-DATE-
19891230
-YEAR-
1989
-DOCUMENT_TYPE-
-AUTHOR-
-HEADLINE-
Castro's Puente Nuevo Bus Terminal Speech
-PLACE-
CARIBBEAN / Cuba
-SOURCE-
Havana Cuba Vision Network
-REPORT_NBR-
FBIS-LAT-90-002
-REPORT_DATE-
19900103
-HEADER-
BRS Assigned Document Number:    000000166
Report Type:         Daily Report             AFS Number:     FL0201151490
Report Number:       FBIS-LAT-90-002          Report Date:    03 Jan 90
Report Series:       Daily Report             Start Page:     3
Report Division:     CARIBBEAN                End Page:       4
Report Subdivision:  Cuba                     AG File Flag:   
Classification:      UNCLASSIFIED             Language:       Spanish
Document Date:       30 Dec 89
Report Volume:       Wednesday Vol VI No 002

Dissemination:  

City/Source of Document:   Havana Cuba Vision Network

Report Name:   Latin America

Headline:   Castro's Puente Nuevo Bus Terminal Speech

Author(s):   President Fidel Castro Ruz on 28 December at the inauguration of
the Puente Nuevo bus terminal in Havana--recorded]

Source Line:   FL0201151490 Havana Cuba Vision Network in Spanish 0241 GMT 30
Dec 89

Subslug:   [Speech by President Fidel Castro Ruz on 28 December at the
inauguration of the Puente Nuevo bus terminal in Havana--recorded]

-TEXT-
FULL TEXT OF ARTICLE:
1.  [Speech by President Fidel Castro Ruz on 28 December at the inauguration of
the Puente Nuevo bus terminal in Havana--recorded]

2.  [Text] Comrades, unfortunately today I do not have time for a speech
because I had a debt to pay. I had to present the banner to the contingent of
the Jose Antonio Echeverria University City and I had to inaugurate a project
there. There were several thousand students. I had to talk more than I had
intended to do, despite the fact that I told them I was not going to give a
speech. Here, I have no other alternative but to keep my word. From here, I
have to go fulfill my other debt. I have to go present the banner to the
Antillana de Acero and inaugurate a project there. On top of all this, I have
to do it all before 1900 so the youths can attend the ceremony. So, there is
very little time to spend on an analysis, which would be very appropriate at a
time such as this.

3.  I spoke to the students about the Blas Roca contingent, about the history
of what it has done. I also mentioned that we now have 25 brigades, including
the brigade that is going to finish the center for biological products
[biopreparados]. We have a contingent that was modeled after your example.

4.  Today we inaugurate this terminal. This is the first of the eight that we
have planned as part of the bus terminal network in Havana. This is the last of
the eight that was started, and it is the first one finished. [applause]
[passage indistinct] I do not want to underrate the efforts the workers are
carrying out at the other seven terminals.  Today, I think it is difficult to
find a work force that has the organization, discipline, and strength of the
Blas Roca contingent. It has a large number of men who have a lot of experience
and high morale. It has a lot of equipment--strong equipment-- and it has
excellent leadership. However, just because the last terminal to be started was
the first one finished, it is no reason to [words indistinct] the other
workers. This is simply something natural that is expected of the Blas Roca
contingent. [applause] Hopefully some day, many other contingents [passage
indistinct].

5.  On this occasion, we had the valuable support of brigades of manual
sugarcane cutters. They were able to perfectly adapt to the working style of a
contingent, because they are accustomed to working 11, 12, 13, or 14 hours
cutting sugarcane; thus, they were experienced enough to fulfill the task they
were assigned here.  [applause]

6.  This is a true bus terminal. It has [word indistinct] meters. It has a
capacity of up to 150 omnibuses. This is one of the eight terminals that will
complete the network, for now. This will greatly support the capital's
transportation. The decision to urgently build all these terminals was made
when we became fully aware of the limitations [words indistict] and of the
objective problems in organizing a city to the highest efficiency [words
indistinct].  Passenger transportation plays a strategic (?role) in the
capital. We now have the first terminal here. A few minutes ago I saw [words
indistinct]. It still needs some work, but I think it is the one that needs the
least amount of work. It still needs at least a month's work. [passage
indistinct] Well, we will give in. However, we will be in good shape when we
finish these terminals. [passage indistinct] It is really impressive to see the
amount of space there is. The space was created by the contingent.  There used
to be a swamp instead. You couldn't even walk here. Stone had to be used here.
Hundreds of thousands of cubic meters of soil had to be brought in trucks to
give this some firmness, in order to build. A special brigade was not formed.
It was done with the participation of comrades from various brigades.

7.  Nevertheless, the goal was met. Frankly, to me it seemed very difficult to
meet. The extraordinary thing is that it was done in 4 months. In other words,
this terminal was completed in approximately 17 or 18 weeks. Working at this
pace, the country will make progress. But if you take 3, 4, or 5 years in
building a terminal, there is no progress. Working at this rate, there is
progress. This gives the people, revolutionaries, militants, and communists
confidence in what socialism can do. [applause] This is being shown by the work
of the other contingents, such as the comrades who are working on the
refrigeration centers, on the pre-university schools in the south, on the
groundbreaking for the porcine centers, [passage indistinct], on the road to
Mariel Port, on the railroads, or those who do the groundbreaking for the
markets, [passage indistinct]. [applause] The country is making progress.

8.  The importance of the Blas Roca contingent is not the speed at which they
work, but the example they have set for all construction workers. Thanks to the
efforts of this contingent, which was the first one, today there are over 60
contingents. Thanks to their effort and ideas, some industries have [word
indistinct]. In some cases, the ideas of the contingent have been fully
applied. In other cases it is more difficult, just some of the contingents'
ideas have been applied. Wherever those ideas have been applied, the results
are spectacular. [passage indistinct]

9.  You have just completed a labor feat. This Puente Nuevo bus terminal
[passage indistinct]. This project has another name. It is called a labor feat.
It does not mean we actually call it that, but we should always remember it as
one. We thank you comrades. [applause] We thank you for the motivation this
project has been for everyone. I think the other projects will continue making
progress at this rate. There is something our people will always thank the Blas
Roca contingent for, more than for its feats, or for the tens of projects that
are quickly and well built; what our people and revolution will always be
thankful for will be for its example. [applause] Socialism or death! Fatherland
or death, we will win. [applause]
-END-