Latin American Network Information Center - LANIC

-DATE-
19851224
-YEAR-
1985
-DOCUMENT_TYPE-
SPEECH
-AUTHOR-
F. CASTRO
-HEADLINE-
INAUGURATING THE TINIMA BREWERY
-PLACE-
CAMAGUEY
-SOURCE-
HAVANA TELE-REBELDE NET
-REPORT_NBR-
FBIS
-REPORT_DATE-
19851224
-TEXT-
CASTRO SPEAKS AT DEDICATION OF BREWERY

FL241800 Havana Tele-Rebelde Network in Spanish 0132 GMT 24 Dec 85

[Speech by President Fidel Castro at the ceremony-inaugurating the Tinima
brewery in Camaguey -- recorded]

[Text] Dear Comrade Hager [words indistinct] relations with the GDR, dear
comrade workers and technicians, also from the GDR, who have worked with us
on the construction of this excellent factory, dear Camaguey construction
workers, workers of this new industry:

We have the impression that today is a holiday for Camaguey, but I believe
[interrupted by applause], but I believe [repeats himself] it is also a
holiday for everyone.  Not precisely with [words indistinct] because beer
is associated with the idea of happiness and with parties, in part because
of this.  I would say that more so because of the satisfaction it gives us
in completing such a work as this during truly challenging times.

On its importance to the population, I am going to mention some statistics
so we can better understand because this industry has social and great
economic importance.

The first point is that it is an installation capable of producing 100,000
liters of [words indistinct] calculated by millions of liters.  That is
associated with our efforts to adopt the metric system once and for all.
You know that there are large quantities of measures, but if one is not
familiar with one form of measure, he must translate it into another.  We
are accustomed to measuring by cases -- not drinking beer by cases even
though there are those who do drink it by cases -- to measure by cases, 1
case of beer, 1,100 cases.  Each case of beer has 24 beer bottles.  As a
measure, the bottle is larger but those units we call bottles of beer are
less than half a bottle and I believe they have 350 centiliters.  On the
outside it says 0.35 liters and I believe that it really does contain that
much even though there are some that occasionally have a little less.  I do
not know [does not finish sentence].

Previously there was always one bottle that had a little less.  In those
cases I think they used them for other things.  However, since demand is so
high, I think that one is also included.  The beer workers know that that
bottle that just happened to have a little less had a name; I do not
remember [unidentified man in background interrupts Castro to give his
name] Yes, Pirey, No?  Yes, Pirey.  They used to talk about that beer since
it was cheaper because it did not meet all the quality rules.

One hundred liters [words indistinct].  One hundred liters of beer equal
11.9 cases.  Now you know, 11.9 cases. [applause] But almost, just barely,
it equals 240 bottles of beer.  It is a little less because it is 11.9
cases [words indistinct] that I do not make a mistake.  You here know that
if you subtract 24 from 100 you have 24 less, if I am not mistaken.  It is
possible that I am mistaken; then it would not have 240 bottles, it would
have 216 bottles of beer.  I will calculate more accurately later because I
did this in my head.

Now you have an idea -- right? -- of what 100 liters of beer are.  If it is
still not clear, it is almost 2 and 1/2 bottles.  It is a big production,
but measuring it by liters would mean that when this plant is in complete
production it could possibly supply 10 liters of beer per capita, including
children who are 30, 35, 40 days old, when I speak of per capita.
[laughter] You know that this does not mean they drink beer.

For the beer drinkers it possibly means that when there are 10 bottles of
beer per capita, they would consume 15 bottles per capita and possibly even
20 per capita.  But I also want to demonstrate that beer not only benefits
beer drinkers.  It benefits many of those who do not drink beer.

Something else I want to demonstrate later, towards the end so as to not
bring in too many numbers now, is that it is more beneficial to those who
do not drink beer.  I will explain it to you later.  You will not
understand it well now if I do not demonstrate it to you.

Good.  Some other statistics: How much beer was produced before the triumph
of the revolution, the last year before the revolution, 1958?  The amount
produced was 123 million liters.  How much will be produced this year in
1985?  The amount produced will be 294 million liters, which is 2 and 1/2
times the amount produced in 1959 [as heard].  If the population increased
by 50 percent, the consumption of beer logically increased 155 percent.
You know perfectly well that the demand [corrects himself] the beer supply
is not sufficient.  The demand is greater than the supply.  You know that
there are some municipalities where beer is available once a month and long
lines are formed to purchase beer.

You know that in the eastern provinces there is only one factory, and as a
result the western provinces are greater consumers of rum than beer.  As
you know, rum has a higher alcohol level.  Rum cannot legitimately be
considered a food like beer can.  It is not that I am campaigning against
rum. [laughter]

In any case, we export rum and we consume it.  Our rum is of an excellent
quality.  According to scientists, within certain limits and very
moderately, alcohol is not harmful.  Beyond certain limits it does become
harmful.  It would be very difficult for someone drinking a limited
quantity of beer to be harmed by the alcohol content.

It is possible that it would affect the abdomen because, as you know, some
very fat people -- the beer drinkers, the true beer drinkers -- can be
identified by their potbellies, to call it in more colloquial terms, and
they often get very chubby.  They are famous for consuming a lot of beer.
Those are the ones who drink 5 or 10 liters a day.  I am not speaking about
35,700 deciliters, or even 1 liter.

It was explained to me that beer has a level of alcohol.  When a beer says
10 percent, it does not mean 10 percent alcohol.  It means 10 brewers
degrees.  I discussed this at length with a Havana technician at the model
where that beer was going to be produced, which has a lot of prestige and
quality like the special 12 percent beer (Atuay).  Other beers produced are
Tropical and Polar, and are produced in several areas.  I drink (Atuay),
which may be why I am propagandizing it: More here, but it does not mean
that I do not know the quality of the special beers (Atuay) [corrects
himself], Tropical, and Polar.  I understand that in Santiago they will be
producing a special beer and I believe that you here will produce a special
12 percent beer.

When they were testing, I asked the food industry and brewery comrades to
struggle for a better quality beer.  I asked them: Why can we not do this?
We use excellent quality malt and hops.  Let us try to make an effort.
This was a few years ago, not long, but the beer has certainly begun to
improve since then, not only the beer produced in Havana, but also in
Santiago de Cuba.  There was a time when quality fell.  Raw materials were
standardized and an increase in quality was achieved and, to tell the
truth, not just of the special beers, which are excellent -- I am fully
aware of what I am saying; the special beers are excellent -- but that of
the common 10 percent beer.  From what I know and the information we have
received, it is of an acceptable quality.

When we discussed the problems of the alcohol level and the brewers degrees
with the brewery technicians, they explained to me that when it says 10
percent, it is not 10 percent alcohol.  I am taking advantage of explaining
this because many people ignore that detail.  When it says 10 percent, it
means 10 brewers degrees.  Twelve percent means 12 brewers degrees; 15
percent, 15 brewers degrees; 18 percent, 18 brewers degrees.  This means
that 10 percent beer, for example, has 18 percent kg of raw material.

I can explain this later also.  It can be pure malt or the standard 2/3
malt and 1/3 refined sugar.  It can be 22 kg of malt, such as 12 percent
beer, or 26 kg of malt such as the 15 percent beer, or it can be 30 kg of
malt per 100 liters, such as the 18 percent beer.  I did not learn that
here today, even though I learned many things here.  I have known these
statistics for a long time while we struggled to improve the quality of
beer and produce special quality beer.  Twelve percent beer is Produced
with 22 kg of malted beer [as heard].  The 18 percent beer with 30 kg of
malt is denser.  Now a 10 percent beer has approximately 3.5 degrees of
alcohol, approximately 1/3.  A 12 percent beer has approximately 4 degrees
of alcohol.

An 8 percent beer is currently being produced.  It is being produced for
diabetics or those who do not want to gain weight.  Carrillo, the
technician, the specialist from the food industry institute who was working
here, explained 8 percent beer to me since he worked on and developed that
beer.

The 8-percent beer for diabetics has more or less the same alcohol level as
10-percent beer, but it has less than one third as much sugar, or about one
third as much sugar -- not cane sugar but sugar that beer normally has
during fermentation.

It has one third as much sugar as 10 percent beer.  And finally, the food
industry has been developing 4-percent beer.  Why?  The situation on the
beaches.  On the beaches of eastern Havana, beer and malt is sold, but
unfortunately there is always a group of persons who do not have
sufficiently good manners around the places selling beer.  Some drink too
much beer and then do not behave as they should on the beaches.  Inasmuch
as the revolution is interested in the well-being of the people.
Complaints regarding the behavior of some people on those Havana beaches
have made us consider the idea of stopping the sale of alcoholic beverages
on these beaches.

Let us consider the case of the camping facilities.  We have about 100
where families go.  At the camping facilities not even beer is sold.  I
think the people have always accepted this situation.  Beer is not
prohibited because we do not establish prohibitions that cannot be
enforced.  If someone wants to take a beer with him to a campground, he
does so.  If someone wants to take a bottle of rum, he does so.  But the
stores at the camping installations do not sell beer or rum or any kind of
alcoholic beverage.

Because there have been complaints regarding the bad behavior of some
persons at the places that sell beer, we have been considering two
possibilities: suspension of the sale of alcoholic beverages on those
beaches, including beer, because although it contains little alcohol some
people drink a lot; or the sale of 4-percent beer so a person would have to
drink almost a tank of beer to get drunk. [laughter] In short, we are
considering the possibilities.  It may be 4-percent beer for the person who
will die if he doesn't drink beer, or zero-percent beer.

We have discussed the idea of this kind of beer with the food industry, and
they have produced a prototype of 4-percent beer, and one does not go to
sleep after a bottle of that beer, but it is refreshing.  It may not seem
appropriate at a brewery to speak of the drawbacks that beer may have.  I
believe beer is a food.  I do not look upon beer as a drink.  I think it is
a food if taken in moderation.  Anything taken in excess is bad.

It is even bad to drink too much water.  If anyone drank a gallon of water,
he would burst, although water is the best thing in the world.  Everything
taken to excess is bad, but I really think that beer is a food.  I do not
view it as an alcoholic beverage.  I believe the amounts of alcohol in beer
are tolerable and even healthy in certain amounts.  I am sorry not to have
a report with me that I read about 4 days ago concerning an experiment that
had been conducted with a large number of persons, and the conclusions of
the researchers: the persons with the best health were those who drank a
moderate amount of beer daily, and not those who drank a lot or not at all.
This was serious research with statistical calculations on those who drank
a lot, those who drank somewhat, and those who did not drink.  We cannot
certify it, but our physicians may conduct this type of research, the
influence on cholesterol levels, on blood pressure, or on other health
factors.  But I read the news of this research.

I spoke earlier of consumption prior to the revolution and consumption
today.  This year it totalled 294 million liters, and production capacity
was about 300 million liters.  That is, the country had no reserve
production capacity to produce more beer.  In the last few years,
production has increased very little.  The demand has increased but not the
supply.  From this point of view, this brewery means that the country has
increased by more than 30 percent, that is, by one third, its beer
production capacity.  With the inauguration of this brewery, Cuba has the
capacity to produce 400 million liters.  Of course, this brewery is not
suddenly going to begin to produce 100 million liters.  Its 1986 production
plan is 32 million liters.  This brewery now has a production capacity of
50 million but it is not possible to assert that a new brewery is going to
produce 50.  The plan for 32 million is quite an ambitious plan.  The
brewery will produce 100, but 24 tanks must still be installed in addition
to certain other details by the end of 1986.  Production capacity will be
100 million liters annually.  But it will not produce 100 million until the
end of the 5-year plan because it has to approach full production little by
little.

Workers and technicians continue to be trained for this plant, but about 4
or 5 years are needed to reach its peak production.  This plant increases
by 100 million liters the production capabilities of the country.

In addition to this plant -- built with the cooperation of the GDR --
Havana's Modelo brewery is being expanded as well as Santiago de Cuba
breweries.  Each one is going to produce 50 million liters.  Therefore,
between the two of them they will produce the amount this one will produce.
Villa Clara's Tropical, Polar, and Manacas breweries are being remodeled
and expanded.  This will produce 30 million additional liters.  In sum,
with this brewery and the remodeled ones, production will increase to 530
million liters a year.  However, other breweries will have to be built: For
example, the old eastern region with a population of almost 4 million, the
five eastern provinces, only have one brewery that is now being remodeled
to produce 100 million liters.  With this one, the eastern region, from
Ciego de Avila to Guantanamo -- seven provinces -- will have two breweries.
Five million people will have a production of 200 liters per capita.  A new
brewery will be needed.  A similar brewery to this one is being planned for
Holguin and we will try to build it during the next 5-year period.  Later,
a brewery will be needed in Pinar del Rio Province.  The spreading out of
production saves a lot in transportation.  Consider that until today all
beer produced [as heard] in Camaguey came from Manacas or sometimes from
Havana.  A bottling plant was opened to bring it in bulk to the province.
But now figure out how much will be saved in transportation from the time
this brewery begins production besides the increase in availability of
beer.

I should say about this that we do not expect an overflow of beer all of a
sudden and that Camaguey and the eastern provinces are not going to be
flooded by beer.  No, as I mentioned, 32 million liters will be produced
next year.  This will be consumed by other provinces.

Production will go from 294 million to 325 million in 1986.  It will
increase gradually, it is planned.  So, the beer demand which until now
cannot be calculated, will gradually be satisfied but not immediately.  The
opening of this brewery will contribute to the beer supply.

This plant cost almost 47 million pesos.  Almost half of it represents the
national contribution in equipment, construction, materials, etc.  Over 50
percent was spent in materials and equipment from abroad.  The GDR provided
funds for the construction of this plant and has furnished about 22 million
pesos worth of equipment.

But what is the most interesting thing about this new industry?  I am going
to begin by pointing out the technological aspect.  This is the most modern
industry in the country and will have greater productivity.  Some of the
present breweries with almost half or a little over half of the production
this factory will have employ around 900 workers.  This one -- when it is
working at full capacity -- will employ 770 workers, including the ones
distributing the beer.  Thus, it will be characterized by greater
productivity than the other ones.  The processing is more modern.  The
period of time in cold storage and fermentation -- especially fermentation
-- is shorter.  This plant makes the most of everything. [words indistinct]
of each ton of malted barley it uses.  Unfortunately, other plants do not
use 100 percent of that raw material.  At full capacity this factory will
use 12,000 tons of malted barley and 5,000 tons of refined sugar.

In the future, as other breweries do, it will use liquid sugar because it
is senseless to refine sugar, making it into a liquid first and then into a
solid.  Other breweries work with liquid sugar, and in the future the same
will be done in this brewery, which is prepared for liquid sugar.

From those 12,000 tons of malted barley and the sugar will come about 100
million liters.  But everything is used; even the malt dust is gathered up,
and 2 tons of malt dust will be collected daily and used in animal feed.
Every day [words indistinct] cooking process, 12 tons of bran that in dry
form is 20-odd percent protein.  This will also be used in animal feed to
feed pigs in the Camaguey area.  It will also produce between 7,500 and
10,000 liters of yeast that will also be used in animal feed.  It will
produce 5 metric tons of gas, and this is important.  The gas in beer, in
malt -- do not forget that this brewery produces beer and malt, for which
there is enormous demand, and the malt is sold at half the price of beer --
the gas continued in beer and malt comes from the fermentation that
produces beer.  It produces excess gas that is used in the production of
soda pop.  We will use 5 tons daily to produce soda pop.  This is a
by-product of the brewery.

The brewery makes maximum use of the barley because there are certain
elements that recycle it, and this means the use of 100 percent of the
nutrients contained in the malted barley.  It is a really modern brewery
that uses everything and has high productivity.  We hope it will produce
high quality beer and malt.

It has well-trained workers.  Of the workers, there are 134 technicians and
workers who were trained in the GDR -- 134, and another 100 [corrects
himself] 106 technicians and workers who are being trained in the GDR, that
is, about 240 youths trained in the GDR in breweries similar to this one
who have acquired great experience, experience of great quality.  In
addition, we have experience in producing beer although with technology not
as modern as this.  In that sense, the province and the country should be
proud to have a new brewery with such modern technology as this brewery
has.  Is this the best part of this brewery?  No.  The best part of this
brewery is the way it was built and the calmness with which is was built.

We had been thinking about this brewery for years, more than 10 years,
since we realize we needed an industry like this in the provinces.  When we
saw that there was excellent underground water -- and water seems to play a
very important role in beer brewing -- measures were taken to protect this
underground water.  This took place years ago.  We were finally able to
contract for the building of this brewery, thanks to the cooperative spirit
of the GDR.

This brewery was built in record time.  On 31 December 1983, the brigade
and the province pledged to Comrade Raul that this brewery would be
completed by the date of the first congress [corrects himself], by the
second congress, by the date of the second congress... [aside] Third?
Third congress [words indistinct] The years go by so fast that we do not
even realize it. [applause] The pledge was made that the third congress
would consume beer from this brewery.  You have fulfilled that pledge
because today is the 23rd and many of us have tried out this beer already.
[applause]

We had to work very hard but our effort alone was not sufficient to build
this brewery in 2 years.  A special effort by the GDR was necessary.
Comrade Lazaro even traveled to the GDR; he visited different
installations, including a brewery similar to this one.  Close contact was
maintained between the Ministry of Food Industry, the party, the province,
and the enterprises of the GDR that had to produce the equipment -- and not
only with the ministries that had to produce the equipment but also with
the party of the GDR.  An effort by the GDR was needed.  Without this
effort, we could not have had the brewery completed by this date no matter
how hard we worked. [applause]

The GDR had to supply the equipment and the technology, and it did,
perfectly!  The GDR did its part perfectly!  This is notable if we take
into account that in the month of May 1983 the last contract was let, which
included essential parts of this industry.  Despite the fact that the
contracts were signed in April 1985, that equipment was produced and
shipped to Cuba and installed in record time.  Dozens of ships -- I think
it was 59 ships -- brought in supplies for this brewery.  Some materials
were even shipped by air at the last moment to avoid delays.  This means
that in this industry the GDR showed its capacity to rapidly produce and
supply complex equipment for a specific industry. [applause] There are
really not many countries that can do this.  It requires organization,
excellent organization; it demonstrates great economic development and
great capacity to respond to needs.  I believe this experience says a great
deal for the industrial development, organization, and efficiency of the
GDR.  But they supplied more than the equipment; about 60 GDR comrades have
worked here during the construction of the brewery, 60 technicians.  Toward
the end there were about 115 GDR technicians working with us.  Without
their counsel, their support, we could not have built this industry in this
period of time. [applause]

Nevertheless, it would not have been possible without the skill and effort
of our construction workers either, [applause] or without the excellent
cooperation of very diverse organizations. [applause] Special mention must
be made of the projects enterprise of the food industry [MINAL]. [applause]
With regard to the technical part, the general projection, and the
coordination of the project, that enterprise showed its ability in the work
it did for this industry, nut only in the general plan, the civil
engineering part and the construction engineering part, but also in various
sections of the plant, which were designed by that enterprise.

Of course the GDR supplied the technological plan.  The coordination
between the GDR projects enterprise and MINAL's projects enterprise was
really efficient.  But in speaking of the merits of this project, it would
be most fair to place the Industrial Projects Construction Enterprise,
known as ECOI No 8, in first place. [applause]

It bore the basic responsibility for building this brewery, The [words
indistinct] Industrial Projects Enterprise of Havana cooperated with ECOI
No 8. and this should not be forgotten. [applause] This enterprise employed
here an average of 500 construction workers, although on occasion it
employed more than 1,000, Numerous organizations that are not really
construction enterprises cooperated in this enterprise.  This was the case
of the Ministry of Sugar, which has great experience in boilers and
machinery rooms and made a notable contribution to the construction of the
brewery. [applause] [Words indistinct] cooperated in the bottling division
and in the installation of [words indistinct]. [applause] The Ministry of
Agriculture cooperated in everything related to the supply of water to the
brewery. [applause]

The Ministry of Machinery Industry [as heard] cooperated with the
production of metal structures.  I understand it also helped with the
installation.  Railroad workers also helped [applause] in installing big
tanks.  The Ministry of Fishing Industry also cooperated [applause] in the
area of maintenance shops.  The Interior Ministry cooperated in landscaping
activities.  The (?CEATM) [State Committee for Material and Technical
Supply], which does not have a big labor force, also cooperated according
to their possibilities in the area of the plant's entrance. [applause] The
ICP, the Cuban Petroleum Institute, cooperated by providing fuel to the
plant. [applause] The Communications Ministry cooperated by installing the
plant's in-house communications system. [applause] The electric enterprise,
which is also very experienced in electric converters, supplied electricity
to the plant.

The people's government from Camaguey Province contributed with over 1
million pesos in construction.  The Committees for the Defense of the
Revolution, citizens, peasants, and, of course, the Communist Youth also
cooperated in this effort. [applause] It is possible I left out someone,
but I should say everyone cooperated in one way or another according to
their possibilities.

The construction of this plant is an example of cooperation between the
state's organs, and social and mass organizations.  I believe the
contribution we have made in the construction of the industry is
stimulating.  It shows our development, our progress.  But we must say
something, note a detail which gives an idea of how fast it was built.
Construction of this kind of plant usually requires 4 or 5 years.  This
plant was built in 2 years and 3 months. [applause] Ninety, two percent of
the project was built during 1984 and 1985, in 2 years.

In addition, one can also see the quality of this project.  Night has
fallen, unfortunately we no longer have sunlight, but during the afternoon
we could notice for example natural lighting in all areas of the plant.
That saves energy, We can see the space, the planning of the project.  We
can see the beauty of the project.  This shows that a factory can even be
beautiful.  The social-management building -- which is not very large -- is
particularly beautiful and is enhanced by a new garden.  Everything [words
indistinct] areas to relax.  It will not turn into a place like other
places where everyone goes in and out without any control.  At times those
places turn into areas where people gather only to drink and not for
healthy entertainment.  This is why the ministry, together with the party,
in the province is planning to establish a program to allow work centers,
schools, various institutions to enjoy that garden in an orderly manner.
We should not forget that next to it is the Maximo Gomez vocational school
which soon will become -- it has already started to evolve into -- a
pre-university vocational institute of exact sciences, like all the rest of
the vocational schools. [applause] It is a few tens of meters away from the
school.  That cannot be a place where there are parties or disorderliness
at any time of the day or night.  It has to be an orderly and healthy
recreational center.  The party and mass organizations will make sure it
is.

They also have there a so-called tavern.  They call it a tavern.  It is not
a restaurant, and it is not a bar.  I can tell you it is a beautiful place.
It is very well decorated.  It has equipment also furnished by the GDR to
drink beer and eat sausages, a European custom.  It would be nice for
visitors and sectors of the population to visit the tavern and have the
opportunity to enjoy the excellent quality of Tinima beer and the excellent
quality they are going to try to obtain in the sausages; I do not know what
they are going to call the sausages, but they are going to be produced in
Camaguey. [applause]

They have just finished establishing another foodstuff industry.  If the
province specializes in it and increases its production, I believe this
plant can be complemented with that social center.  The success of anything
in this province is guaranteed by the enthusiasm of its people and the
enthusiasm of the party and mass organizations in this province of
Camaguey. [applause]

We can do anything we set out to do, and we can do it well.  I believe the
quality of work applied to this project should become widespread, and we
hope that when we can build the Holguin brewery all this experience will be
applied and that, wherever possible, the cooperative spirit that existed
here will reign. [Words indistinct] upon my arrival in this province today,
Comrade Blas showed me a list of the projects built by the revolution in
Camaguey Province.  It is truly impressive what has been done in Camaguey
Province in these years of the revolution.  Perhaps, even at the cost of
using a few additional minutes, if you will allow me to, I could ....
[applause] I could quickly read to you a list of what has been done in the
various sectors which explains the progress made in the province, just as
has been made in all the provinces of the country.

Last year, in 1984, I spoke of what had been done in Cienfuegos.  It was
also an impressive project.  But what has been created in these
revolutionary years in Camaguey Province is also impressive.  Perhaps the
population of Camaguey and the country has had little chance to learn what
projects have been built in any province.  For example, the food industry,
in addition to this brewery we have inaugurated today with great
satisfaction, has also built the Camaguey pasteurization plant, the
Camaguey baking plant, the Nuevitas soft drink bottling plant, the Camalote
canning plant, the Nuevitas Imiasization plant, the meat combine, the Raul
plant, the poultry slaughter house, 16 bakeries, the Coppelia ice cream
factory, the Nuevitas cookie factory, 9 ice factories, a sherbet factory, 4
rice drying plants, a brewery, the Camaguey soft drink plant, 2 deep-freeze
plants [words indistinct].

In basic industries: The fertilizer plant in Nuevitas, which was an
investment of 100 million pesos; the liquid nitrogen factory; the calcium
carbonate plant in Guaimar; units 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 of the Nuevitas
thermoelectric powerhouse with 442-megawatt capacity; the Santa Lucia salt
industry; the belt factory; the tire retread plant; the herbicide factory;
3,400 km of electric power lines; steelworks; wire and electrodes factory;
engine repair plant [words indistinct]; raw materials base; target rifle
factory; and tools factory.

In light industry: the printing house; three sewing shops that produce
clothing; and the Abel Santa Maria tanning plant.

In the fishing industry: the Santa Cruz del Sur fishing enterprise; the
fish factory hatchery; and five beneficent centers.

In the sugar industry: Batalla de las Guasimas sugar mill, processing
600,000 arrobas daily; Jesus Suarez Gayol sugar mill, with the same
capacity; the reconstruction of all the sugar mills' 82 cane storage
centers; 18 cane cleaning centers; the construction of 220 km of railroad
tracks for the sugar industry; the Lenin machine shops; 180 agricultural
machinery shops; an agrochemical center; 2 reproduction centers;
experimental center for cane; agricultural construction insurance center;
agricultural and livestock raising centers; 500 dairies and weaning
centers; 55 cattle-fattening installations; 195 calf-breeding
installations; another 278 cattle centers; 23 pig farms; 35 poultry farms;
another 38 installations; 58 breeding installations of the southern
program; 60 fertilizer warehouses; 4 hydroponic installations with 30
units; 180 agricultural machinery workshops; soils and fertilizer
laboratory; vegetable health laboratory; veterinary laboratory; artificial
insemination center; 2 cattle-fattening centers with capacity for 27,000
bulls; the Mario Herrera Toscano agricultural tools shop 2,200 km of rural
roads; waterworks; 15 dams; 36 microdams and other dams with capacity for
approximately 900 million cubic yards; 3 water treatment plants; the
Esmeralda system for 945 caballerias of sugarcane; and the rice system for
1,500 caballerias of rice.

Construction materials industry: Concrete pipe enterprise; 7 prefabricated
housing component factories with a capacity of 3,500 dwellings annually; 7
asphalt plants, 5 sand-washing plants; the Nuevitas cement factory; a tile
and terrazzo factory; 13 tile works; 6 concrete block plants; 1 ims [not
further identified] housing plant and 6 under construction; three 12-story
buildings -- before Camaguey had none; you couldn't see Camaguey when you
drove along the highway; now you can see Camaguey! [applause] -- three
12-story buildings and 5 under construction; one 18-story building under
construction; and 8 stone crushers, including 1 with a capacity of 1.2
million cubic meters.

Transport and communications: Five railroad terminals; more than 700 km of
highways; coaxial cable substation; nine bus depots, central railway,
Camaguey stretch 180 km, remodeled Nuevitas port; Nuevitas port machine
shop; eight telephone exchanges; and eight post offices.

Education: Superior institute of medical sciences, [applause] with 2,400
students; university with 6 schools and 6,000 students; superior
pedagogical institute, with 11,545 students; pedagogical school with 2,200
students; Maximo Gomez vocational school with 2,800 students; vocational
school of art with 350 students; nursery training school with 500 students;
27 basic secondary schools in the country with 600 students each; 34 urban
basic secondary schools; 62 primary boarding schools; 317 primary schools
-- almost 50 percent of all the primary schools in Camaguey -- 26 day
nurseries; the party school with 500 students; another 25 educational
projects; physical education teachers' school with 500 students; elementary
sports school with 1,200 students; Pioneers' palace; Pioneers' camp; 6
sugar industry polytechnical schools; 1 public health polytechnical school;
1 veterinarians' polytechnical school, 1 Construction Industry
polytechnical school; 1 business polytechnical school; 1 railroad
polytechnical school; 1 industrial polytechnical school; and 2 youth
rehabilitation centers.

Public health: 10 hospitals with a total of more than 1,600 beds;
reconstruction and enlargement of 2 hospitals; 23 polyclinics, including
polyclinics for pediatric specialities; 6 dental clinics; 26 medical posts,
2 units for electrical treatments; 1 blood bank; 10 homes for the elderly;
7 maternity homes, 1 home for the physically handicapped; and an intensive
therapy unit for children.

Culture, sports, and recreation: Ballet of Camaguey; 5 movie theaters; Ana
Betancur museum; 12 municipalities with town cultural centers; 1 television
center; 6 radio stations; 6 gymnasiums; 15 recreational shooting ranges; 14
ballparks, including Candido Gonzalez stadium; 16 pools; explorers'
centers; 5 camping installations; and the Ignacio Agramonte museum.

Other social projects: 88,950 dwellings; 7 hotels with 538 rooms -- the
figure for dwellings includes privately built homes; 7 motels with more
than 150 rooms; 6 children's parks, including the Camilo Cienfuegos
amusement part; 17 data processing centers, 3 of which are large; 5 data
processing stations and various microprocessors [microprocessors]; 16
branch banks for the population; 19 savings banks; and 3 public squares.

Trade and services: 223 basic stores; 12 shopping centers; 14 supermarkets;
171 cafeterias, bars, and lunch counters; 18 restaurants; 7 pizzerias; 30
butcher shops: 16 fish markets; 29 barber shops and hair dressers; 14 candy
stores; 1 department store [policentro], and 1 parallel market.

This will give you an idea of the effort made during these revolutionary
years. But if what has been done is important, what remains to be done is
even more important. I am now going to refer to the principal construction
projects being carried out in Camaguey: Enlargement of wire and welding
rods factory; unit six of the thermoelectric power plant which, as you
know, is of 125 megawatts; Lasacra sugar mill; the clay pipe and elements
enterprise; the Camaguey machinery factory [planta mecanica], which will be
the biggest industry in the province; Cuban-Bulgarian friendship dam and
water treatment plant; the enlargement of fuel storage installations in
Pastelillo; citrus fruit pier; the Camalote project; development of the
Jimaguayu dairy farm; modernization of Brazil and Sierra de Cubitas sugar
mills; modernization of Agramonte sugar mill; cane irrigation system in
Esmeralda; Sierra de Cubitas citrus installation; development of shrimp
farming in Santa Cruz del Sur, which will become an economically important
export center; Florida soft drink factory; southern belt highway; medical
electrical treatment center [taller de electromedicina] of Camaguey;
enlargement of military hospital; six garment shops; an 80-bed hospital in
Minas; an 80-bed hospital in Sibanicu; a railway junction; dredging of the
port; port shipyard; northern highway; main airport building; electric
power distribution station; tandem telephone exchange; Palo Seco mill, with
300,000 cubic meter capacity; satellite ground station; geology
laboratory; Najasa II dam; Cuba-Bulgarian friendship pipeline; sports
coliseum; enlargement of maternity hospital; Camaguey loading and unloading
center; plant disease-laboratory: 40 projects. The residents of Camaguey
have the chance to continue making use of their excellent constructive
spirit and their extraordinary cooperative spirit.

We should not rest on our laurels.  We have a lot more to do, and we have
to do it better and better.  Not much more will be done in education.  All
the installations that Camaguey needs for an excellent educational system
have been built.  Our struggle now has to be for greater quality.  I have
already explained the enormous advance in quality that will be achieved by
converting the vocational school into a school or pre-university institute,
as we are doing in the rest of the country.

As you know, the construction of the intensive therapy unit at the
provincial pediatric hospital meant a leap forward in quality.  The
creation of the ballet was a leap forward in quality too, in culture.  In
that field our effort will not be measured by the new construction projects
but rather by the use made of and the quality of what we do in those
installations related to education, public health and cultures.

In the field of the economy, we must continue building and advancing; in
sugar cane, in industry, we must make an enormous effort.  I mentioned the
shrimp farm that is being built, which will be an important source of
foreign exchange for the country.  The economic areas will continue to be
developed.  We are sure that the construction of dwellings will increase
because there are not enough, despite all we have done.  The quantitative
effort must be accompanied by a qualitative effort everywhere.

This afternoon we felt special satisfaction when we outlined the importance
of this brewery and how the miracle of this brewery was possible.  We see
that we are capable of exemplary projects.  This speaks very well of
socialism, of cooperation between socialist countries, and of cooperation
among ourselves.  It speaks very well of our progress.  But what we have
achieved with the construction of this brewery we must also achieve in
production.  A new unit of workers is coming to life, and they have the
moral obligation to be as exemplary as the builders.  This afternoon they
received the flags and insignias.  The history of this unit of workers is
yet to be written, and we exhort you young workers to write as brilliant a
page as the builders did. [applause] Let this brewery be characterized by
discipline, by its sense of responsibility, by the quality of its products.
All Cuba is expectant, wanting to know what Camaguey beer is like.

I want to say one thing.  This brewery is still in a testing phase, in
which technological tests are being run.  This does not mean that the
products are of poor quality but rather that the brewery is not yet
producing the standard 10-percent beer that is produced throughout Cuba,
which as I said consists of 70-percent malted barley and 30-percent refined
sugar.  Because of the need to test all the equipment, the brewery has
started functioning with 100-percent malted barley and with a few
experimental brews of 90-percent.  It is still not standard beer but a kind
of special beer, of which

Where are about 100,000 cases.  I believe distribution of this beer is to
begin today Following the conclusion of this ceremony. [applause]

They are beginning to distribute, but this beer has 18 kg of malted barley
per 100 liters.  It is not standard beer, which will be a good beer.  If
you notice little changes in the taste of the beer do not attribute it to a
drop in the quality or to a change in the beer.  And the coming 10-percent
beer may please more people than this first 10-percent beer made of 100
percent malted barley.

From now on we must preserve the prestige of the brewery.  For this reason,
when I got here I asked how many boxes were to be distributed and of what
kind of beer.  Later they will make standard beer.  And then they will
begin to make a beer that is even more special, and it will be 10-percent
beer, and it will be better than standard beer.  It will also have a
different price.

This brewery will use 20 percent of its capacity to produce malt that we
hope will also be of good quality.  Malt is sold at a much lower price than
beer.  It nevertheless takes more raw material.  It costs more than beer.
But as I said, the goal of socialism is not merely to make a profit;
considering that malt is different from beer, it is sold for less than
one-half of what beer costs.  Beer sales subsidize malt sales, although
malt still makes a profit at the price for which it is sold.  For logical
reasons and because of the importance of each product, the prices of the
two are different and independent of the production cost.

I think it would be a good idea to explain the following.  Those of you who
have super-discriminating taste and can get used to 10-percent beer made
from 100 percent barley, you may not be surprised if there is a subtle
difference.  Throughout Cuba, 10-percent beer is produced from 70-percent
malted barley and 30-percent sugar.

Now everyone will be waiting, as I said, to try the beer you produce, and I
hope you become famous for its quality, not only because of the modern
technology but because of the quality of the waters of Camaguey.  It was
always said that these waters were very good.  We will see that now by the
quality of the beer.

You will have to take care of maintenance and struggle year after year to
assimilate the capacity of the brewery.  I said that next year production
will be 32 million liters.  I do not have an exact figure for 1987, but I
expect it will be more than 50 million.  The minister of food industry will
have no reason to complain.  Production will go up another 20 or 25
million, until the brewery is producing at capacity.

There is a demand for beer in the country.  In the same way that we have a
model brewery, let this brewery, although it is not called model brewery,
let this brewery be a model. [applause] Let it compete in product quality
with the other breweries in Cuba.

I said that not only beer drinkers would benefit from this brewery and that
in fact beer drinkers would be those to benefit least.  I am not saying
they will not benefit; I am sure they will get much more satisfaction,
especially those who have had to wait in line, and they will know they have
a sure supply.  A sure supply depends on a sure supply of crates and
bottles, which sometimes accumulate at home to excess.  Some may even hoard
beer.  I assure you that in the future hoarding will be unnecessary.  It
will be necessary to have the amount needed for inviting a friend or some
friends, and maybe even enough to play dominos on Sundays, which a lot of
people do on days of rest -- when there are days of rest, that is, when
there is no voluntary work to do, which is seldom, not too often.
[applause]

We are concerned about rest.  You know there are free Saturdays and long
Saturdays [sabados largos and duty does not always coincide with free time.
In short, I hope that this product, which is a food, sustains you; not just
the malt, which has traditionally been a food.  I remember when I was a boy
they used to say that pregnant women and nursing women had to drink malt.
And I am not propagandizing too much.  I know that you do not have enough
malt and will not have enough for a long time.  I mean not only malt, but
beer is also a food.  The researchers who say it is healthful maybe right,
within certain limits.  I believe this food is going to be less scarce and
that production and distribution are going to grow.

But I return to the idea that those who drink beer feel happy at being able
to drink the beer they need, and so much the better if it is cold.  In the
GDR you cannot talk of cold beer because they drink it at room temperature.
Of course, their climate is different from ours.  But he who drinks a beer
also makes a contribution to the economy.

An industry like this one means large earnings for the economy, for the
country's finances.  When it reaches full production its sales will amount
to about 150 million [currency not specified] and this will not include the
special beer that, if it acquires prestige and fame, will be demanded even
in Pinar del Rio, especially until their brewery is built.

It is my understanding that there are 34 family doctors here, no, 33.
Lazaro told me they were going to sit in the front row, but when I asked
him [applause] when I asked him, he told me they were in the last row.  As
you know, we were speaking about projects here, but many of the things that
have been done or are being done by the revolution were not mentioned.

Here we have not mentioned, for example, the great effort made by this
province in defense, as all provinces have made.  I have mentioned that
this has taxed our energy, cost us sleep during the past few years.

For example, I did not speak about such important projects as the start of
the family doctor program in Camaguey Province, which will have a growing
effect year after year and which will also represent an enormous
improvement in health services for our people and for this province.  There
are already 33 physicians.  They were trained here in Camaguey; they did
not come from abroad, or Santiago, or Havana.  I am sure this new service
will revolutionize medical services in our country.  It will be a model for
many countries.  This will be the first country to undertake this project,
which is very promising.

Some 20,000 physicians will be assigned to this project, both men and
women.  Possibly the majority will be women.  There will be an additional
20,000 nurses assigned to the project, making a total of 40,000 compatriots
lending this revolutionary service.  It will be a network which will be
completed in the next 12 or 14 years.  Some 500 physicians have already
joined this project.  Beginning in 1986 1,500 will be assigned to the
project every year.  It is possible that 2,000 will join in 1989, and later
on even 2,500 annually.  They will come from the Carlos J. Finlay medical
sciences detachment.

This will be accomplished with just the earnings of this factory alone --
this will give an idea of what socialism can do, and how socialism develops
the country.  It produces, distributes, redistributes, earns on the one
hand and gives out with the other; essentially collects less or does not
collect at all or subsidizes.  In those things that are not essential -- no
matter how good it may be -- such as beer, and I said it was good and could
possibly be healthy, so long as it is not categorized as medicine with a
subsidy... [sentence as heard]

We are earning funds with the beer, we do not deny it.  We all know it
well.  We are happy about it. [passage indistinct] Perhaps we are running
the risk of drinking only one beer.  I believe that day is far from ever
becoming a reality.  Rum consumption in Cuba is low, and we are happy about
that.  Beer consumption is very low, I would say extremely low.  We are not
too happy about that.  To cite an example, we consume 29.4 (?beers) per
capita, including children who do not consume but theoretically they are
assigned a portion of the per capita.  Dividing 294 million liters into 10
million inhabitants, the result is 29.4.

Consumption of beer in Europe is much higher.  I have asked how much is
consumed in the GDR.  In the GDR, 160 liters per capita are consumed, which
demonstrates that they do not drink water with their meals.  Lazaro said
someone told him it was 160.  Roca said it was 140.  During the ceremony I
asked the GDR ambassador, and he said it was 260.  No, that is too much.
In the end someone found out that the correct figure was 160.  No matter
what, that amount is five times what we consume here.  Czechoslovakia has a
similar consumption.  All European countries have a high consumption.  We
are not wine producers or consumers.  We are rum producers and try to
export all of it.  That is the correct thing to do.

Beer replaces wine in our climate.  It is not exaggerated to have a
consumption of 50 or 60.  The day we double the per capita we will be very
far from the consumption level of other countries with other habits, with
cold weather.  But I know we are very far from the amount of consumption
which could be considered harmful to health, mind, or heart.  I believe we
do not have to worry about that, and we should continue to increase
production annually.

With only one industry such as this one, earnings derived could pay for the
family doctor project or the salaries of 20,000 physicians and 20,000
nurses. [applause]

In our society they earn good salaries, they have been raised.  A
considerable number of doctors has already specialized in comprehensive
general medicine.  That gives an idea of what the socialist economy is
like.  Production of some goods is subsidized, but others yield great
income.  Some months ago the country had 256,000 teachers.  We have
universities in every province.  We spoke about the legal and educational
installations and our development programs.  All that requires resources
and spending.

We have referred to great efforts made in defense.  All that requires
resources and spending.  So industries like this one bring many of those
resources to the country.  However, this is not why we have motivated to
build a brewery like this one.  Profits did not motivate us to build a
brewery like this one, as would he the case in a capitalist consortium.
What motivated an industry like this was the idea of satisfying the
people's needs. [applause]

The people, their needs, and their wishes are and will always be the first
and foremost thing for us. [applause] But in this case the people's need
and wishes coincided with the fact that it is a highly profitable industry
for the country, not for the Ministry of Food Industry but for the country.
This is why the workers, fulfilling their tasks, or construction workers,
thinking about what they have done, realize that with this brewery they are
not only helping those who drink a beer on a hot day -- or a cold day, if
you like -- with their lunch or dinner, in the afternoon, or during a
party, they will also be helping our health, education, development, and
defense programs.  This is why I said, and I believe I have demonstrated,
that it will benefit those who do not drink and those who drink beer.
[applause]

This afternoon I wanted to express these thoughts, and I believe the only
thing left is to express our gratitude; not to our compatriots; I express
our congratulations to our compatriots, to the people from Camaguey and all
those who have worked in this project.  But let me express our gratitude to
our GDR brothers who helped to make it possible.  We express our gratitude
to all technicians who worked with ours in its construction.  We thank all
GDR enterprises which, in one way or another, contributed to producing this
brewery's equipment.  Among them are three very important ones; [words
indistinct] work center -- pardon me if I do not pronounce German correctly
-- [words indistinct] work center -- this is German and not French -- and
(Nagema) work center and all other GDR industries which have contributed.
[applause] Our gratitude. to the GDR Construction and Machine and Chemical
Industry Ministries, represented here by two vice ministers, [applause] Our
gratitude to the GDR Government [applause] and the GDR party. [applause].

That cooperation has not been expressed with this brewery alone.  It was
expressed [word indistinct] with the construction of the largest cement
factory in the country, located in Cienfuegos Province.  It was expressed
on the Isle of Youth where, with each congress we open a new ceramic
factory also with GDR equipment and technology. [applause] Before the third
congress a new factory will open with twice the capacity as the one opened
before.  Many of those ceramic pieces are already being seen in the country
-- plates, bowls, pitchers -- and are of increasing quality.

And we have seen interest by the GDR Government and party in those
projects, because a large project is not easy.  A lot of equipment and
material are needed.  They have to arrive in a certain order to be
installed.  It is not easy, no one thinks it is easy to build an industry
of certain complexity, the same way we all know a sugar mill is not easy to
build, even when we have already learned how.

It is a complex project, with varied equipment and diverse materials.  They
have to follow a time table to be able to complete it fast, in record time.
The style of work, the efficient method of the CDR, helps us a lot in this
kind of enterprise.  The organs, ministries, enterprises, workers, and the
party worry about it.  Every time one of these projects is built in Cuba,
Comrade Erich Honecker, GDR party secretary general, worries. [applause]

This is why we wish to express our deepest recognition to our GDR brothers
for their unforgettable cooperation in this project.  We ask the head of
the delegation which honored us with their presence today, Comrade Hager,
who was kind enough to speak to us in Spanish -- he learned Spanish when he
fulfilled an honorable internationalist mission with the Spanish people
defending the republic against fascism [applause] -- Comrade Higer, tell
the party, the GDR people, the Politburo, and especially our dear Comrade
Erich Honecker how this brewery is, how it has been built, how this
ceremony has been -- full of enthusiasm and acknowledgement of the GDR --
and please convey to him on behalf of our people, on behalf of the people
from Camaguey, on behalf of all the workers, of all communists, of all
compatriots, of the Central Committee, of the Politburo, and on my behalf,
our deepest gratitude for his beautiful cooperation, which made possible
this victory of the revolution, socialism, and internationalism. [applause]

Fatherland or death, we shall overcome! [applause]

-END-


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