-DATE-
19870515
-YEAR-
1987
-DOCUMENT_TYPE-
INTERVIEW
-AUTHOR-
F. CASTRO
-HEADLINE-
CRITICIZES RETIREMENT POLICY
-PLACE-
CUBA
-SOURCE-
HAVANA INTL SERVICE
-REPORT_NBR-
FBIS
-REPORT_DATE-
19870527
-TEXT-
Criticizes Retirement Policy

PA151845 Havana International Service in Spanish 1802 GMT 15 May 87

[Text] Cuban President Fidel Castro emphatically criticized today in Havana
the errors that have been committed in the retirement 'policy for the Cuban
peasant sector. During his first participation today in the Seventh ANAP
Congress the top Cuban leader said for the past 4 years, retirement has
been excessively abused, particularly by members of cooperatives. The error
begins, Castro, explained, with the false concept of wanting to increase
the number of cooperatives by implementing a massive retirement policy for
farmers, most of whom continue to work after [retiring], and receive two
incomes.

He added one cannot have good intentions and philanthropic sentiments only,
but realistic measures must be implemented according to the situation in
the country, which already has to disburse 32 million pesos in excess of
the revenues it receives from the agricultural sector for retirement. A
moving moment during the first working session of the Cuban farmers
congress occurred when a delegate praised Castro's role regarding his
historic concern about improving the living conditions of the men and women
of the Cuban countryside.

Discusses Retirement Problems

FL152018 Havana Radio Rebelde Network in Spanish 1700 GMT 15 May 87

[Report by Amado Cordoba Herrera]

[Excerpts] Commander in Chief Fidel Castro Ruz, PCC first secretary and
president of the Councils of State and Minister, presided over the opening
ceremony of the Seventh ANAP Congress.

In its report, the Documentation committee advised that the congress had
begun with the attendance of 99 percent of the 805 delegates of whom 15
percent are women and almost 10 percent are members of the Union of Young
Communists and the party. [passage omitted]

More than 10 delegates spoke during the morning session. They broached the
subject of the rectification process and special emphasis was given to the
distorted concept of retirement among the peasants. This topic prompted
enlightening and clarifying remarks by Fidel.

[Begin Castro recording] Can we ignore the phenomenon caused by retirement?
Can we truly ignore this? Speaking of the rectification process, can we
ignore the fact we have distorted, or that the idea of retirement has been
completely distorted? That the law created to help the peasants who are
members of a cooperative has been distorted, massively distorted? I ask
myself if retirement is a system to make more money or whether it is a
reward for the worker, a way to give the worker some security. [end
recording]

Several delegates, among them the president of the Aniceto Perez
Agricultural-Livestock Cooperative, Comrade Orlando Gomez, expressed their
support for Fidel's views:

[Begin recording] [Gomez] I think that this congress should propose the
official elimination of anything that might encourage a member of a
cooperative to retire.

[Castro] At least that which strongly encourages retirement.

[gomes] I think that this affects our...

[Castro interrupts] Possibilities.

[Gomez) This could be eliminated by activities to make the cooperatives
highly productive. I think that this can be accomplished by consolidating
the cooperative movement. Good cooperative work would counteract the
current massive retirement. [end recording]

At the conclusion of this report, the delegates were studying the main
report and the speakers were discussing the responsibility that the members
of the ANAP have to produce the food that the country needs.

Analyzes Problems, Tasks

FL161205 Havana Radio Progreso Network in Spanish 1100 GMT 16 May 87

[Text] During a speech yesterday, Commander in Chief Fidel Castro analyzed
the principal problems and tasks of Cuban peasants. Upon speaking at the
evening session of the Seventh ANAP Congress, Fidel said that one must
refer to several aspects when speaking of the rectification process and he
called on the delegates to study these in detail.

In reference to this, Fidel pointed out the peasants' free market, the
practice of partnership, the tendency of some to abandon the land, absentee
landlords, and the illegal occupation of land. He also discussed the
progress of the distribution system, which has been influenced by the
creation of the National Union of Collection/Distribution Centers and the
measures that became effective after the second national meeting of
agricultural-livestock cooperatives.

Fidel called on ANAP members to think about the various problems that have
prevented, until now, the increased development of the land. The commander
in chief said it was wise to abolish the peasants' free market and once
again referred to the new markets that have emerged as a result of this. He
said the peasant's free market had created intolerable conditions while the
cooperative movement remained stagnant. After Fidel's analysis, the ANAP
delegates discussed the topics he mentioned.

In general, the first day of sessions was characterized by the peasants'
determination to continue toward their goal of progress with sure steps
toward new forms of production. The congress will continue today at
Havana's Palace of Conventions and will close tomorrow at the Karl Marx
Theater.

Discusses Production Methods

FL162128 Havana Radio Rebelde Network in Spanish 2300 GMT 15 May 87

[Excerpts] The rectification process in the peasants' sector has
characterized the discussions of the first day of work of the Seventh ANAP
Congress. The delegates have focused on labor regulation and distortions of
the sector's retirement system. [passage omitted]

[Begin Castro recording] It is not a matter of creating cooperatives to
socialize land for the sake of socializing its production. Individual
production in small plots goes against the application of the most
productive techniques, of science in agriculture, irrigation. All those
irrigation plans that guarantee production cannot be carried out if there
is no large scale production.

Underscoring the importance of this new and better production method, the
first secretary of the PCC noted:

[Begin Castro recording] I t is not the same thing to analyze, discuss, and
plan agricultural production in 2,000 large cooperatives as to plan,
organize, collect what is produced among 150,000 or 200,000 independent
farmers. You do not know how it will help to simplify work in agriculture
when agricultural production is based on state enterprises and
cooperatives. [end recording] [(passage omitted]

Participates Actively

FL162359 Havana Radio Reloj Network in Spanish 1932 GMT 16 May 87

[Text] This morning's session of the seventh ANAP Congress presided over by
our Commander in Chief Fidel Castro has ended. The first secretary of the
PCC participated actively in this morning's session and expressed interest
in learning what the members of the cooperative had done in order to
produce more than 90,000 arrobas of sugarcane per caballeria in areas where
this crop is grown. During a dialogue with a member of a cooperative from
the mountain area of Santiago de Cuba, Fidel mentioned that since
improvements in the living conditions were introduced, people have stopped
moving away from the mountain areas and the young people are returning home
after finishing their studies. Fidel also praised the engineers who have
expressed a willingness to go to the coffee producing areas and the
hundreds of family doctors who are working in the mountain areas of
Santiago de Cuba and Guantanamo.

The sugarcane production in the cooperatives was discussed in-depth with
the participation of Commander Fidel Castro, Sugar Industry Minister Juan
Herrera, Agriculture Minister Adolfo Diaz, and a group of delegates. Manuel
Lopez, member of the PCC Central Committee and a Cuban hero, was the first
speaker of the day. Lopez talked about the problems experienced in the
sugarcane sector. Lopez, who is also president of the 17 May Unit in
Quibijan, Havana Province, talked about the problems encountered with
certain varieties of sugarcane cutting machines. Following Manuel Lopez'
remarks, our commander in chief expressed his interest in learning what is
being done to promote new varieties of sugarcane and said more varieties
must be created and they must be strong enough to withstand any kind of
plague.

Commander in Chief Fidel Castro suggested to Eduardo Cruz, member of the
Jesus Suarez Gayol Cattle Cooperative in Camaguey, that the cooperative use
Siboney race cattle in order to achieve a greater milk production. Eduardo
Cruz talked to Fidel about his cooperative adding that the milk production
had been increased following the second national meeting of agricultural
cooperatives. Fidel asked about the number of members in that cooperative,
the quality of the land, equipment, and self-consumption. He pointed out
the need for this cooperative to increase its production and reach the
level of development of the cooperatives in the Jimaguayu milk basin. Cruz
said this year the Jesus Suarez Gayol Cooperative will produce 1.8 million
liters of milk and will build 15 new cowsheds.

Fidel Castro praised the 26 July Cooperative in Holguin for their its
positive results in the sugarcane yield, the construction of homes, and its
work in general. Fidel said this cooperative should be an example for the
other cooperatives. Castro made this statement after talking with Alfredo
Guerrero, president of the 26 July Cooperative, who informed the delegates
of the cooperative's self-consumption plan, its day care center, and other
important aspects of cooperative work. Fidel asked about the profitability
of the cooperative, the family doctor plan in the area, the housing cost,
and the incentives that will determine the return of the young people after
they have finished their studies. Guerrero told Fidel the secret for the
success of the cooperative is work and trust in the future of the
cooperative system.

Discusses Electrification

FL162142 Havana Radio Reloj Network in Spanish 1800 GMT 15 May 87

[Text] In one of his many remarks during this morning's session of the
Seventh ANAP Congress, Fidel Castro said that the process of
electrification must be accompanied by the development of the cooperative
movement and the rural areas because we will achieve nothing if we spend
large sums of money only to provide the small properties with electricity.
This was the commander in chief's answer to a delegate from a credit and
service cooperative who was requesting the electrification of isolated
houses located within a cattle area. Electrification, the president of the
Councils of State and Ministers stressed, must be accompanied by the growth
of the Agricultural-Livestock Cooperatives [CPA]. Otherwise, we will find
ourselves with a highly developed power system and a prehistoric system of
working the land. Another issue that was broached was the one regarding the
[word indistinct] of areas. This is a problem that must be analyzed in a
casuistic manner in order to help in the development of the area's plan.
During the morning's session it was also mentioned there are some peasants
who do not want their children, and other family members, to join the
cooperative movement. They claim if they leave the farm the breeding of
pigs, sheep, and other animals would be affected. A delegate stressed those
who strongly oppose the creation of the CPA's are mostly technicians and
engineers who owe their education to the revolution.

Some of the 800 delegates attending the congress said there are some
peasants who do not sweat when working and who have lost their love for
work. These are peasants who want the revolution to give them everything,
yet they claim they are revolutionaries. A Granma Province representative
said the best revolutionary is one who works and makes the land produce. He
charged many peasants have joined the cooperative movement in order to
claim their retirement and have not done a single minute's work since then.
The low coffee yield was also discussed during the first session of the
ANAP congress being held at the Palace of Conventions in Havana by
Idalberto Cedeno, member of the Bartolome Maso Cooperative in Guantanamo.
Cedeno said an increase in the coffee yield must be sought in science and
improved techniques as well as in the proper attention of the coffee farms.
The member of the cooperative in Guantanamo said better footwear is
necessary for the mountain areas because the sneaker is not strong enough
to endure the obstacles encountered in those areas. It is also not safe
when the user is working on a slope. This increases the possibility of
accidents. Other delegates talked about the profitability of the
cooperatives, work [word indistinct], and the proper use of a work day.
Others discussed the issue of retirement.
-END-