The member of the Political Bureau and Secretary of Organization of the Central Committee of the Party, Roberto Morales Ojeda, toured this Thursday sites of interest in Havana, to verify the progress in priority issues such as food production, the revival of the economy and the attention to social problems.
The itinerary began in the community garden Casino Deportivo, in the neighborhood of the same name, in the municipality of Cerro, belonging to the basic unit of cooperative production Primero de Julio, with a total area of 12 hectares, divided into five farms and dedicated to vegetables, crops and condiments, with a yield of between eight and nine kilograms per square meter.
In a dialogue with managers and workers of the unit, the Party leader learned of the existence, on 1.68 hectares, of various crops such as cucumber, radish, green beans and chard. Under the principle of rationality, only 16 workers assume the preparation of the beds, the sowings, the cultural cares and the harvests.
The Secretary of Organization of the Central Committee described as decisive the nutritional contribution of the community gardens. Consequently, he insisted on rescuing all or most of them in the capital, in addition to expanding the existing capacities.
He also praised the initiative to open an intensive garden in areas of La Dependiente hospital, with all the benefits for its patients and workers, a productive practice assimilated by the Dermatological Hospital in Santiago de las Vegas and the Psychiatric Hospital of Havana (Mazorra).
According to this line of action, the political figure checked the results of the productive front in the latter Public Health institution. Where a short time ago weeds reigned, now plantations of banana, cherry, lemon, pumpkin, melon, eggplant, pigeon peas, sweet potato, guava and other vegetables and fruits are growing.
Brigadier General Regis Amorós, head of the province's Military Region, reported the availability of 33 hectares of land - 17 of them in use and ten in preparation - and the harvest of a little more than eight tons, half of them for the assistance unit.
The Psychiatric Hospital provides the land and the labor force: 30 soldiers, with 15 for guard duty and the rest for agricultural work. Soon they will exploit other areas, expand production, experiment with other crops and set up a small dairy farm, Amorós added.
Morales Ojeda spoke of results and prospects in glowing terms, with the challenge of multiplying the experience, since food security is a strategic issue for the country.
The Caribbean Electric Vehicle Company (Vedca) hosted a stop on the journey, which belongs to the Grupo Empresarial de la Industria Sidero-Mecánica (Gesime). It assembles and markets tricycles, bicycles, motorcycles and other electric vehicles for the domestic and international markets.
Recently, this entity opened a plant in Santiago de Cuba, and others are planned in Holguín and Matanzas.
According to Daniel Rodríguez Arias, head of the Sales Group, from February 2021 to July this year they produced around 7,000 units, which translates into approximately ten million dollars in sales. They are making inroads into e-commerce, with different types of batteries.
The main customers are individuals living abroad, who, through online platforms as a fundamental channel, purchase and send the products to their relatives on the island, he said.
Internacional Cubana de Tabacos S.A. (ICT) is the only mechanized factory in the country to develop this product, of 100% natural Cuban origin, under prestigious brands, said Production Director Víctor Manuel Martínez Espinosa.
Among its more than 400 workers, 95 % are women and occupy very important positions, he stressed. In view of the exodus of the workforce, due to causes such as competition from MSMEs and the migration boom, intensive training courses for female operators have been implemented since 2023, currently attended by around 80 people.
As of August 19, when the factory usually stops its machinery for vacations, the trained women, as the main force, will continue the activities, to recover part of the backlog accumulated in the first quarter, added Martínez Espinosa.
Luis Ricardo Soler Silva, president of the ICT, illustrates that in the first quarter they produced 575,000 cigars a day, hit mainly by the lack of spare parts, but then increased the figure to 900,000 in July. This visit represents an encouragement to move forward, he told Morales Ojeda, who, for his part, highlighted the design of production to overcome the losses.
The delegation also visited Los Pececitos, in the Mulgoba district of Boyeros. Here, a neighborhood was born from the transformations made to a transit community, made up of four two-story buildings and eight warehouses, which were conditioned as apartments.
They built a point of sale for TRD and Cimex products, a sports area and a park. They also repaired the doctor's office, the bodega and the children's circle, and are currently working on paving the street and sidewalks... but the neighbors have several dissatisfactions.
Morales Ojeda explained that, precisely, the purpose of these exchanges is to know how the people think, to sound their criteria, to check and control. He informed of the forthcoming creation of a commission in charge of going deeper into the matter, and assured that the errors will be corrected, with the promise to come back in September.
He considered as an enormous effort for the province and the country the progress of the most disadvantaged neighborhoods, but assured that the Revolution will never lose heart in the desire to improve the quality of life of its children, with the principle of never promising what cannot be fulfilled.
Finally, at the headquarters of the Directorate of Investments of the Office of the City Historian, its director Yoana Aedo Gutierrez mentioned the execution of 87% of the budget allocated in 2024, just at the height of last month. "This will be the first year in which the Office will not have finished housing, due to a deficit of materials," she stated.
Aedo Gutiérrez listed affectations to the investment process, such as the paralyzation of construction work in homes in the start-up and development phase, the negative impact on the Works Preparation program and the allocation of only 144.3 of the 1 .978 tons of cement planned, as well as zero wood and steel reinforcement and assortments.
Faced with these complexities, they take measures such as importing complementary resources to the National Industry, among them cement, reinforced polymer, high elastic limit wires and steel bars. They also produce blocks and milled material from demolition debris, and direct their efforts to the works with greater possibilities of completion.
They have already finished the setting and remodeling work in spaces such as the Quinta de los Molinos, the Retazos Theater and the Simón Bolívar House, while for the city's 505th anniversary they are committed to the delivery of the first l of the Santa Clara Convent, with follow-up with the European Union and Unesco, in addition to the Conde de Jaruco, the Vertical Garden of the Calderón Park and the Sarrá Cultural Center, among others.
"It is challenging, but it is possible. From the Office we have to continue defending the work and legacy of Eusebio Leal and Fidel. I think this shows how much we can do in the search for sources of income to carry out projects. Do not stop, at least in dreaming", emphasized the Secretary of Organization.
Before the tour, a meeting took place at the Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba, with the purpose of evaluating the adjustment of its work system to the priorities outlined by the vanguard organization, in view of the urgency of showing better results in its 9th Plenary Session, in December.
Morales Ojeda stressed the importance of the political-communication support to the measures to correct distortions, and the will to ensure the minimum indispensable conditions for that purpose.
He also warned about the need to increase political militancy in social networks, to face the unconventional war waged against the Revolution in the digital environment, and to shorten the deadlines to complete the cadres, both of the Party and the Young Communist League, because only the strengthening of its internal life will make it possible to increase its influence in society.
The first secretary of the Provincial Committee in the capital, Liván Izquierdo Alonso, announced the creation, starting in September, of groups dedicated to analyze, execute and follow up the defined priorities.
"What Havana does decides the situation of the country", assured Morales Ojeda, and mentioned battle fronts such as food production, the fight against tax evasion, bureaucracy and slowness, and the sanitation of the city.
