-DATE-
19621229
-YEAR-
1962
-DOCUMENT_TYPE-
APPEARANCE
-AUTHOR-
F. CASTRO
-HEADLINE-
PLAYA LARGA FESTIVAL
-PLACE-
CIENAGA DE ZAPATA
-SOURCE-
HAVANA RELOJ NACIONAL
-REPORT_NBR-
FBIS
-REPORT_DATE-
19621231
-TEXT-
CASTRO ATTENDS PLAYA LARGA FESTIVAL

Havana Reloj Nacional network in Spanish 1616 GMT 29 December 1962--F

(Text) Premier Fidel Castro at on Friday inaugurated the charcoal festival
which is being held in the tourist center of Playa Larga, in Cienaga de
Zapata. Fidel exchanged impressions with Isabel (Morar--phonetic) of the
amateurs department of the National Culture Council, with Maj. Rene
Vallejo, and with Abraham (Masiques--phonetic), General administrator of
the national tourist park at Cienaga de Zapata. Leaders and directors of
the national culture council also participated.

Fidel said it is necessary to have exposition like these in all parts of
the country and he was surprised that the festival was organized in only 15
days. The premier expressed the need for being able to sell to the public
the products which the charcoal-workers (carboners) make in Cienaga de
Zapata. Premier Fidel Castro wash shown a doll made of rags which
represented the effigy of (Malende?), who was a latifundist in Cienaga and
Fidel thought the doll was very funny. He recommended that not a single
crab be lost in Cienaga, in order to (word indistinct), because these crabs
are not as pretty as the "moro" crabs (cangrejos moros) but are more juicy.
He also recommended that the art instructors should concern themselves with
developing the talents which exist in the people.

Fidel announced an inlaid work (embutidos) fair for the month of April of
next year, which will be held at the agronomics school of the University of
Havana, stating that by that date a factory for the making of inlaid work
will be finished. He later attended an exposition of paintings by the
charcoal-workers and their children and an artistic performance in which
the charcoal-workers took part.

Before going to the charcoal festival, Fidel made a visit to the Rene Ramos
(Latur?) fishing cooperative and talked with the fishermen. In those
conversations, Fidel recommended that a turtle and "caguama" turtle
hatchery be established (during the closed season?) in Cay Largo in order
to supply Varadero. The fishermen informed Fidel that during the month of
December they have caught 54,810 pounds of fish, and they complained that
they do not have spare parts for the boats. Answering the complaint of the
fishermen, Fidel told them that the INRA fishing department will acquire
spare parts worth 250,000 dollars for the boats. In his visit to the
fishing cooperative, Fidel talked with the administrator of the
cooperative, Enrique Castillo, and to fisherman Candido Bermudez. This
cooperative has 12 boats, on which 40 men work. In a humorous tone, Premier
Fidel Castro told the fishermen: I have a gun which goes right through any
jewfish it hits. Fidel was also interested in the increase in underwater
fishing. he showed our special envoys, Pedro Pereda and Manuel Guerrero
some beans which are being grown in the experimental field at Cienaga de
Zapta. He told the fishermen that Soviet motors are going to be brought for
the boats, and he recommended that they ought to increase production so
that fish, which is a food high in protein, may reach the sugar workers and
all who cooperate in the sugar harvest. Fidel added that in this way, a
contribution is made to selling the sugar harvest and obtaining foreign
exchange to by spare parts and motors.

At the mouth of the Laguna del Tesoro, the Premier talked with numerous
persons, among them Francisco Alsogaray, whom Fidel warmly calls "the
engineer" and who is in charge of the desiccation work. Alsogaray informed
Fidel that in April or May of next year the canal which goes form the mouth
of the Laguna del Tesoro to the (Atibonico?) River is going to be
(blocked?) (empatado) in order to drain 4,000 caballerias in which
experimental planting, such as beans, has already been done.
-END-