Ever since he was a child, he has walked among cows and calves, because even when he did not get four or five-quarters off the ground, he would go with his father to the dairy, and sitting on a bench, he would watch attentively how his father treated the cattle, talked in their ears and milked them. And for him, it was a feast to see how that white liquid was filling the bucket until the foam almost spilled out.
Las Tunas, Cuba.- Today, those who know him closely know that he is obsessive when it comes to taking care of cows and calves, or dealing with bulls weighing more than 500 kilograms, even though they see him every day, and to a certain extent they know him.
"Don't pay much attention to what they say about me, because they exaggerate. I just like to do my job," says Ángel Luis Rodríguez from the height of his horse, attentive to the calves under his care."
"What happens is that every day in this world I try to be like my father, who was a great cattle rancher, a good dairy boss, and a good milk producer, and even though he is now retired he follows me and gives me encouragement to be better."
As head of the development farm of the Waldemar Membrado basic cooperative production unit, in the municipality of Las Tunas, he devotes all his efforts to raising calves until they grow up. Then the females go to the heifer center and the males to fattening.
"I have been a cattle farmer all my life because I learned it as a child. I like working with animals, fighting so they don't have problems or die. Of course, being a cattle rancher is in the blood, if you don't have cattle ranching in your blood, it's just for fun; you can study, but if you don't like it, it's as if nothing happened."
In times when crime is a scourge in the fields, on Angel's farm there are no problems with that.
"Here we have good corrals. When I go to the gate I give the guard the number of cattle I have. On a notebook he signs and I sign, and the next day in the morning I receive it, I see each animal see its state of mind, and before releasing them to the paddock I check the fences to see if they have not been bitten, if they are well, so that the calves are not going to get out."
Ángel Luis' work is patient, arduous, and difficult. But it is comforting and his pride rises when he delivers those calves that grew up in his shadow.
