincy and another in Connecticut. We purchased a farm in Quincy and a 25% ownership in a farming operation in Connecticut. The operation in Connecticut was a group of three farms owned by one of the most respected families in the Connecticut valley, Dan K. Christian and his 12 children. We made the people from Quincy and Connecticut our partners in Honduras and began a 200-acre of wrapper tobacco in La Entrada de Copan, Honduras. When President Kennedy slapped the embargo on Cuba, we were in full swing in Central America. As the demand for tobacco increased, we continued to open operations in Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Ecuador and the Dominican Republic. We planted every variety of seed possible from Florida, Connecticut and smuggled from Cuba in order to achieve the highest quality of wrapper, filler and binder. We made huge investments in those Countries and were very successful. In 1979 the Sandinistas came to power in Nicaragua. We concentrated our efforts in Ecuador for the production of wrapper for two reasons:

1. The government of Nicaragua nationalized all the farms in the same manner that Castro had done in Cuba. He was their ideological leader.
2. A dreaded tobacco virus, blue mold, had been ushered in with hurricane Fifi and taken a strong hold in Central America.

Today we concentrate most of our wrapper production in Ecuador and our filler and binder production in Honduras, Nicaragua, and the Dominican Republic. My youngest son, John, joined the business in 1970 after graduating from the University of Florida with a degree in Industrial Engineering and working in the computer business for 4 years.

My oldest son, Angel, Jr., joined us in 1974 after a successful career in architecture. He had graduated from the University of Florida with a degree in Architecture.

Our Company is over 60 years old (at this writing) and I believe the secret to our success has been the honesty, loyalty and integrity with which we have treated everyone. My wife and I have tried to pass this quality on to our children. I am proud to say we have been successful in doing so. I believe our future really is in the generations that follow. For this reason, I have dedicated a large part of my financial resources to help such organizations as The University of Tampa, The Boys’ and Girls’ Clubs of Tampa, The Children’s Home and other institutions that will guide young people to a productive and fruitful life. Our Company has provided scholarships to people who are Doctors, Professors, and Engineers not only here but in Central and South America where the standard of living does not match ours by any stretch of the imagination.

I end with this comment. I always told my family that the business was always first in my life. This sounds like a harsh comment until analyzed and understood. Our business has been the vehicle that has carried us and many others on a wonderful ride through life. It has allowed us to achieve and do more good than we could have ever imagined or hoped for. Its success has allowed us to look within ourselves, recognize the things that are truly important, and act on those things. Without its success, our intentions may have been just as honorable and philanthropic, but we would never have been able to act on these intentions.