A journalist with access to the power circles in the United States said that former President George W. Bush used to eat candy out of anxiety whenever he, together with his advisors, were analyzing the foreign policy failures of his administration.
If all the presidents who occupied the Oval Office after January 1st, 1959, had the same method to scare the anguish away, surely those in charge of the White House services would have to add a hefty sum for candy purchases to the millions spent on subversive acts and aggressions of all kinds against the Cuban Revolution.
Not even during the peak days of COVID-19 did they relax a single one of the measures they put in place to try to suffocate us. However, Cuba mobilized all its resources and created the vaccines that saved the nation, brought it back to normality and gave rise to the ongoing recovery.
There is no doubt that the lack of success of United States have to do, essentially, with the capacity of Cuban leaders to identify and face the challenges with the help of people’s engagement.
WHAT 2023 NEEDS
This year will not be an easy one either. The severe world economic inflation is weighing on Cuba, making every purchase abroad more expensive. That is why it is vital to reach at least 9,755 million dollars in exports, an increase of 1,037 million dollars as compared to 2022, as it was informed by Alejandro Gil, Minister of Economy and Planning, before the deputies of the National Assembly of People's Power
And in this effort, as it is known, it is necessary to increase the presence of traditional products and contribute new items, based on the potential of the territories. It is also necessary to take advantage of exports of goods, which can contribute a little more than 2.6 billion dollars, and tourism services, which, according to estimates, will yield a little more than 1.6 billion dollars, which means an increase with respect to 2022.
It is understandable the need for the growth of foreign currency revenues, which, together with the increase in offers, the control of the budget deficit and the reduction of expenses in some sectors, is part of the design to face domestic inflation, which has affected the purchasing power of salaries and pensions.
In this context, US$ 1,648 million will be allocated to food imports to support the standard family food basket and social consumption.
On the basis of the billion dollars more in revenues with respect to the 2022 estimate, and from the effects of the 63 measures adopted to benefit the agricultural sector, the growth of production is also designed for this sector.
Substantial investments are also being made in agriculture, as evidenced today by the more than 11 billion Cuban pesos earmarked for capacity building in the rice, grains, various crops and livestock programs, among others.
Other investment projects are aimed at cement production, which will be materialized in the Nuevitas factory, and steel production, focused on the completion of the modernization of Antillana de Acero.
Money will also be earmarked for the completion of more than 30,000 housing units through the state's own efforts, without abandoning the possibility of creating basic housing cells.
ON AUTONOMY AND THE SUGARCANE HARVEST
The state socialist enterprise does not yet fulfill the role of energizing the country's economy and being its main driving force. In order to change the situation, it is necessary to move forward with the transformations of greater magnitude, which implies differentiating them, because not all of them require the same management and incentive system.
There are still some pending issues in this sector such as the achievement of the autonomy granted and the elimination of administrative mechanisms for the allocation of resources and the complementarity with the new economic actors, among others
In several companies, the concept of obtaining profits is still distorted because it should be the result of real productions, with well-prepared cost sheets, and not the result of the increase in prices, thus introducing more money into circulation and favoring inflation.
This 2023 will be a scenario to continue making municipal autonomy, constitutionally supported, a reality. It is a substantial change, with which the municipality will advance to the extent that it accurately diagnoses its economic potential and manages it in order to generate wealth for its own development. In conclusion, the challenge at this level is to visualize income from an integral development strategy in which all economic actors are involved.
In the sugar sector, everything possible is being done to advance the measures adopted to save it. But there is still a long way to go to complete the work force, create the conditions to organize the collectives and stabilize labor and technological discipline.
Sugar production in this harvest has been handled by only one group of sugar mills. This makes it more objective, flexible and with best practices. It is accompanied by the recovery of the production of sugarcane derivatives, such as alcohol and honeys, which in turn are used to produce quality rums and animal feed that generate income to pay the workers for the production of sugar cane.
SOCIAL JUSTICE
Social Security is not neglected either. In this year's budget, 45,896 million pesos have been projected to support the benefits of 1,821,000 retirees and pensioners. There is also money for the delivery of subsidies for the purchase of construction materials and the construction of basic cells for people with low income; attention to the housing problems of mothers with more than three children in need, and the transformation of communities and neighborhoods, all under the approach of eliminating vulnerabilities.
At the same time, 39,772 million pesos will be available to continue subsidizing, medicines, electricity and liquefied gas rates, water, and passenger transportation, among other priorities. This does not suppress the intentions to gradually eliminate subsidies to products and instead subsidize people.
Similarly, the welfare concept must change its focus so that people in vulnerable conditions, who are able to work, are given access to employment, a way out of their situation by contributing to themselves and to society.
THE NATIONAL ELECTRIC SYSTEM WILL CONTINUE TO BE A PRIORITY
The recovery of the National Electric System (SEN) will continue this year, with actions to reestablish the availability of distributed generation and rescue the Mariel and Moa engines.
The Ministry of Energy and Mines has also proposed to execute until 2024, at least two capital maintenances per year in thermoelectric plants, and move to three as of 2025. The latter is not easy. The SEN requires US$ 250 million per year at least for maintenance alone.
At the same time, measures must be implemented to reduce the demand and consumption of electricity in all sectors. Also the purchase prices of electricity generated by third parties will be increased. In addition, tax benefits will be granted to the state sector and to new forms of non-state management to develop projects based on the use of renewable energy sources.
There is a capacity to respond to the unconventional war that has been waged against us by promoting situations of alleged ungovernability, distrust in the system and the generation of a matrix of opinion of a failed State.
As for illegalities, crimes and corruption, sucking candy will not be enough to take away the anxiety of the people involving in them. Miguel Díaz-Canel, First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba and President of the Republic, has said that the stage of prolonged diagnosis and contemplation of these scourges is now behind us, and we are moving on to a systematic, efficient, effective, realistic and objective fight with the engagement of all.
