-DATE-
19681002
-YEAR-
1968
-DOCUMENT_TYPE-
SPEECH
-AUTHOR-
F. CASTRO
-HEADLINE-
FIDEL CASTRO SPEAKS TO GRADUATING TRACTOR OPERAT
-PLACE-
HAVANA
-SOURCE-
HAVANA GRANMA
-REPORT_NBR-
FBIS
-REPORT_DATE-
19680930
-TEXT-
FIDEL CASTRO SPEAKS TO GRADUATING TRACTOR OPERATORS

[Transcript of speech by Fidel Castro to graduating Piccolino tractor
operators in Cangrejeras, 30 September 1968; Havana, Granma, Spanish,
2 October 1968, pp 2,3/

Speech given by commander-in-chief Fidel Castro Ruz, first
secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba and prime minister of the
revolutionary government, on the occasion of the graduation of the
first course of "Piccolino" tractor operators, at Cangrejeras on
30 September 68, "Year of the Heroic Guerrilla Fighter".

(Department of Shorthand Transcripts of the Revolutionary
Government)

Comrades of the first battalion of Havana "Piccolinos":

For some time, we have been waiting impatiently for the equipment,
the shortage of which made itself so greatly felt in the Havana Green Belt,
finally to arrive It certainly appeared to us that the delay was becoming
excessive and this was naturally the result of everyone's impatience. But,
finally, the equipment is here and it has arrived at exactly the time when
we can put it to greatest use.

In this province this year, recent months have been excessively
rainy and when there is excess rain it is not easy to use these machines.
But now that the period of considerably diminishing rainfall is upon us, we
are going to be able to use these machines in an optimum fashion and most
efficiently for some months.

During the period between the time when we purchased these
machines until their arrival in the country, we have been training the
operators. The course lasted somewhat longer than was expected but, maybe,
this will have served the purpose of giving this first battalion a better
knowledge and more experience. And it is obviously very important that the
first battalion should be well prepared.

These machines have a factory name -- I believe that it is
"Goldoni GM-4" -- the smaller ones have another name. But the fact is that
when the manufacturers first came around here and talked about these
machines -- it was on the occasion of a show which took place in Havana not
so long ago -- they used to say: "Piccolino," and "Piccolino," "Piccolino."

It appears that, in Italian, "piccolino" means small and of course
the name "Piccolino" was applied to these tractors. And, in this way, these
machines have earned a name of their own and some of them also arrived from
the factory with their name, "Piccolinos" and they were baptized
"Piccolinos." And I do not believe anyone is now going to change that name.

Agricultural Development in Havana Area

This small ceremony taking place today symbolizes many things. In
the first place the tremendous development of agriculture in Havana
province and especially in the Havana Green Belt. The time taken in moving
ahead with this agricultural plan is truly a record. Everyone who has
travelled in the area surrounding our capital saw how underutilized the
land was, on many occasions, hundreds and hundreds of caballerias /1
caballeria = approximately 33 acres/ which produced absolutely nothing.
What is more, something in excess of 200 caballerias were covered in marabu
weed. Here, we live in a truly large city where the amount of vegetation
and trees is very small. There are large requirements of foodstuffs. And,
this year, this plant has been moved forward leading to the planting of
fruit trees, coffee and temporarily of pigeon pea--which we can use for a
period of time -- of more than 1,000 caballerias surrounding the capital.

This means that we are seeking the maximum utilization of this
land and there will be somewhat more than 1,000 caballerias of fruit trees
as a result of this effort. This will have great value not only from an
economic point of view, but also from the point of view of health, the
atmosphere, the countryside and the general conditions of life for the
people. It is possible that the city of Havana, however great its size,
should not be able to consume all the fruit which is produced on this
thousand or so caballerias.

It must be added that not only will there be this thousand or so
caballerias of fruit trees but -- as we said some days ago -- there will
also be recreation grounds and a botanical garden, also of great
importance, educationally, economically and culturally; and furthermore
there will be bare areas sown with trees for timber, in the areas where the
quality of the land is lowest, as well as areas taken up with reservoirs,
such as the Paso Seco reservoir, for example, which will take up 60 to 70
caballerias of land. And there will be other Installations which will be
set up on this land.

But, in any event, I believe that we are moving towards a full
utilization of the land surrounding Havana, in the same way as this will be
done throughout the province and, within a few years, throughout the
country.

Women Play Their Part

This is why I was telling you that this ceremony is symbolic of
the great advances made by our agriculture. But it is also symbolic of
something else which is very important for our revolution, the
incorporation of women into productive work. This means the true beginning
of equality of opportunity for women, their entry into a number of
activities which they are fully capable of performing, with a high quality
level in their work. This is also significant of the way in which
conditions are being established providing a true system of Justice for the
whole country. Because not only do we now no longer have the situation
where man is exploiting man in our society, but we also no longer have its
by-product, a situation in which there was discrimination against women in
work and there was discrimination against them in many respects.

Why recall the past when the woman was truly so ill-treated, so
exploited and so much the subject of discrimination? It is only necessary
to speak of it to push it behind us. For this reason we rejoice in seeing,
right now, in the present, what it means for the country and for the future
of the country that you should have joined in, in such a useful manner, in
such a progressive manner in the productive activities of our country,
carrying out duties which enable our people to benefit from ever-increasing
numbers of human resources, in the enormous effort which we must make
during these years for our development.

We must also add that experience demonstrates woman's capacity to
carry out these tasks, the special care they take of machinery, of its
maintenance, their seriousness at work, their discipline, all these are
characteristics of the Cuban woman.

From a technical point of view, this also symbolizes progress,
mechanization, the degree to which our productive processes are mechanized
and to which our productive forces have developed. The enormous tasks
undertaken could not have been moved forward without machinery.

This morning, we read in a newspaper report that it was calculated
that each operator with her equipment could do the work of 30 to 60 persons
doing the same Job with a hoe. This means that the productivity of work is
multiplied by 40 with the use of these machines. Anyone can understand that
this is the only way to develop the wealth of our country, its natural
resources, to a maximum and that it is the only way to enable our people to
benefit from a limitless abundance of the necessities of life.

Used to Be Work of Slaves

Thus, following classical work methods which, in the last century,
used to be the work of slaves this may seem incredible but this was the
case -- during many centuries, land was exploited by human beings, but by
human beings living like animals. Just as we see today in the case of
animals under the yoke, tied down, chained, pulling a cart, digging a
furrow, and mankind was treated in just this way only one century ago. And
this is how the land was made to produce in our country for many centuries.

During the whole colonial period, work in the cane fields, work in
the fields, work in the coffee plantations, work in sugar mills was the
work of slaves.

Once slavery had disappeared, it was replaced by another
institution under which men were no longer tied down, they were no longer
under a yoke, but they were also subjected to iniquitous exploitation and
to inhuman conditions of work.

The first of these inhuman conditions was that they did nut work
for themselves, nor did they work for society. It could not be said that
any man was someone else's property, but the estates on which they worked,
the land on which they worked, the equipment which they worked, the
factories where they worked, these did not belong to the people, they were
the property of private individuals.

So that although man was not tied by a chain every night, he
continued to all intents and purposes in the same state of slavery working
for a miserable starvation wage and under a system where the product of his
efforts went into the bottomless pockets of the land and factory owners.

Not one cent of this effort went into some form of social welfare,
not one cent went into investing for the future of the children of those
who had created that wealth, or for the health of those who had created
that wealth. And thus, when men who worked for starvation wages needed a
drug, they had to go out and get one; when thy needed a hospital they had
to go out and look for a physician, they had to pay the physician or do
without his services. It was the same for his family. And it was exactly
the same with education and, indeed, with all those elements which are
absolutely necessary in any society.

Workers, then, used to create wealth for parasites, for sectors of
the population which did not produce anything whatsoever.

A System Which Has Eliminated Property

The setting up of a social system which eliminates selfish
exploitation of the means of production, of a social system which converts
the means of production into the people's property, something to be
developed for the benefit of the whole people, finds its complement in the
introduction of technology and machinery. As a result, not only can man
work for society as a whole, but his work will also have a far higher
productivity and he is freed from the kinds of work that are really hard.

You will understand perfectly well the effort required by 40 men
working 8 hours in a climate such as ours, digging furrows; you will
understand how much human energy, how much effort and how much sacrifice
these machines eliminate.

Through such methods, as the result of its tremendous rate of
progress thanks to the use of technology, a modern and just society can
achieve successes which will permit even animals -- those animals we still
look upon with sorrow from time to time, because we also see them working
in the fields -- will be set free by these machines.

Thus, man not only frees himself, not only does he free the slaves
of yesterday, but he even frees the slaves of today, those who still remain
today, the animals. Thus, machines, chemicals, herbicides and all similar
resources will free animals which will be used in some other capacity: also
that of serving man, but they will not have to do so through this type of
work which one calls the work of animals. We used to say: This man has to
work like an animal in order to be able to survive. Soon, there will be
nothing with which to compare man's work.

We shall be able to move ahead towards the fulfillment of the
enormous plans made by the revolution, with this equipment we are
purchasing.

Also Symbol of Organizational Level

This ceremony is also a symbol of the organizational level we have
reached: our experience in organization, how to organize a school, how to
organize the students, how to organize work, how to organize by brigades;
what tremendous discipline we achieve in this way!

The whole world understands fully the usefulness of organization,
facilitating the optimum usage and maintenance of machinery.

In the past, disorganization was largely the characteristic of our
country; nevertheless, organization is, at present, also a characteristic
of our country.

We do not have the least doubt that the handing over of these
machines to their operators will prove to be highly successful and we have
not the least doubt that you will show true evidence of your capacity, of
your conscientiousness in your work, of your love for these machines, of
your appreciation of the value of all this. Because each one of the
machines acquired by our country has to be paid for, they mean the
expenditure of foreign exchange which is the fruit of the sweat and the
effort made by our people; and every time you are working with these
machines, you must always think what they have cost in the way of effort
and of work for our country. And this will always help you to feel a
greater love, and to show greater care for these machines which are also
partly the fruit of your own efforts at work.

This first battalion must be followed by a second battalion. Thus,
we must move ahead quickly with the second course because these 110
machines are not enough; we have calculated that we need from 200 to 250
machines to do the work under optimum conditions in the Havana Green Belt.

Apart from this second battalion, there will also have to be
battalions to take care of the planting of bananas -- for example -- in the
interior of the province and the planting of citrus fruit also in the
interior of the province.

Thus, when the Havana province plan is completed, we calculate
that we shall need -- and we still have to see whether we can use this type
of tractor in pineapple planting -- at least five battalions of
"Piccolinos." There will also be a need for "Piccolino" battalions in Pinar
del Rio province, in the Isle of Pines, in Matanzas, in all provinces,
because next year there will also be large scale sowing of citrus fruit
trees in the Isle of Pines, Pinar del Rio, Havana, Matanzas, Las Villas,
Camaguey and Oriente provinces; there will also be a major citrus fruit
plan for Ciego de Avila, for example. These citrus fruit plans include
coffee plantations.

Minimum of Work by Hand

Now, we are studying distances, That is to say we are studying
other distances so that the machines can work along the length of the
furrows and across the furrows, although we are not able to sow gandul in
between. But it is so important, the importance of cultivation is so great,
it is so enormously important to be able to solve cultivation problems by
means of such vast plantation that we are in the position to be able to
sacrifice some of the objectives which we seek such as, for example, the
objective of being able to gather a crop of vegetables precisely because we
want to be able to harvest with the use of machinery. This may lead to the
fact that there are 2 meters on one side and 1.70 meters on the other;
coffee tree shrubs are sown by pairs, 30 centimeters one from the other in
groups of two shrubs. And it is then possible also to harvest cotton by
machine and only a minimum of work has to be done by hand. And in citrus
plantations, this distance will probably be used next year and we shall be
able to take care of all plantations with the 1300 "Piccolinos" purchased.

These are the first, but during the next seven or eight months,
the rest of the 1,300 machines will arrive.

Thus, these "Piccolinos" will provide work for some 4,000 women,
between the operators, substitute operators, those in charge of platoons
etc. We are going to continue with this policy of having the equipment
exclusively handled by women.

It is my understanding that there are also battalions of "Bolgars"
operated by women in Oriente province comrade Parra told me about this but
they also have "Zetors" 35-11 operated by women: "Zetors" 35-11 seem to be
quite maneuverable and quite practical. And he was telling me that he was
impressed by the efficiency of a group of women who were operating "Zetor"
35-11 tractors in Oriente province. These are larger tractors and are for
another type of cultivation. These also have to be used in citrus fruit
plantations as well as for vegetables, tubers, and various other crops.

Province Needs to Feed 2,000,000 Mouths

Havana province has a population of some 2,000,000 persons. This
province has to feed 2,000,000 people! But, nature has fortunately endowed
this province with a quite favorable climate. It is one of the regions with
the best rainfall distribution.

There are regions in the country where drought can prevail for
three or four months. This does not happen normally in Havana province.
During the summer, rain usually comes from the south, as a result of the
substantial evaporation which occurs between the Isle of Pines and Havana;
and, during cold months, from northerly winds thus causing rainfall during
almost all months of the year. The months of December, January, February,
March and April are, nevertheless, months of far less rainfall than occurs
during springtime. And one must also take into account the highly porous
nature of some of the soil, such as red clay, in Havana province.

Red clay -- the so-called Matanzas clay; not all red clay is
Matanzas clay -- is without any doubt whatsoever one of the best soils in
the world because, to all intents and purposes, it has all the advantages
of sandy soils without any of their disadvantages -- and all the advantages
of clay soils -- without any of their disadvantages.

These Matanzas clay soils are usable for almost any agricultural
purpose: they can be made to produce sugar cane, alfalfa, strawberries,
citrus fruits, tobacco, fruit and tubers. Thus, they can be used for almost
anything. This province has a large amount of this type of soil.

It also has black soils which should be put to better use, as for
example, for the growing of sugar cane, or, for that matter, for grass
since they have a high capacity for moisture retention. But, quite apart
from the fact that Havana City has to use enormous quantities of water,
there are large supplies of water for agriculture in the province. These
supplies were unknown some four or five years ago. As we had no information
about anything four or five years ago, no one knew how much subterranean
water there was, how much it rained in the province, how much water flowed
down the rivers and some people might say: Why do we have to know how much
water flows down the rivers? Yet, this is a very important fact because on
this depends decisions as to when water shall be stored, what type of
reservoir, what type of dam, what capacity should it have. It is evident
that without this information we could not build a dam, we could not make a
water plan, we could not plan agriculture.

And these data did not exist in our country. All that was known
was that Havana consumed so many millions of gallons of water daily and
that the Vento River Basin was inadequate, that one had to turn to the
Southern River Basin, and that the Southern River Basin was inadequate,
that one would have to construct another basin in the Bainoa zone. And
wherever water was found, plans were made to supply this water to the
capital; and one knew of no other use for that water.

Certain Crops Require Additional Water

We were then faced with the paradox that the population was
growing. This population required ever-increasing quantities of food, and
yet land in the area surrounding Havana magnificent land -- was without
water for irrigation purposes. Because, although I told you it was one of
the areas with the best rainfall distributions, certain crops nevertheless
require additional water at certain times of the year in areas where the
soil is of the Matanzas type.

How, we have all this type of information: we know all about the
flow of subterranean water, we know all about the flow of river water, we
know all about rainfall in the province. And an the basis of this
information we are moving ahead with plans to develop water supplies and
agriculture in the province. Fortunately, we shall have enough water not
only to supply the city, but also to supply water for irrigating crops.

In this region in the smallest province in the country -- we have
the highest concentration of population We must produce food for 2,000,000
people in this province and this has to be produced in the smallest
province in the country.

Formerly, almost all foodstuffs came from the interior. Much of
this magnificent land was devoted to estates for recreation, or for
whatever purpose the owner desired. Or they would be kept uncultivated
until the city grew and the owner would then sell it at a price per square
meter ten or twenty times higher than what he paid. And foodstuffs had to
come from the interior of the country.

In 1966, almost 3,000,000 quintals of tubers still came from the
interior of the country. This year, less than half a million quintals have
come from the interior. What is more, the output which went out of the
province -- because some provinces had a very dry year -- was higher than
the amount which came in. If 5,000,000 quintals of tubers,vegetables and
grains were produced in 1966, and the figure for this year will be
7,000,000, next year -- with the new crops that are being grown, bearing in
mind that in the case of bananas alone, for example, 700 caballerias are
already under cultivation in this province, as well as the cultivation of
yautia and potatoes which are already in hand as well as those for
vegetables which are to be undertaken -- the province will have to produce
some 12,000,000 quintals of tubers, vegetables and grains.

So that in 1969, we shall have an output more than double that of
1966 and 1967, In our opinion, an output of 12,000,000 quintals suggests
that the province no longer depends on supplies from the interior of the
country and that it will be fully self-sufficient as far as many
agricultural items are concerned.

Havana to Have Self-Sufficiency in Milk

Havana province will be completely self-sufficient in the supply
of milk, of cheese, butter, rice, fruit, vegetables and tubers in the
future. And not only will the province be self-sufficient in all these
items, but it will even have surpluses for export.

In 1970, this province will produce 1,000,000 tons of sugar. This
is equivalent to producing double the total sugar consumption in this
country. And with the increase of livestock which is about to develop
rapidly, this province will have a milk production reaching millions of
liters.

In this province, milk production is not limited by the amount or
quality of land; it is limited by the number of cows. We had to get rid of
tubercular cows and those suffering from brucellosis. Cows do not multiply
like coffee: the natural process is much slower. But we are even bringing
non-dairy cattle into the province in order to transform them through
insemination into dairy cattle. Tens of thousands of zebu cows will arrive
this year. Through insemination, they will reproduce F-1 cows.

In other words, dairy cattle are increasing, but in order to reach
self-sufficiency in milk more rapidly, we are sowing pasture lands and
bringing zebu cattle from the interior to reproduce the number of dairy
cows required by the province, by cross breeding.

By 1975, we hope to have no less than half a million dairy cattle
in Havana province, Some 8,000 of the 35,000 caballerias in the province
will be devoted to milk production, some 8,000 caballerias devoted to milk
productions. The province will be fully self-sufficient in milk, in fact
there will be a surplus. Not only this, but there will be an exportable
surplus of fruit, vegetables, citrus fruit, sugar etc.

At present, the province plays a part in vegetable exports. At
present, the province plays a considerable part in the production of
tobacco for wrapping used in cigars for export, as well as for domestic
consumption. Thus, thanks to the effort that is being made, the 35,000
caballerias will be in full production and will not only make the province
self-sufficient for all the basic needs of its 2,000,000 inhabitants but, I
repeat, it will have consider able surpluses for export. In this way,
Havana province will cease to be -- as it used to be for many years -- a
drag on the country and it will become one of the regions playing the most
important part in the economic development, the technical and cultural
development of Cuba, thanks to what its land provides and thanks to the
number of its inhabitants.

This Makes for Just Situation

In effect, this effort makes for a just situation and eliminates a
situation in which the capital was a drag on the country, to the extent
that it could be said that the capital of the country was a region which to
some extent lived at the expense of the rest of the country.

This situation will be transformed as a result of the work done by
the people of this province, until this fact is completely eradicated; and
not only this, but it will convert itself into one of the bulwarks of
Cuba's economic development.

We must make it our purpose to convert these 35,000 caballerias of
land in Havana province into a produce garden, sowing every kind of thing
there within the realm of possibility, Of course, there might be a sugar
mill which is not perfectly situated, but it is there and although this
land would be better suited to something else, we nevertheless of course
have to sow sugar cane. Some sugar mills will be eliminated at some future
time in our country but only those that are located in areas of very
undulating land which cannot be mechanized. Those sugar mills will
disappear since we have got to mechanize everything in sugar cane, just as
we are in all these crops.

Thus, rice will be sown in southern areas; the Havana Green Belt
will be an area of fruit trees and coffee; other undulating areas,
especially in the area surrounding Havana, much of it black earth, will
produce milk; the Matanzas clay areas which are good producers when
irrigated will produce vegetables, potatoes, citrus fruits, bananas,
tobacco, tubers, sugar cane and pineapple -- although pineapple does not
require such a high quality soil: at times very rocky soils are used for
pineapple cultivation. Thus, every crop will be in its appropriate
location.

It should be our most firm determination that one day anyone can
cross from one end to the other of the province and never find one single
square inch of land unutilized.

The day must be reached when all land is producing something. The
day must arrive when everything is like that model dairy which we have
built -- and which you know because you are its neighbors -- the Nina
Bonita dairy. This name "Nina Bonita" might seem to have been invented by
us, you could say...well, there really was a place called Nina Bonita and
this name seemed a good one to use to give to thin plan. And the name Nina
Bonita has already become some sort of a standard bearer, a type, a model
of dairy, the kind of dairies which are being built with air conditioning,
and many are being built for very high yield cows.

I could tell you that, for example, cows under air conditioning
give five liters of milk daily more than exactly the same cows without air
conditioning. This is a very interesting fact. We have of course to study
very fully if we are going to continue to make this type of dairy. There
are also some cows who give good yields, although lower, without air
conditioning. Later, we shall have to consider how many to build end which
ones we shall not build.

Holstein Cattle Required to Produce F-1

We are seeking to find high, cool ground for Holstein cows which
need a slightly less hot climate than our average. But not every part of
our country is equally hot. There are some places which are hotter than
others. We have F-1 cows to put in the hotter places. These cows are good
milk producers without air conditioning or any special facilities. But in
order to reproduce F-1 cows, we need to have Holstein cattle. Today we are
reproducing them through zebu cattle, but as these are not good milk
producers we shall in the future reproduce F-1 cows from Holstein cows.
Thus, we require that part of our cattle, one third, should be Holsteins to
breed F-1s. The proportion will be more or less two thirds F-1 to one third
Holsteins.

In any event, I was telling you that the Nine Bonita dairy
illustrates agriculture as it should be -- and we say that this is the
agriculture of 1980 -- you will not see a single square inch under
utilized. They are all under pasture or producing cattle feed. There was a
small fruit tree plantation there, there was room for a lot more plants;
they sowed them and they sowed coffee trees between the fruit trees. There
are windbreakers at the edges of the fields, made of valuable trees. In
this way soil humidity is better preserved there and whether with
irrigation or without the soil will be moist, avoiding losses as a result
of the drying effect of the winds. This means that land protected with
these windbreakers will produce more. But these windbreakers consist of
valuable trees; in between them coffee trees are sown, and at the edge of
the windbreakers -- in order to grow a smaller tree that makes the
windbreaking effect more complete -- indigenous lemon trees or tamarind
trees are grown.

Thus, you will not find a single square inch of land unutilized.
The day will arrive when they will also sow at the edges of highways -- not
right at the edge, obviously, because one has to take traffic safety along
the highways into consideration. There must not be one single square inch
of land which is not producing something. Our country cannot afford the
luxury of underutilizing its land.

Island Can Become Gold Nine

Our country, with its fertile land, with its outstanding climate,
with year round sunshine, with substantial amounts of water available
because rainfall is quite heavy -- although rainfall is irregular: there
are periods when it rains more than required and others when it rains less
than required. Therefore, we must store water in periods of surplus and
make use of it during periods when water is short -- with all these natural
conditions, our country can become a veritable plate of gold. Not the
"island of cork" of the past which, they said, did not sink in spite of the
large amount taken out by the whole world: the Spanish colonizers plundered
it, the US imperialists plundered it, the political gangsters plundered it,
making millions within a few months of getting into power. And nevertheless
they said that the island was made of cork because in spite of all this the
island would not sink. Well, this business about not sinking is something
which we must see, because we truly believe that this island was about to
sink in spite of its "floating" qualities. But this island can be converted
into a veritable plate of gold.

Nevertheless, in order to bring about this objective of extracting
are capable of producing, if we were to work with hand tools, with the
methods of old, if we were to continue with the hatchet, the spade, the
pick, our arms would not be enough. If we continue to dig with picks and
shovels, we could not grow anything, and I do not mean just over some of
our land: we could not even cultivate 10% of the land of this country.

For this reason, we must mechanize, we must use a maximum amount
of machinery, of herbicides. Unfortunately, we still have not discovered
the right herbicide to protect coffee tree seedlings. Good herbicides are
known, for example, in the case of pineapple trees, for onion rice, and we
already have good herbicides for sugar cane already produced industrially.
But, for coffee tree seedlings, we still do not have a herbicide produced
industrially in which we feel confidence and any true assurance that we can
use it. But technology is moving ahead on all sides and the time will
arrive when many of these crops will also be treated with herbicides.

Sugar Cane Untouched by Hand

Sugar cane will be untouched by hand in the future: it will be
prepared by machine, it will be sown by machines, it will be fertilized by
machines, it will be kept clear of weeds by herbicides which will be
applied with the use of aircraft. Planes will keep the cane fields free of
weeds and machines will cut the cane The human hand will never touch sugar
cane in the future!

And we have even said on more than one occasion and we have
already made some tests, installing air conditioned cabs on certain
tractors on an experimental basis. One has to remember that many of these
machines were manufactured in countries with cold climates, where they
begin to prepare the soil the moment winter is over and that we, on the
other hand, have a great deal of sun and very hot months. Therefore, we
feel that it will be necessary for our agricultural equipment also to be
supplied with air conditioning.

Of course, when irrigation is available in the whole country, a
lot of work on the land will no longer be done in June, July and August
which are the months of greatest heat and rain, but rather in January,
February, March, April, September, November, December. Nevertheless, the
day will come when our equipment will have air conditioned cabins.

This means that there are still many things to do. It is not
enough just to substitute machines for manual work. Better conditions for
the operation of this mechanized equipment have to be created. The day will
come when for many crops covering vast expanses of ground, such as sugar
cane and rice, there will not even be operators operating the equipment;
the day will come when groups of machines are operated electronically, i.e,
from a central cabin.

This is not just fantasy. This could not be done on a small
plantation, but there will be many crops cultivated over vast expanses of
ground and where, at some future date, man will not even be on the
machines. And as for productivity, just think of the productivity of the
pilot who sprays herbicides over 1,000 caballerias. To all intents and
purposes, this pilot is doing the work of about 10,000 men clearing cane
fields with spades.

When labor is productive, the volume of production which can be
achieved is unlimited. When a country has a good climate such as ours, good
land such as ours, it is perfectly obvious, perfectly clear that, by using
science and modern technology, together with organization, revolutionary
conscience, a love of work, the firm will to eradicate poverty accumulated
over the centuries, the firm will to create a new country which will be an
example for other countries in the world, we can do in practice everything
which we propose to do.

And throughout the country we see work done in this spirit. But,
it is necessary for us in this region, in this province, to move in the
vanguard because here we find the largest accumulation of needs, here we
find the largest population; here also, furthermore, there are substantial
human resources. And we must make it our purpose to convert this province
into a vast garden.

Your Responsibility

But before we convert the whole province into a vast garden, we
shall first have to convert the Havana Green Belt into a garden; during the
next months, everything will have to be sown complete with windbreakers,
and cleared. It will be your responsibility to keep the Green Belt like a
garden.

One can already see and appreciate the considerable amount of work
done, but it will reach its greatest degree of perfection next year, when
the windbreakers are up and all the fruit trees sown.

This very area where we are now is one of citrus fruit. The citrus
fruit trees have not been planted because the seedlings have not reached
adequate size yet. But, by next spring, all the plants, all the coffee, all
the fruit trees, all the windbreakers will have to be growing, and with the
help of these machines, these 110 machines -- with a further 100 or 110
machines more -- it is only reasonable to hope that, thanks to all your
enthusiastic work in all the things that can be done by machine, it will be
kept like a garden. In this way, it will be an encouragement for the
population of our capital, it will be stimulating, it will serve as a cause
for optimism, of confidence about all that man can achieve, working with
passion, working in a state of good organization, with a spirit of
struggle, and it will show how nature can be transformed.

And you will have the attractive task of helping to convert the
Havana Green Belt into a garden, within the framework of these plans for
our country.

This is the motto: May the Havana Green Belt be a garden and may
you be the gardeners in the Havana Green Belt! (Applause).

Country or death!

We shall overcome! (Ovation).

11,530
CSO:  4200-S
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