-DATE-
19750316
-YEAR-
1975
-DOCUMENT_TYPE-
APPEARANCE
-AUTHOR-
F. CASTRO
-HEADLINE-
CASTRO TOURS GUANTANAMO, MANZANILLO AREAS
-PLACE-
CUBA
-SOURCE-
HAVANA GRANMA WEEKLY REV
-REPORT_NBR-
FBIS
-REPORT_DATE-
19750403
-TEXT-
FIDEL CASTRO TOURS GUANTANAMO, MANZANILLO AREAS

Havana GRANMA WEEKLY REVIEW in English 16 Mar 75 p 3

[Text] Manzanillo--Commander in Chief Fidel Castro, first secretary of the
Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba and prime minister of the
Revolutionary Government, conducted an extensive tour of the Manzanillo
region in Oriente Province. During the visit Fidel analyzed with party
leaders the implementation of the industrial development plan for this
region.

Accompanying our commander in chief were Juan Almeida Bosque, delegate of
the Political Bureau in Oriente, and Armando Hart Davalos, first secretary
of the party in Oriente, both members of the Political Bureau; Joel
Domenech, deputy prime minister of the basic industry; Jose A. Naranjo and
Osmany Cienfuegos, members of the Central Committee of the party; Lester
Rodriguez, minister of the sideromechanic industry; Angel Gomez Trueba,
minister of industrial construction; and other officials of the
Revolutionary Government; as well as Eddy Almaguer, first secretary of the
party in the Manzanillo region.

Fidel's tour took place on 4 and 5 March and included the 16-mile drive
between Manzanillo and Cayo Espino, a highway under construction stretching
over canefields and pasture lands. Fidel also visited the construction site
of an irrigation pipe factory.

The commander in chief also visited an ice cream cone factory where he
talked with the workers and neighbors of the zone, just as everywhere else
he went.

Fidel and those accompanying him inspected the construction project along
the Manzanillo beach, east of the city.

The tour likewise included a visit to the construction site of the
elementary teachers' training school, with capacity for 2,000 students.
There Fidel stressed the importance of this center in the educational
development of the Manzanillo region. He visited the 554-bed hospital under
construction in the outskirts of Manzanilio. At a meeting held with Eddy
Almaguer, first secretary of the party in the region of Manzanillo, Fidel
pointed out the necessity of giving priority to the construction of the
irrigation pipe factory and of starting immediately the construction of
storage battery, candy and ice factories in this region. In the list of
priorities is included the torula processing plant to be built in the Juan
Manuel Marquez sugar mill.

Fidel insisted on the necessity to step up construction on the highway
bypassing Manzanillo so that the brigade assigned to this work can start
building the new Manzanillo airport by the end of the year. The projected
site for the airport is a place known as La Caridad, about 4 miles away
from the city.

Fidel suggested to begin construction on the arterial between Manzanillo
and La Sal, which will connect Manzanillo with the highway to Victoria de
las Tunas. The new arterial will border the root-vegetable plan of Veguitas
and offer access to the rice-drying plants in Cayo Grande.

The commander in chief and those accompanying him visited the Local Power's
brigade of urban maintenance in the city of Manzanillo. Fidel praised the
work of this brigade and stressed the contribution and significance of the
incorporation of the masses to this type of work.

Fidel emphasized the importance of industrial development in the Manzanillo
region and mentioned several tourist centers under construction in the
south of Oriente. In this regard, he spoke of the tourist installations
under construction in the beaches of Manzanillo and Carenero, as well as
those south of the Sierra Maestra. These projects include the construction
of installations in beaches near Pilon and Marea del Portillo and of the
highway on the southern coast of Oriente connecting Manzanillo with
Santiago de Cuba.

Fidel remarked that construction projects in Manzanillo were moving at a
fast pace. Among these projects are numerous junior high schools in the
countryside, the primary teachers' training school under construction in
Veguitas, and two sugar technicians' training institutes, which are
functioning in the Juan Manuel Marquez and Roberto Ramirez sugar mills,
located in the Media Luna and Niquero municipalities, respectively.

In Guantanamo

Guantanamo--Commander in Chief Fidel Castro, first secretary of the party,
toured Guantanamo on 6 March. At the highway which will link this city with
Dos Caminos de San Luis to join up with the National Highway he talked with
the workers and with brigade chief Regino Machado.

At La Yaya dam (with a capacity of 4,227,000,000 gallons), he talked to the
workers, who promised they would have it finished by June. He also visited
the citrus fruit project and the No 1 and No 2 junior high schools in the
countryside in Vilorio.

Fidel then toured the project for producing root and other vegetables which
is located at the Fabio Rosell farm, in the Caimanera region, which is also
the site of the Rafael Fleitas Junior High School in the Countryside. Then
he strolled through the main streets of Guantanamo and afterward visited
the printing complex which will turn out 20 million books every year.

On the Jamaica road, in front of the installation for the base of support
to industrial construction, he discussed the location of a tire factory and
malleable iron plant which will go up in the area.

Fidel also visited Van Troi Stadium where new improvements are being made
along with new lighting. He watched a baseball game which was on the
program of the worker's games, and he said that the lights had to be ready
soon so that games of the special series which is now in progress could be
held there.

As he was leaving, the commander in chief was stopped by workers from the
local children's day care center who expressed their joy and enthusiasm
over Fidel's visit to the city. The prime minister of the Revolutionary
Government also visited the site where a cigar factory is being built by
Brigade 24, and he talked to the supervisor and the workers and signed the
visitors' book.

Then he went on to the place where the 120-room hotel is being built in the
Caribe section. He also visited the site of the 557-bed hospital which is
being built by the Ministry of the Interior. There, he talked to the
construction workers who said they would have the hospital ready as quickly
as possible.

During his visit to the Soviet ship "Varnsul" docked in Boqueron de
Caimanera, he talked with the ship's master, Vladimir Volchov, and members
of the crew, expressing interest in their itinerary and the type of cargo
they carried. He also had a long talk with the dock workers and discussed
the type of cargo handled in the port.

Finally, the commander in chief toured the town of Martires de la Frontera,
built for dock workers, where lie talked with the residents.

The people of Guantanamo greeted Fidel with great enthusiasm. Fidel's visit
coincided with the provincial ceremony to mark International Women's Day,
which was held that afternoon.

The commander in chief gave instructions for the search for a solution to
the water problem in Guantanamo valley to continue. This will include
construction, something that must be carefully considered by the people of
the region. He also urged the industrialization of Guantanamo to continue.

During the tour Fidel was accompanied by Commander of the Revolution Juan
Almeida Bosque and Armando Hart Davalos, delegate of the Political Bureau
and first secretary of the party in-the province, respectively, and both
members of the Political Bureau; Joel Domenech, deputy prime minister;
Osmany Cienfuegos, Jose A. Naranjo, Raul Menendez Tomassevich, chief of the
Eastern Army, all members of the Central Committee; Angel Gomez Trueba,
minister of industrial construction; Antonio Esquivel, minister of the
chemical industry; Lester Rodriguez, minister of the sideromechanical
industry; Irma Sanchez, of the Central Planning Board; Emilio Loo and Jose
Lopez Moreno, heads of the agricultural and construction sectors in the
province, respectively; and Willy Hodge, member of the Executive Bureau of
the Provincial Committee of the party and first secretary of the party in
the Guantanamo region.
-END-