Díaz-Canel: A lot remains to be done in Matanzas.

In the presence of the first secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba and president of the Republic Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, this morning in Matanzas, were discussed.the commitments made in this province to confront the country’s difficult economic situation.

Four months after Matanzas presented its Economic, Social and Political Strategy, the reality is one: work is being done, but there are still many reservations, which go beyond the objective problems and are associated with subjective aspects.

The report presented by Governor Mario Sabines Lorenzo was followed by an analysis of the economic and social indicators of a region like this one, with an indisputable weight in the structure of production of goods and services in the country.

The evaluation focused on the production of foodstuffs, fundamentally agricultural products, many of which have not been satisfied, including eggs, rice, grains such as beans, and crops in high demand such as bananas.

In the case of cassava, the levels are not what can be achieved from its various uses in the human and animal diet, and its use as an extender.

In this sense, the Cuban leader insisted on how much still needs to be done in terms of food sovereignty and nutritional education in the municipalities, structures where cycles must be closed with the creation of agro-industrial companies, which should not only promote the fulfilment of plans, but also link up with producers, contract, check what has been agreed and also provide advice.

He reasoned that one problem in the country is food production and this issue must be solved if we really want to lower prices and contain inflation. This has to be solved by ourselves and one of the ways will be to eliminate intermediaries.

Díaz-Canel took an interest in the state’s contribution of milk and meat, which he described as too low in a province with great potential, an idea defended by Manuel Sobrino, head of the Ministry of the Food Industry.

Sobrino estimated that one of the reasons for the failure to fulfil the milk plan in Matanzas is related to the lack of links with producers, many of whom have not been given contracts and there is a large reserve.

Deputy Prime Minister Jorge Luis Tapia Fonseca associated the agricultural non-compliance with a clear disengagement with the countryside. «The most important thing here is the man and the land that produces,» he remarked, and then insisted on reviewing the method and style of work «because the truth is that we don’t go to the farm, we don’t control production, we don’t get a good contract.

Tapia Fonseca considered that another wasted space to increase food production are the assemblies of the partners, where you have to go to exchange, to debate with the farmers, with the producers.

The Deputy Prime Minister drew attention to the value of statistics, of the data that are put in reports. The information is not real, he warned. If the problems are not known, they cannot be transformed, he said.

Tapia admitted that food production is not just a matter for agriculture. There are 16 organisations responsible and they should be asked how they are responding to the action plan, just as popular participation in the neighbourhoods needs to be encouraged, he urged.

The meeting was held at the provincial school of the José Smith Comas Party and was attended by the highest authorities of the PCC, the government, political and mass organisations, business executives and other economic representatives.

Manuel Marrero Cruz. It is necessary to give the extra.

Prime Minister Manuel Marrero Cruz considered that despite the objective issues that have an impact on daily life, it should be remembered that these meetings maintain the purpose requested by Díaz-Canel of going the extra mile, appealing to the subjective things that prevent progress, which depends on the people.

He warned of the importance of being clear about the sense of urgency of these commitments, which are aimed at solving problems that affect the population and for this reason, he emphasised, they must be honoured.

He stressed the need for local productive systems to function well, «because this battle is won in the municipality, from the perception of generating creative actions, things that allow progress with their own solutions,» he insisted.

He invited people to reflect on the need not to be complacent about the fulfilment of indicators, but to analyse the quality of this fulfilment and whether it is sustained. He called for an in-depth analysis of what has not been done and when the rest will be fulfilled, because it is crucial that what has been agreed is fulfilled in the time committed, especially food production.

He warned that more fuel will be added to the fire if what has been contracted is not honoured within the established deadlines and non-payments are made to the producers, who here in Matanzas are concentrated in the dairy, genetic, pig and tourism sectors. This must be resolved now, he urged.

The Cuban premier alluded to the lack of cadres in key positions in territories such as Ciénaga de Zapata, Martí, Jovellanos, something which, he said, undermines the much-needed autonomy in times when it is urgent to empower the municipalities.

He stressed the need to strengthen the role of the mayor and deputy mayor as the administrative activity. «This is not going well,» he acknowledged.

The Prime Minister called for the production of alternative materials to continue building houses, resolving the cases of basic cells of the subsidy programme and expressed his disagreement with the implementation of the Casitas Infantiles, in order to respond to the requests for circles in Matanzas.

He referred to the relevance of attacking with more force the crimes, particularly those related to the theft and slaughter of cattle, many times associated to the lack of exigency and control, he pointed out.

He said that as part of the working system, the government has indicated to leave the meetings and go to the base to control, to see how the processes behave, «because you cannot do more of the same, that is not what the people expect from us. The people want concrete results. We have to change the things that does not work well».

Morales Ojeda: Matanzas can do more for the welfare of the people

The organisational secretary of the CCPCC, Roberto Morales Ojeda, explained that today’s meeting was preceded by the visit of a commission from the Central Committee and the Government of the Republic and also by the tours of the deputy prime minister Tapia Fonseca.

He acknowledged that in Matanzas there are examples that it is possible, because with the same limitations there are collectives with very good results. The province itself is evidence, he said, that despite the difficulties, obstacles are overcome, on the road to continue to bet on a prosperous 2023, as this people deserves.

It is up to the PCC to continue perfecting the ideological work, where an essential role is played by the reinforcement of values such as hard work, honesty, sensitivity and humanism, in order to ensure the sustainability of what has been designed in the strategy.

He said that resisting in a creative way means solving problems and moving forward, using the best experiences and innovation. He added that there can be no conformism in the cadres, because it is a question of being objective in order to mobilise the will of the people and to convince by example.

Morales Ojeda referred to the closing of the Cuban electoral process, which will take place on July 4, with the inauguration of the governors and vice-governors, who will be elected in the country on May 28.

«We are in the presence of a province that is in a position to move forward and to be an example of what can be done to overcome the complex times we are living through and to bring more well-being and quality of life to the people of Matanzas and in this way have an impact on the whole of Cuba».

He praised the political and communicative campaign where it is stated that the people of Matanzas are in Victory and showed his confidence in the Economic, Social and Political Strategy, which «will be evidence of what can be done in a Socialist Revolution like ours».

At the end of the meeting, Díaz-Canel summarised that it is necessary to focus thought and action on the fact that commitments have been made, work has been done, but much remains to be done. In view of this, concepts were shared, problems were analysed, and new proposals were made.

Matanzas, the fifth province to be visited by the Cuban President as part of his tour, ended the first four months of the year with a surplus and had an unquestionable success in honey production, with a historic record of 320 tonnes last April.

Photo by the author.

Written by Eva Luna Acosta Armiñán.