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Dr. Dysis Guira was born in Santiago de Cuba in 1929. Her mother, Ciana Valdés Roig, was a poet and Spanish professor from Pinar del Rio province. Guira had at least one sibling, a younger brother named Emilio. Guira is most known for being a leader of the Federación Estudiantil Universitaria (FEU) and Directorio Revolucionario de Cuba (DRC) during the Cuban Revolution. She worked in a soap factory until leaving in 1957 to join the revolutionary movement against the Batista government in Havana after she was personally impacted by the violence perpetrated by the government at that time when her fiancé, Joe Westbrook Rosales, was assassinated for his revolutionary activities with the FEU and DRC on April 20th, 1957, as part of the “Humboldt 7.”

Guira subsequently went into exile in South America, first to Chile, then Argentina and Uruguay. She continued her work with the 26th of July Movement and was commissioned by the DRC to work as a delegate in South America, traveling and spreading awareness through local news outlets and organizations of the revolutionary movements against the Batista government. She worked closely with the FEU in Uruguay and the Parliament in Montevideo as well as the United Nations to seek a peaceful end to the conflict in Cuba. In 1957, interviews given by Guira appeared in many newspapers including El País, Vanguardia, Noticias gráficas, El tambor radical, El laborista, and El tiempo.

Olga Guillot was a Cuban singer and actress (born Oct. 9, 1922, Santiago de Cuba, Cuba—died July 12, 2010, Miami Beach, FL) who was known as “la reina del bolero.” Guillot’s career spanned over fifty years, during which time she recorded in excess of sixty bolero albums and appeared in more than 20 Mexican films, as well as making numerous television appearances. She garnered countless awards and honors; for example, she won three consecutive awards as Cuba’s best female singer and in 2007 she was honored with the prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award at the Latin Grammy Awards. Guillot also pushed boundaries by becoming the first Latin American artist to give a gala concert at Carnegie Hall in New York - bringing bolero to a huge non-Spanish speaking audience - and also toured internationally.

Guillot’s family lived in Santiago de Cuba until she was five years old, at which point they relocated to Havana. She first started performing at the age of nine and formed a duo with her sister, Ana Luisa, called “Dúo Hermanitas Guillot,” debuting on a radio show called La Corte Suprema del Arte (The Supreme Court of Art). Ana Luisa subsequently quit in 1940. In 1945, Guillot was discovered by the influential Facundo Rivero and later travelled to New York City to record her first album. She achieved fame in the U.S. in 1946 with her Spanish version of the song “Stormy Weather.” She got the opportunity to make her first record in 1954 after signing to an independent label and released “Miénteme,” composed by the Mexican bandleader Chamaco Domínguez, which was not only a hit throughout Latin America, but became the first gold-selling record by any Cuban singer; “Miénteme” became Guillot’s signature song. Guillot became infamous for her passionate, heartfelt, and dramatic way of telling stories via the ballad form, as well as reworking classic boleros sung from a masculine perspective to reveal a female voice and point of view. During her recording career, many of her records achieved gold or platinum status.

In 1961, after having strongly criticized Fidel Castro’s government, Guillot left Cuba for good and split her time between the U.S. and Mexico, although Mexico was her permanent country of residence. Guillot also had a house in Miami Beach and was very active in South Florida’s Cuban-American community. She died in 2010, leaving behind one daughter, Olga María Touzet-Guillot, who she had with the composer, René Touzet.

Born in Havana, María Luisa Guerrero received a doctoral degree from the University of Havana. Guerrero taught at several schools in the Havana area, including Ceiba del Agua in Rancho Boyeros and Jose Marti in Maríanao. In the 1930s, she served on the Board of Directors of the Lyceum and Lawn Tennis Club, a women’s organization dedicated to the promotion of Cuban culture and the role of women in the intellectual development of Cuba. During this time she also met Elena Mederos with whom she undertook many projects focusing on social welfare issues.

Guerrero was active in several political groups. She served on the Executive Committee of the Movimiento de Resistencia Civica (Civic Resistance Movement) and joined the Movimiento Revolucionario del Pueblo (People’s Revolutionary Movement) upon its foundation in 1959 and was a member of its National Executive Committee through 1961, when she left Cuba as an exile. In the United States, María Luisa worked in UNICEF with Elena Mederos, and in 1967, she returned to teaching as a Spanish professor and head of the Language Department in Paul VI Regional High School, Clifton, New Jersey.

Carmen L. Guerrero is a licensed architect, Associate Dean of Strategic Initiatives and Facilities and Associate Professor in Practice at the University of Miami School of Architecture. She received a Bachelor of Architecture degree from the University of Miami (1990) and a Master of Architecture degree from Cornell University (1994). Since 2000 she has been involved as Director for the School’s Rome program and has developed special courses on the architecture and urbanism of 20th century Italy. Her research has contributed to several international exhibitions and publications focusing on Italian Rationalism. Additionally, she has taught travel seminars and studios concentrating on the impact of regionalism on the design of modern & contemporary architecture in Europe and the Caribbean. The work produced by her students has contributed to preservation and revitalization efforts in Italy, Colombia and the Dominican Republic. Her teaching experience also includes interior design studio and elective courses. In 2008 her architecture and interior design firm received the Coral Gables Chamber of Commerce City Beautiful Award followed by recognition in local and national publications. More recently she was awarded a grant from the Ministry of Education in Italy, which promotes academic collaborations with institutions of the Southern Italian hemisphere.

Eneida Guernica is a psychologist from Key Largo, Florida. She has studied the learning habits of Cuban children, particularly those who emigrated during the Mariel Boatlift. She is best-known for developing the Preventative Remedial Associative Model (PRAM) for teaching English.

Luisa María Güell is a Cuban-born actress, singer and composer. She started her artistic career in Cuba at the age of five working in TV commercials. Later she worked as an actress for TV and Theatre. She recorded 24 disks many of which went "Gold." She is a celebrated singer with an international career whose work has received awards and recognitions from Europe through the Hispanic world. In Paris, she received "Edith Piaf" golden medal, an award received for the first time by a non-French singer.

The Guantánamo Sugar Company offices were located at 120 Wall Street, New York from 1915 through 1959. This company was the owner of the Soledad Sugar Mill, Los Caños Sugar Mill, the Isabel B. Sugar Mill and the Guantánamo Railroad Co. all located around the Guantánamo Bay. The Soledad Sugar Mill was founded before 1860 and his owner was Gregorio Malleta. In 1878, it became property of the Brooks Family. Los Caños Sugar Mill was founded in 1861 by Carlos Rancole, and in 1883 became property of the Brooks Family. The date of the foundation of the Isabel Sugar Mill is unknown, but in 1860 the owner was the widow of the French Couroneaux, and in 1898 the Mill became the property of the Brooks Family.

Later these three sugar mills were the property of Arturo Pita who was the president of the Guantánamo Sugar Company and the Guantánamo Railroad Co. when Pita died, the inheritors of these companies were his daughters, Zoila Margarita Pita García-Chacón and Marta Isabel Pita Ariosa.

The Grupo Cubano de Investigaciones Económicas, or Cuban Economic Research Project, was a project undertaken by scholars and Cuba experts at the University of Miami. The study looked at the economic history and development of Cuba, from the colonial, republican, and socialist periods. It was chaired by Jose R. Alvarez Diaz.