Benito Martinez Dies at 126
- Submitted by: admin
- Health and Medicine
- 10 / 14 / 2006
By Ortelio González Martínez
The oldest person in Cuba, Benito Martinez Abogan, died at 126 in this central Cuban city after a week in the hospital with heart failure.
Martinez, best known as Avión, was born June 19, 1880 in Haiti and arrived to Cuba in 1925 as a 45-year-old farm laborer.
He worked in agriculture and construction in eastern Cuba and later moved to Ciego de Avila where he labored on the building of the islands Central highway and other projects.
Martinez vitality was such that when reporters discovered him six years ago, they found him with a hoe in hand. He had already lived part of three centuries.
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