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"El Rey Azúcar y otros monarcas agrícolas"

retoño sprout or shoot from a plant which has been cut above the

neck of the root

regocijo joy, pleasure, satisfaction, mirth, merriment

dote dowry

cañaverales cane brakes or sugar cane fields

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ultramar across the sea

afán desire, anxiety

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jornales irrisorios derisive, laughable (ridiculous)

zafra sugar cane harvest

colador sieve

letargo lethargy

reclutado recruited

arrasados over run, bowled over, destroyed

quebracho iron wood tree from which tannin extract is extracted

henequén hemp fiber from which burlap bags are made

desdichados unfortunate ones

jaula animal cage

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moler to crush, grind, mill (as in "moler caña", grind sugar cane

purgar to purge, eliminate

hazaña deed, event

en resumidas cuentas in other words; make a long story short

flamenco Flemish or Belgian

flamante brand new (flaming!)

dominios dominions

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ciervos deer, stag

jabalíes wild boars

tapires tapir; large rodent

pacas spotted cavy (a smaller Amazon rodent)

tatúes rain forest rodent

gama variety, range

sertão scrub forest of North East Brazil

tasajo salted beef jerky

bozal recently imported African slaves, i.e., not yet "broken in"

mimbre wicker, straw

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rajante splitting, breaking off or breaking open

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Recife coastal Brazilian sugar port

en vigencia in force

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sotavento Leeward

barlovento Windward (not in book)

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apogeo apex, peak

efímero ephemeral, fleeting, of the moment

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sin tregua without truce, let up, without quarter

derramar to spill (blood)

zarpar to set sail, launching of a ship

charreteras epaulets (shoulder insignia of military officers)

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Paulina Bonaparte

1762 captura de la Habana por los ingleses

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fundición foundry (i.e., munitions factory)

astillero shipyards

plusvalía "surplus value" in Marxist "labor theory of value"

arrasamiento demolition of a fortress or fortified place

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"sacrocracia" the saccharine elite, owners of the large sugar estates

caoba mahogany

cedro cedar

ébano ebony, a black, tropical hardwood

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rapiña rapine, robbery; ave de rapiña = bird of prey

demorar to delay

Brueghel family of Flemish genre or landscape painters

vasijas etruscas Etruscan vases

ánforas amphora, ancient vases

gobelinos goblets

biombos folding screens

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vajilla place setting; set of dishes

arroba measure of weight; twenty five pounds

aposentos room, apartment, lodgings

arañas spider web; also crystal chandelier

terciopelo velvet

hebilla buckle

calesas type of Spanish horse drawn carriage

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cotización going rate of the market; quote, as in stock price

José Martí Cuban Independence fighter and Modernist Poet; died 1895

sucursal a branch office

en ancas on the haunch of a horse

Machado 1930’s Cuban dictator

desgravado literally "untaxed", i.e., an item which has been exonerated

or excepted from a tax or duty

Fulgencio Batista Cuban dictator; overthrown by Fidel Castro in 1959

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"La Revolución antela Estructura de la Impotencia"

azúcar de remolacha beet sugar

General Leonard Wood US military officer; fought in Spanish American

War; first military governor of Cuban under US

occupation

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Tomás Estrada Palma (1902) Cuban president elected after US withdrew

its "protectorate" in 1902; subservient to

US interests

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al colmo to the maximum