The island nation of Cuba was a major sugar producer with close economic ties to the United States. Recognizing the potential for business so close to the U.S. mainland, Western States hired a Cuban engineer and sugar boiler, E. F. (Henry) Echenique and A. C. Nelson, who had experience in construction in Colorado and also with Spreckels Sugar in California. The two were assigned the task of developing business in Cuba, and their first big order was for 22 electric motor-driven machines for the Central Vertientes plant. As a result, Western States became the major centrifugal supplier to the Cuban sugar industry. Cuba would remain a key market for Western States for more than three decades, until President Fulgencio Batista’s U.S.-backed government was overthrown on New Year’s Day 1959 and replaced by Fidel Castro’s socialist government. CHAPTER 4