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While enjoying a cigar from his own collection , Carlos recounted the story of how his family started in the Cigar industry .
In the early 1800 ’ s , there were many cigar companies that prospered in the tobacco industry , Mederos Cigars was one of those companies . Unfortunately , due to the Cuban revolution a lot of documentation was not available for research but the family grew & sold tobacco .
In 1907 , Jose Raul Mederos , the grandfather of Carlos Mederos was born in a province known as Matanzas , Cuba . Matanzas , known as the Venice of Cuba for its picturesque bridges , is located on the northern shore of Cuba .
In 1932 , at the age of 25 , Raul Mederos along with his three brothers , Luis , Gustavo , and Andres Merderos took over the family business and started working in the tobacco fields . All four of the Mederos brothers were college graduates , and although they were very well educated men , they returned home to the province of Matanzas to pursue their passion . In 1939 , Robert Mederos was born . ( Father of Carlos Mederso ) At a very early age , Robert started working in the fields and in the factory mastering
What is your full name ? Carlos Mederos What is your Pais ? Cuba What is your profession ? Cigar Industry
Victor Padilla / Latin Times : Tell us about your Family history and legacy ? Carlos Mederos : Well that is a long history ; my family comes from Cuba , a town called Matanzas . My great grandfather started making cigars since the 1800 ’ s and those times were hard . Hardships were always there but so was passion , and he kept on .
He had five sons , my grandfather , and my grandfather ’ s brothers , Louis , Gustavo ; the other two brothers worked in the factory as well . They developed a unique way to make cigars in town and they got popular there . After that as everybody knows Cuba got into that situation with Fidel . Everything was turned around and was confiscated , but they kept on making cigars . After that I left Cuba and in 2006 I went to Nicaragua , which is a great spot , where many Cuban seeds have been grown and now we are seeing the fruits of it coming up . It is hard but it takes a lot passion and tenacity .
Victor Padilla / Latin Times : Tell us who is Carlos Mederos and Mederos Cigars ? Carlos Mederos : I am the latest generation of the tobacco family tradition . His heart was in the right place , but his father wanted him to have a different life so he went off to college and graduated as a chemistry teacher in 1957 . Unfortunately soon thereafter the Cuban revolution took over and the Medero ’ s family along with many other families ended up working for Fidel Castro ’ s Cuba . Castro put a big burden on these families but nothing was able to be done .
In 1962 , Carlos Mederos was born and as a young child he would work alongside of his father and grandfather in the cigar factory . As an educated young man , he is a musician at heart and was also being raised and educated in an art school becoming a guitar teacher . Carlos Mederos learned as much as he could from his grandfather and his family .
In 1983 , The Medero ’ s family made it out of Cuba to the United Stated to start a new life and over the years , Carlos Mederos never forgot his family ’ s tradition and passion . Knowing that returning to Matanzas Cuba was out of the question he decided to go to the next best place , Esteli Nicaragua .
In 2006 , Carlos Mederos purchased his own tobacco fields in Estil Nicaragua and started growing tobacco and folding cigars . At last he was living and passion .
Mederos , and since I am in the right environment to keep up with the legacy of the family , that is what I am doing . At this point , I decided to take this to the next level , and to push it forward , into the public ’ s eye , while sharing of our knowledge of rich culture and tradition of our cigars to make Mederos famous in Florida , and in the United States .
Victor Padilla / Latin Times : Can you tell us about some of your earliest memories of the families cigar factory ? Carlos Mederos : Actually , I was talking to one of my family ’ s oldest relatives , she passed away recently , she mentioned things I didn ’ t know about , “ You were born in the Factory ”, she said , and of course , I didn ’ t know that !
The Factory was at my Grandfather ’ s house . When my mom got married she went to live there . It was the first place I lived . So I remember helping out at the age of seven . My mother would take me to the big factory . I would look for my grandfather among the ocean of people making cigars . I would get lost in there . It was so full of life , and everyone was yelling , “ Raul your grandson ’ s here !” Then I would find him and he would talk to me while he was rolling cigars . Watching him roll it was amazing , and those are some of my greatest memories of my childhood .