The history of San Antonio de los Baños is composed of great children. José María Pérez Capote, a union leader of the transport sector and member of the Communist Party, is one of those Ariguanabenses that are part of the history. This great man was born On September 29th, 1911 in the bosom of a peasant family in San Antonio de los Baños.
During his childhood his parents moved to Havana, with the intention of improving the economic situation of the family. He identified himself with the people, worker and student causes. His revolutionary actions initiated during the struggle against the dictatorship of Gerardo Machado. In 1932 as a member of the Communist Youth League, he organized a drivers strike.
This ariguanabense, leader of the transport sector in 1935, formed the first worker union and promoted the creation of a school for drivers’ children. On November 20th, 1957 he was kidnapped, tortured and thrown into the sea by unscrupulous murderers but his revolutionary example continues today. Today, the highest distinction of the transport union sector in Cuba is named ‘’José María Pérez Capote’’, a son of San Antonio de los Baños.