The Spanish who settled in Cuba quickly destroyed the indigenous peoples of Cuba through violence and disease. This left them without a good supply of free (slave) labor. To make up the difference, they began importing native peoples from the Guajira region between Colombia and Venezuela. These Indians, or "guajiros," lived in the rural areas of Cuba, often in crude shacks. Over the years, the name became a common term for any person who lived in the countryside and worked the land. It's a little like calling a rural American a "hillbilly."
