Santiago de Cuba: "The most beautiful tribute of the people of Santiago to the spirit of sacrifice of the young people of the Centennial is not to stand idly, not to have minded material shortages, and to have dreamed of a better province, made with the hands and sweat of its people.
"It is not for a heroic people to sit and wait, and the people of Santiago worked hard so that the seat would be theirs. They showed that, no matter how great the limitations may seem, when there is effort and confidence in victory, it is possible and always will be possible.
"In Santiago, the 26th is the triumph of dignity, will, revolutionary commitment, unity and optimism", affirmed to Granma José Ramón Monteagudo Ruiz, member of the Central Committee and first secretary of the Party in the province of Santiago de Cuba, in dialogue about the connotation of the 70th anniversary of the Moncada heroic deed, and the fact of celebrating it in the Hero City, next July 26th.
-What does the 70th anniversary venue mean for the people of Santiago?
-It has a special significance, because we are proud of our history, and because Santiago grew up in the face of the limitations to promote its economic-social development strategy.
"We received with joy the decision of the Political Bureau, and we celebrate it with patriotic fervor, because the 70th anniversary became a movement of the people: from the political and mass organizations, the work and study centers, the neighborhoods and the furrow, the effort was multiplied to achieve the modest results we have today."
-How does the province arrive to this commemoration?
-It was a priority to arrive with a people motivated to move forward, encouraging creative resistance. We knew that the plan of activities was ambitious in this economic context; therefore, we set goals in stages to honor the 64th anniversary of the triumph of the Revolution, 170th anniversary of the birth of our National Hero José Martí, 65th anniversary of the founding of the 2nd and 3rd Eastern Front, 145th anniversary of the Baraguá Protest, 95th anniversary of the birth of Che, and 178th anniversary of the birth of Antonio Maceo.
"There was a lot of convocation and explanation to the people of the objectives in each period; in addition, we systematized the meetings with the sectors and, in a special way, with the young people, who have been in the front line in all the tasks, and they have done well.
"We set out to restore real estate, roads, monuments and places that are part of the nation's historical heritage, and we achieved it in Mangos de Baraguá, in the enclaves related to the founding of the guerrilla fronts, in Dos Ríos, in the 26 de Julio monumental area, in La Granjita and on the Siboney road.
"Communities such as Nuevo Vista Alegre, Pastorita, Rajayoga, Sevilla and Siboney, in the head municipality; Baraguá, in Mella; and Loma del Gato, in Songo-La Maya have been transformed. Medical offices, schools, warehouses and markets, food serving entities, sports areas and recreational centers were refurbished; potholes were patched, facades were painted and resurfaced, and parks were recovered.
"This, together with the dedication of our farmers and the work of the cadres, allowed us to create productive centers in all the municipalities, revitalize the existing ones, open more than 30 new areas for agricultural development and production, and take advantage of idle or insufficiently exploited lands. This will have an impact on territorial self-sufficiency, and will make it possible to advance in the purpose of achieving food sovereignty.
"Everything has been possible with the drive, firmness and unity of the children of Santiago. And we say it without triumphalism, because we know that what has been achieved is still far from what our people, our Revolution and our socialism need".
-How do you value the participation of the sectors?
-Everyone deserves recognition and congratulations from the Party and the Government in this stage, even those who have had the most modest results.
"One of the premises of the political-ideological work to promote the economic-social development is to materialize what the General of the Army indicated: that the plan is sacred and it is made to be fulfilled, not to give explanations in case of non-compliance. This is what we must continue to emphasize.
"It is fair to say that there are many material shortages, and that behind every task there is the sacrifice of people who overcome problems and give their best.
"Santiago shows changes in very sensitive sectors for the population, as in Health, which has managed to save all serious and critical maternal patients, and reduce infant mortality, although it must continue to raise the quality of services; and in Education, in which the province was highlighted in the national emulation for the fulfillment of the main indicators.
"We have managed to revitalize cultural life: we resumed the Noche Santiaguera, we had the Jazz Festival, the MatamoroSon, and we celebrated a memorable Fiesta del Fuego. We have to congratulate our athletes for the 50 medals we contributed to Cuba's medal count in the Central American and Caribbean Games of San Salvador-2023, with 27 gold, 12 silver and 11 bronze medals. We also have good results at the national level in basketball, chess, soccer and baseball, with the performance of our Avispas in the 62nd National Baseball Series, to cite a few examples".
-You insist that Santiago de Cuba has more potentialities that it can take advantage of, in spite of the current limitations. Why?
-The fact that we managed to fulfill the commitments for the 70th anniversary does not mean, in the least, that there are no problems. We are going through a complex stage, one of the most challenging in the 64 years of the Revolution. The blockade has intensified and to this we must add the impact of the world economic crisis, of the COVID-19 and of our deficiencies, above all in the subjective order, and which depend on the actions of the political activists and the leadership structures.
"That is why it is so important to advance: To explain the priorities, to better organize the work, to listen to the people and to politically assure the attention to the problems of daily life in issues such as the distribution of food, with special attention to the regulated family basket, the supply to markets and agricultural fairs; transportation, water supply, the contingencies of the National Electric System, the abusive and speculative prices, and housing, which is one of the most pressing and which requires greater control and demand for, with what there is, to advance more in the construction of new real estate.
"We cannot be satisfied with what has been done, we must set higher goals to circumvent the blockade, as comrade Díaz-Canel has asked us to do, and advance in the solutions that the territory needs to strengthen socialism, which we will never renounce. We must raise production and labor productivity; improve the quality of services, as well as achieve greater efficiency, based on savings and the rational use of the resources we have.
"This is not the end of the combat, but a special motivation to continue raising the spirituality of our revolutionary, laborious and joyful people; to continue applying the ideas, concepts and guidelines of the 8th Congress; to continue fighting the economic battle and to take more advantage of Santiago's potentialities, as well as to fulfill the commitments made with the country's leadership.
"We must continue working on the implementation and consolidation of measures to strengthen the socialist state enterprise, and those aimed at boosting agricultural production and achieving the recovery of the sugar cane sector, in which we still have difficulties. We have to stabilize local productions to increase the supply of food and other resources to the population; and promote the development of vital investments for the country that are undertaken in our territory.
"The province has to continue the rehabilitation of roads, although there are advances in this sense: some 50 000 tons of asphalt have been used to improve part of the road infrastructure, such as Patria, Las Américas and Victoriano Garzón avenues; and Baraguá, Siboney and Country Club roads, among others.
"We must continue improving the look of the city. For this purpose, buildings, bridges, streets have been painted; billboards allegorical to the history of the territory and other elements of its identity have been placed."
-They say that Santiago is Santiago....
-And it is, no doubt. Santiago is Santiago and will remain so for the pride of Cuba. In the land of Maceo, of Moncada, where we treasure the mortal remains of our National Hero, of Fidel, of the Mother and Father of the Homeland, of Vilma, of Almeida and of so many heroes, there is no other way but to work, to create, to defend at all costs every conquest, and we are doing it with the effort of all, because only this way we will overcome.
