-DATE-
19780215
-YEAR-
1978
-DOCUMENT_TYPE-
SPEECH
-AUTHOR-
F. CASTRO
-HEADLINE-
CASTRO INAUGURATES UNITS OF NEW THERMOELECTRIC
-PLACE-
CAMAGUEY PROVINCE
-SOURCE-
HAVANA DOMESTIC SVC
-REPORT_NBR-
FBIS
-REPORT_DATE-
19780215
-TEXT-
CASTRO INAUGURATES UNITS OF NEW THERMOELECTRIC PLANTS

FL152336Y Havana Domestic Service in Spanish 2216 GMT 15 Feb 78 FL

[Speech by Commander in chief Fidel Castro at dedication ceremony for new
power generation units at Maximo Gomez thermoelectric plant in Mariel,
Havana Province, and 10 October thermoelectric plant in Nuevitas, Camaguey
Province; dedication ceremony held at Maximo Gomez plant--live, also
relayed by Havana television]

[Text] Comrades workers of Mariel:  If it does not bore you, I can give
some information of interest on this matter of electricity, which is very
important.

When the revolution achieved victory in 1959, the electrical generating
capacity of the Cuban electric company--those times are long gone--was 397
megawatts.  You all know that in order to measure electrical power
generating capacity, as well as the amount of electricity generated, has to
be measured as well.  When one says 397 megawatts, this means a capacity of
397,000 kilowatts.  Over a year, this adds up to a lot.

That gives you an idea of the capacity we had.  This was divided into two
electrical systems which were not interconnected.  This means that there
could be too much electricity over there and none here, or too much and
none there.  Thus, it could not be carried from one place to another to
make the system more efficient.

There was a system from Pinar del Rio to Camaguey and another in the
southern part of former Oriente Province.  Almost all the equipment of the
Cuban Electric Company, which of course was North American, came from the
United States.  At the beginning of the blockade, this made them think it
was one of the most vulnerable factors of the revolution.  They said to
themselves:  Those people will not have any lights.  They believed that by
impeding the supply of spare parts, they could bring about the paralysis of
the entire electrical system.

All the projects, general studies of development, utilized technology,
service demand estimates, projects for power grids and high-voltage
substations were being prepared and decided upon in the United States.  In
1958 the Cuban electric company--I believe the people called it Kalixto
Kilowatt or something like that--generated, in the two existing systems,
1.76 million megawatt-hours.  Each megawatt has 1,000 kilowatts, so in
order not to give large figures of many millions, reporting is in
megawatts.

In 1977 the generating capacity of our electric system was 6.557 million
megawatt-hours, that is, prior to the revolution in 1958, it was 1.76
million megawatt-hours.  Last year it was 6.557 million megawatt-hours,
3.7 times what was generated in 1958.  This increase is equivalent to an
annual average rate of 7.2 percent.

With respect to the number of consumers, counting all houses, centers,
public places, in 1958 there were 722,000 users.  In 1977 we had 1.343
million users.  In 1958 the country had a total of 13,000 km of lines
carrying all voltages.  In 1977 we had 36,200 km of lines.  The entire
national electric system is interconnected with lines of 110 kilovolts.
That is another kind of measure.  It is for measuring voltage, according to
the engineers.  For 1980 the entire national system will be interconnected
with a line of 220 kilovolts.

Is that clear?  In the past nothing was interconnected.  The revolution
interconnected first with a 110 line and now it is interconnecting with a
220 line, which allows greater capacity for transmitting electricity.  This
transmitting of electricity is very important, because there might not be
enough in Cienfuegos when there is too much in Havana, and electricity is
sent to Cienfuegos; or there is too much in Cienfuegos--which will
probably be the case--and there is not enough in Havana, and electricity
is sent to Havana from Cienfuegos.  The people in Cienfuegos are going to
be rich in electricity because they are installing two plants of 164
megawatts each.

Beginning with the triumph of the revolution, great importance was
attributed to the electrical development of the country as a fundamental
first step for our economic and social development overall.  The revolution
has invested 800 million pesos in generating units, including the
investment under construction throughout the current 5-year period.  Is the
topic of interest to you?  [crowd answers "yes"]

In 1978 we will complete the construction and installation of
thermoelectric units with a capacity of 533 megawatts.  This capacity is
much higher than that which existed in the country prior to the triumph of
the revolution and will require a serious effort on the part of all
elements having anything to do with these investments.  In this alone,
plants or units with a capacity greater than that which existed in the
country prior to the revolution will begin operating.  These units are unit
No 6 of 100 megawatts--this one, of the Maximo Gomez thermoelectric plant
of Mariel, which we are dedicating today; unit No 3 of 64 megawatts of the
12 October thermoelectric plant of Nuevitas, of which construction and
installation has been completed and which is undergoing a period
synchronization--as you just heard, they have even reached its designed
capacity--unit No 3 of 100 megawatts of the Antonio Maceo, Rente,
themoelectric plant; unit No 3 of 169 megawatts of the Carlos Manuel de
Cespedes thermoelectric plant of Cienfuegos; and unit No 7 of 100 megawatts
of the Maximo Gomez thermoelectric plant of Mariel, which the comrades have
pledged to complete by December of this year.  They have committed
themselves to us and the entire country.  [applause] Thus, in 1978 the
country will have in operation 1,936 megawatts, about five times what was
in operation in 1958.  So it can be said that in 20 years electricity
generating capacity will have increased five times.

Despite this remarkable increase, great efforts are being made in building
or planning new units.  One must bear in mind that in an electrical system
the investment process never stops and should move ahead of the rest of the
economic development.

Units Nos 4, 5 and 6 of 100,000 [as heard] megawatts each of the Antonio
Maceo, [formerly] Rente, thermoelectric plant in Santiago de Cuba; units 4,
5 and 6 of 125 megawatts each of the 10 October thermoelectric plant in
Nuevitas; unit no 4 of 169 megawatts of the Carlos Manuel de Cespedes
thermoelectric plant in Cienfuegos will be incorporated into the system in
coming years.

A new thermoelectic plant will be built northeast of Havana City.  It will
be a new one.  It will be located a little Guanabo, but do not be
concerned, for it will not be on the beach.  [laughter] It will be
installed a little farther away, on rocky ground,j so that it does not
bother anyone.

Intense work is underway on engineering-geological studies of the zone
where our first nuclear energy will be built near the city of Cienfuegos.
The plant's first unit of 440 megawatts should enter into production before
1985, and a second unit approximately a year later.  We are now involved in
the work of studying the ground very thoroughly.  The area where the plant
will be located had certain characteristic, and an in-depth geological
study had to be made in order to have complete safety.  This was delayed
the unit slightly, but you can visualize its size:  Each of the unit's
power blocks produces 4.4 times more than this unit we are inaugurating
today.  And, above all, the important thing is that its operation is based
on oil.  That [the use of oil] is a tragedy.  All these investments have
been contracted for or are in the process being contracted for or are under
negotiation.

In accordance with an agreement in connection with the development of this
important branch of the economy reached at the first party congress, we
will have reached a generating capacity of 2,300 megawatts by 1980.  This
will mean almost doubling the capacity that existed in 1975.  In other
words, electrical power generating capacity will be almost doubled in only
5 years.  We will then see if we then have blackouts.

I have already mentioned the new interconnections.  The 220 line already
connects Mariel with Santa Clara and, in the eastern area, it connects
Nuevitas with Santiago de Cuba.  Work is currently in progress to connect
Santa Clara with Nuevitas via that line, which will unify the entire
national system on 220.  Of course, the 110 line will continue to be used.

Our economic-social development has really increased the demand for
electrical power.  In the 1970-77 period, maximum demand has increased at
an average rate of 8.5 percent per year.  Eight and a half percent per
year--it is a high increase.  In the past 5 years more than 2 million
electrical household appliances have been distributed to the
population--including television receivers, refrigerators, washing
machines, blenders, fans, electric irons and so forth.  When all these are
turned on, you can imagine the amount of electricity they require, and
everyone turns them on at the same time, more or less.

The average residential consumption in 1958 was 69 kilowatt-hours per
consumer.  In 1977 it increased to 108 kilowatt-hours.  We have had a
considerable increase in per capita electricity consumption.

More than 100 schools have been electrified in the past 5 years--no, I am
mistaken--more than 1,000 schools, and more than 1,400
agricultural-livestock installations.  Six of our big factories alone
demand the equivalent of a 100,000-kilowatt unit or 100 megawatts like the
one being inaugurated in Mariel, for example.  The Siguaney cement factor,
the Nuevitas cement factory, the Nuevitas fertilizer factory, Antillana de
Acero, the (Arquitec) textile mill and the (Cubranito) fertilizer
factory--these six consume the electricity produced by one of these units.

There has not been real consciousness of this important energy source.  The
demand for electricity is not the same at all of the day or during all
months of the year.  It is very low at dawn, when there is a surplus of
generating capacity, and it is very high during the so-called peak
electricity period, during which several electricity consumption activities
merge, thereby producing a blackout as a result of a capacity deficit.  In
other words, we have a surplus of electricity at certain times of the day
and a shortage at other times.  And this is the origin of the so-called
load arrangement.  You have heard about this load arrangement, which is
nothing more than trying to shift certain activities that take place during
times of an electricity shortage to times when there is a surplus of
electric power--let us say, for example, not using the irrigation system
between 1900 and 2300, more or less, and using it in the day or at other
times, and not using many machines in our industries at these times
precisely to seek a balance, a consumption balance at different times of
the day.

If in our enterprises we were to fulfill completely the agreements reached
on the load arrangement, a considerable reduction of blackouts would
result.  If each residential consumer were to turn off a 60-watt bulb of
the type that he usually keeps on between 1800 and 2200, maximum demand
would drop by more than 70 megawatts, which is the equivalent to the
demand of more than 200,000 housing units during peak hours.  The average
demand of a housing unit during peak electricity hours is approximately 270
watts.

Electrical power production requires costly investments and serious efforts
by this country. It is scarce energy and costly, costly to produce; I am
not referring to prices, because the prices are the same as they were a
long time more. In any case, the prices have been maintained, and perhaps
for that reason there is some waste of electricity.

A 100-megawatt unit like this one in Mariel generating power 200 days of
the year consumes 185,000 tons of fuel oil.  This means that in a year such
a unit consumes the oil of nine 20,000-tons ships--this unit alone.  A
serious effort is being made to reduce the rate of fuel consumption of our
thermoelectric plants.

In 1977 an average consumption of 313.7 grams per kilowatt-hour was
reached; that is, each kilowatt-hour costs us 313.7 grams of fuel.  This is
about one-third of a liter, assuming petroleum weighs as much as water.
But it weighs less, so it must then one-third of a liter of petroleum per
kilowatt-hour.  That is much less than the 398.6 grams per kilowatt-hour
consumed in 1958.  In other words, at present we are using almost 90 grams
less per kilowatt-hour than we did prior to the revolution.  That is
progress, but we can do still better.  Despite that, the country had to use
more than 2 million tons of fuel for generating electricity.

The battle to conserve electricity is part of the country's general battle
in the struggle for saving fuel.  T1is can give an idea of the electricity
problem, its history, the investments, the differences in consumption
between the past and present, the growth of per capita consumption, the
growth in generating capacity and so forth.  This country is extremely
important because, without it, there is no economic development.  Without
electricity, practically no factory can operate.  Without electricity,
there can be no service, no hospital, no school, no store.  Without
electricity, nothing operates in a home, no light, no television set or
radio, or any other home appliance.  That is why it is one of the most
basic industries.

For some years the growth of demand was greater than the development of
this industry.  that is why we had prolonged periods of regular blackouts.
That situation has been improving.  I well remember the efforts that have
been made since 1970 to install some units that had already arrived in the
country and were waiting to be assembled.

Over the past 7 years, we have worked very hard to install new plants.
Great improvement has been achieved in maintenance, and efficiency has
increasingly improved.  It is not easy to install these plants.  I remember
when we arrived here in Mariel while unit No 5 was under construction.  We
were briefed on the complexity of the installation, the thousands of pieces
of tubing that had to be assembled to build the boiler, the tubing that had
to be welded, the enormous amount of parts and pieces involved.  Everything
has to be properly matched to the boilers, turbines.  In a word, it is a
job that requires time.

A thermoelectric plant is simpler than a nuclear plant.  You can well
imagine the work involved in that first nuclear plant, with generators of
440 megawatts and all that problem of combustion, of boilers, which is very
complicated.  It is estimated that at some point 4,000 or 5,000 workers
will be working on construction of one of those plants.  For our country
this will represent enormous progress.  You are aware that fuel is a raw
material, extracted from petroleum, a raw material that is increasingly
scarce and increasingly more costly.  That is why, for our country, which
has no hydraulic energy, no coal or other sources of electricity, to enter
the phase of using nuclear energy, no coal or other sources of electricity,
to enter the phase of using nuclear energy is of great importance.  If a
100,000 [kilowatt] unit needs 9 ships of 20,000 tons [to feed it], a
440-megawatt unit requires 40 ships of 20,000 tons.  However, the nuclear
fuel it consumes can be carried in the hold of a small ship.  We save
enormous quantities of petroleum.

Let me explain:  Even in cases of thermoelectric plants, let us see the
differences between one type of unit and the other.  In the days of
capitalism, we were using 398 grams per kilowatt-hour.  That is 398 grams
of petroleum per kilowatt-hour.  With the modern installations we already
have and greater efficiency, we are now using 313 grams per kilowatt-hour.
However, we still have some machinery that uses more--even 500.  These
machines are old, and we have machinery that uses less than 300.  Let us
not the difference between a 50-megawatt unit and a 100-megawatt unit.

The first four units installed here, according to the plans, should consume
306 grams per kilowatt-hour.  The comrades have been successful in
producing the kilowatt-hour.  The comrades have been successful in
producing the kilowatt-hour in those units with 301 grams.  The 100,000
unit is designed to use 256 grams per kilowatt-hour, and the comrades have
achieved a consumption rate in unit No 5 of 248 grams per kilowatt-hour.
Note the importance of this:  That unit of 100,000 uses 40 percent less
fuel than was us used in the days of capitalism and less than the
50,000-kilowatt units use.  That is why it is important to take the size of
the plants, the technology and the efficiency of those plants into
consideration, because of the important saving in fuel.

When our system was small, no one could think about nuclear energy, because
nuclear units cannot be small; they cannot be of a size of 50,000 or
100,000 because they cannot be operated economically.  They cannot be built
to be of 50,000 or 100,000 capacity because they are not economical to
operate.  They must be approximately half a million as a minimum.  But when
the country used less than half a million kilowatts or less than 500
megawatts, one could not build a 500,000 plant, because the day that you
had to stop it for maintenance, the country had to be turned off.

When this first unit of 440 megawatts enters into production, the country
will have a thermoelectric capacity of some 3,000 [presumably megawatts].
therefore, when the 440,000 are introduced, repairs will be planned so that
when the thermoelectric plants are being repaired, the nuclear plant is not
being repaired; when the nuclear plant is being repaired, all the
thermoelectric plants will be kept running and the country is not blacked
out.  Do you understand?  Because that unit is big.  Fortunately, by that
date our system will have grown approximately eight times more than that
which existed before the revolution, and we will enter the nuclear age in
terms of production of electric power.

On an occasion such as this one in which we are celebrating a triumph of
the country, a triumph in production, a triumph of our workers and of our
people, and of what these plants mean, it is very appropriate to highlight
the decisive importance of the collaboration by the Soviet Union.  Since
the triumph of the revolution, we have done almost all the work with Soviet
equipment [applause], although we also have some Czechoslovak equipment.
And because of the need to speed up the work, we have had to purchase
equipment elsewhere--the two [plants] in Cienfuegos are of Japanese
origin.

The Soviet comrades from the start have give us great support in the
development of the electrical industry and made us aware of the importance
of this industry for the economic and social development of the country.
From the start they have helped us draft technical plans.  They have sent
us qualified personnel to help us install these plants and put them into
operation.

When one visits a plant like this one, one becomes aware of the enormous
value which economic cooperation with the Soviet Union has for our country.
And one can also appreciate the progress made in Soviet technology from one
type of unit to another, the progress from the 50,000-kilowatt units, which
are very good, to the 100,000 units, which are better.  The 100,000
[kilowatt] units are more efficient and save more fuel.  They are very good
machines which our workers in the electrical industry handle perfectly
well.  The Soviets are developing bigger themoelectric generating units of
200,000 kilowatts, of 300,000.

I was saying that the western zone needs another thermoelectric plant east
of Havana.  According to plans, it will be started with units of 100,000
[kilowatts].  The first three will be of 100,000.  However, we want to be
able to install in that thermoelectric plant other units with greater
capacity--if possible, of 200,000 or even 300,000, because that
thermoelectric plant will need to reach a capacity of 1,200 megawatts.  In
other words, it will be almost two and one-half times bigger than this
thermoelectric in Mariel.  If they are to be 100,000 units, we would only
need to add three more units instead of nine, and, according to our
experience, the more volume and better the technology we have, the more oil
savings we get.  And oil savings, I repeat, are vital.

This thermoelectric plant has already reached a capacity of 400 megawatts,
which is more than before the revolution, and with its unit No 7, it will
have 500 megawatts, which is quite a bit more than there was before the
revolution.  However, as a result of the country's present economic and
special development, this is not much.  We must continue working and, I
repeat, the collaboration of the Soviet Union and Soviet specialist has
been decisive, fundamental and basic in this development.  That is why we
take this opportunity of the presence of the ambassador, representatives of
the Soviet Embassy and scores upon scores of Soviet specialists [applause]
to express to them our deepest feelings of gratitude and recognition.

Based on what I have seen, Mariel is becoming an industrial municipality.
I realize that not all of you are from Mariel.  I know that many of you
are from Havana city.  I know this perfectly well.  And, of course, if we
did not give Mariel a little help, the Mariel municipality could not have
built these installations.  It was necessary to help them from the big
city of Havana.

This municipality has some 32,000 inhabitants and about 14,000 workers.  It
is a municipality that will be acquiring an increasingly proletarian
character.  We have seen it grow economically.  In agriculture this
municipality has livestock, sugar, henequen and other enterprises.  It has
two sugar mills--the Sandino and Nodarse sugar mills.  It has something
that is being inaugurated today [applause], something that is being
inaugurated besides the thermoelectric plant:  the warehouse or the bulk
sugar shipping port.  [applause] It will have the opportunity of shipping
much of the sugar from Pinar del Rio and Havana.  This port has just been
completed, and it represents very important help for the country.

We have the Mariel general cargo port, which is growing and developing.  We
have here the shrimp fleet base, which has a large number of workers.  We
have this magnificent thermoelectric plant [applause], this magnificent
thermoelectric plant which, according to plans, will have a total of 1,048
workers.  If there is more economy and rational utilizations, perhaps the
number will be reduced.  In any case, it is an extremely important work
center and a vital center for the country's economy.

We have the old Rene Aroay cement plant.  [laughter, applause] It produces
some 320,000 tons annually.  It is cement that we dearly need, but we also
have the new cement plant.  [applause] That one is nothing to laugh about.
[laughter] That plant will produce nearly five times what the old produces
and almost twice what was being produced prior to the revolution.  Cement,
like electricity, is dearly needed.  Between the two, they will produce
approximately 1.7 million tons of cement.  How many things can be built
with 1.7 million tons of cement?  Perhaps we can even export a little
cement through that port.  We must not forget exports.  [applause]

Mariel has those two magnificent polytechnical schools.  [applause] One
teaches about electricity, the other about cement.  Other schools...  We
recently stopped at the urban secondary school which you built.  We are
building the naval academy, which is much bigger than the old one.  It has
a capacity of more than 2,000 students.  We need masters, officers, ship
technicians for the merchant marine, for the fishing fleet and for our
naval units.  It was too small, the old academy.  They were also talking
about some risk in using it, because the buildings were very old and were
not very strong.  Nevertheless, it will not remain empty; other things will
be coming to that place.  I am sure we will make good use of those
installations.  Even though the academy will be moved a little to the
east, it does not mean that the place where the academy now is will remain
undeveloped.

But in reality the difficult thing here in Mariel is to see the town.  It
cannot be seen anywhere.  [unintelligible shouts] The industry has grown,
but the social growth has not matched it.  That is the social problem, the
matter of housing.  [applause] We have lagged behind in housing.  If these
great industries are developed, with the many workers who are needed, that
problem has to be solved one way or another.  It is not only a case of
workers in these industries; we also have the professors, teachers, school
employees, service personnel.  I believe that the Havana Province party
has been helped by the Havana City Province party; the construction
organizations have been pressured by the electric industry; the
construction materials industry has been supported by the people's
governments of the two provinces.  You must plan how the city of Mariel
will be developed.  [applause]

I imagine that the people of Mariel also have governing guidelines and
know where to place each thing of the city's future development.  That
cannot be forgotten.  It is necessary that we see the city--a factory here,
a smokestack there, enormous towers and the town cannot be seen.  [shouts
from crowd] I do not know if you have it hidden behind the hills or
somewhere else, but the fact is that it cannot be seen.  This is an
important aspect that must be examined and seriously considered.  I
believe that it is essentially just, above all, that we observe the spirit
with which the workers work in this region, how well this thermoelectric
plan is operating, with what efficiency it is operating, the huge cement
industry we will have, the selfless effort of the industrial and
agricultural workers of this municipality.

We would be remiss not to mention the workers who are building those
industries, the comrades of industrial construction brigade No 10
[applause], who build this very important Maximo Gomez thermoelectric
plant; the workers of industrial construction brigade No 31 [applause], who
are building the cement plant.  I feel hopeful that in the near future we
will be able to meet in a modest rally, such as this one, to dedicate that
colossus of the cement industry.  [applause] We expect that at least the
first line will be finished this year and next [year] two lines will be
completed, that those factories will be in full production by 1980, and
that we will have all the cement needed to have the schools, the clubs and
the dwellings.  [applause]

Without cement and without electricity, there can be no clubs, no
dwellings, no theaters and so forth.  That is sure.  Just to show that no
matter how much is said something is always left out, we did not mention
the microbrigades.  [applause] As was said here, they have made a great
contribution.  They can also help--I do not know whether they come from
Mariel or Havana.  [shout of "Havana"] They are from Havana.  Where are the
Mariel microbrigades?  [unintelligible shouts] We must also say something
about the workers who build the bulk sugar terminal, those who are
building at the port, those who built the polytechnics. None of that comes
out of a hat or a magic wand.  It did come out of a magic wand-- you know
which one?  The magic wand of men's work.  [applause] All these marvelous
things come out of it.

That is why it made no moral sense that the workers had to build the
factories and the dwellings so that they would become the property of the
bourgeoisie.  They did not give not even a single brick.  They did not
assembly even one screw.  But they were the owners; the workers and
nothing.  What a moral and stimulating feeling work has today when the
thermoelectric plant is built--for whom?  For the workers, for the
people--when the cement plant is not built for this or that company but
for the workers, for the people; when our agriculture and our industry
exist and function for the people.  That is why, in our society and in our
revolutionary process, each new factory is a new banner, a new incentive
and a new advance, because they are centers where no bourgeoisie will
exploit any worker.  They are centers whose products are immediately
converted through all means to the benefit of the people.

I am certain that all people, especially those in the city of Havana and in
the Western part of the country, will view the completion of that new unity
with much happiness.

It is necessary to congratulate, in addition to the workers of brigade No
10 working in Mariel, the workers of brigade No 8, who completed another
unit in Nuevitas.  [applause] And I promise them, of course, that as soon
as I have the opportunity, I will go to that unit to see their work and
greet them.

Everyone is pleased with projects such as this one, since everyone suffers
the consequences of the lack of electricity, blackouts and so forth, and
the tremendous and terrible inconvenience of a blackout anywhere and the
inconvenience it creates in families, production and services, and in
everything.  This should bring closer the date when systematic blackouts
will have disappeared.  There will always be some blackouts as a result of
lightning, a storm or other such phenomena, which are absolutely impossible
to prevent.

However, as a result of the growth rate we are experiencing, it can be
expected that this situation will gradually improve through 1980--much this
year, much more in 1979--and we can be without periodic blackouts in
specific areas by 1980.  Now, then, this means that we have to speed up our
new investments, speed up work on the new thermoelectric plant east of
Havana, accelerate negotiations and contracts for new plants, because it
could be that blackouts will be eliminated.  But they many return in 1981,
1982 and 1983 before the nuclear energy plant enters into operation.  That
is why the work of these brigades that are building the new units is
decisive.  The work of our electrical industry workers in the operation
and maintenance of the industry is decisive.  The work of the electrical
industry is very important in order to consolidate from now on these
advances we are and will be achieving in coming years and in the end we can
breath easy without blackouts.

And to give due attention to savings of electricity:  Sometimes I see some
schools and installations full of bulbs.  I say to myself:  Why do they
have so many bulbs?  Why do they have so much light?  Why do they use so
much electricity, since we already know that each kilowatt-hour costs 300
grams--a little more than 300, 313 grams of oil?  And oil is scarce,
expensive.  Why not give sufficient attention to the problems of load
arrangements to prevent discomfort for the people?  That is why the work of
the ministry is very important and the collaboration of all organizations
is very important in the important task of electricity savings.

No one has the right to waste electricity, because we can already see the
effort required to produce electricity; we can see what has to be done to
build these units, what they cost, the hours, months and sometimes years
devoted to the construction of each unit, the oil shipments required, the
sugarcane that must be cut and the sugar that has to be produced to be
able to acquire these industries and the fuel.  And when one is aware of
this, when one knows it, he will certainly think that it is a duty to save
electricity and will not waste electricity in the home school, hospital,
factory or anywhere else.

We congratulate the workers gathered here and the residents of the town of
Mariel for this new success.  We congratulate the electrical industry
workers and we congratulate our hardworking workers of the industrial
construction and installation brigades for the effort they have made.  And
we express to them our trust and confidence that they will continue working
with the same spirit until all the thermoelectrical and nuclear energy
plants which our country's future requires are built.  We congratulate them
for their spirit and we congratulate everyone for their efficiency.

Fatherland or death!  We shall win!  [shouts of "venceremos," applause]
-END-