-DATE-
19900718
-YEAR-
1990
-DOCUMENT_TYPE-
-AUTHOR-
-HEADLINE-
`Highlights' of 7th ANPP Assembly
-PLACE-
CARIBBEAN / Cuba
-SOURCE-
Havana Cubavision Network
-REPORT_NBR-
FBIS-LAT-90-144
-REPORT_DATE-
19900726
-HEADER-
BRS Assigned Document Number:    000013022
Report Type:         Daily Report             AFS Number:     FL1907150090
Report Number:       FBIS-LAT-90-144          Report Date:    26 Jul 90
Report Series:       Daily Report             Start Page:     5
Report Division:     CARIBBEAN                End Page:       8
Report Subdivision:  Cuba                     AG File Flag:   
Classification:      UNCLASSIFIED             Language:       Spanish
Document Date:       18 Jul 90
Report Volume:       Thursday Vol VI No 144

Dissemination:  

City/Source of Document:   Havana Cubavision Network

Report Name:   Latin America

Headline:   `Highlights' of 7th ANPP Assembly

Subheadline:   Part 1

Source Line:   FL1907150090 Havana Cubavision Network in Spanish 0100 GMT 18
Jul 90

Subslug:   [First part in a series of three on ``highlights'' of the Seventh
Session of the Third National Assembly of the People's Government,
ANPP, held at the Palace of Conventions in Havana from 11 to 13
July--recorded]

-TEXT-
FULL TEXT OF ARTICLE:
1.  [First part in a series of three on ``highlights'' of the Seventh Session
of the Third National Assembly of the People's Government, ANPP, held at the
Palace of Conventions in Havana from 11 to 13 July--recorded]

2.  [Excerpts] [Announcer] The Seventh Session of the ANPP began with the
reading of the report on tourism.  The four institutions of the sector, the
National Institute of Tourism [Intur], Cubanacan SA Corporation, Gaviota Group,
and People's Camping were represented. Discussions began with a report by
delegate Jorge Otero on problems with reservations for domestic tourism.
[passage omitted]

3.  [Castro] The elevator issue is a headache for the entire City of Havana.
There are hundreds and hundreds of elevators of all kinds. We have received
some that are of poor quality. We have asked national and joint venture
enterprises to purchase the best, safest, most prestigious elevators for the
hotels. It is a real tragedy if an elevator is not of the highest quality. It
is one of the most vulnerable points of a hotel whether it is used for cargo,
passengers, or whatever. We cannot ignore this principle.  It will take a long
time before our elevators are of three-star, four-star, five-star hotel
quality. That is my conclusion. My question is, if an enterprise has to see to
a building, hospitals, which are very important, and the same enterprise is the
one to solve domestic problems and also see to hotels such as Habana Libre,
Riviera, Cohiba--the new and old hotels. Are they going to give priority to the
Hermanos Ameijeiras Hospital or the Nacional Hotel? It would be madness. They
have to figure out what this enterprise is like. What is its capacity? And what
happens if you put it in the same boat as elevators for tourist buildings, of
which there are hundreds throughout the country.

4.  In the provinces it is the same thing. Enterprises must be created. I
envision an elevator enterprise in Matanzas to solve the problems in Varadero,
in all the new hotels in Varadero. I wonder if there is a brigade in Varadero,
a small shop that might take care of all the elevators there and be part of the
tourism enterprise. The question is if the solution is to have a large
enterprise in Matanzas where nobody knows where it comes from, what resources
it has, and what problems it has, or that tourism with the necessary resources
allocated by the country, with the same hard currency it collects, can have its
spare parts in a shop there for its good elevators. The first thing we must do
is buy good elevators.  I have discussed this with Osmani [Cienfuegos, vice
president of the Coordination and Support Staff of the Council of State]. We
must place the highest quality equipment in these hotels. Otherwise we will
never have three-star, four-star, five-star hotels, 10-star, and so on.
[passage omitted]

5.  [Unidentified delegate] There is only one regulated product at the
campsites since the program began-- condensed milk. With the supply problems we
are facing we have been given guidance to regulate it so there is enough for
everyone. This is being done everywhere in Cuba. I do not disagree with her.
Perhaps our comrades who work at the grocery stores on the campsites she
visited may have gone too far selling goods. There is a group called select
goods--such as meat--which is regulated at the discretion of the comrade. Two
or three cans are being sold per stay now. I reiterate, we do not have a rule
of regulating goods at the campsites. We only regulate condensed milk depending
on the number of cans available. At this time, condensed milk has been
regulated in the entire country, especially in East Havana where many people go
camping. She was mentioning something that was true....

6.  [Castro, interrupting] Yes or no?

7.  [Delegate] Yes.

8.  [Castro] Is there regulation or not?

9.  [Delegate] Basically there is no regulation. I can assure you that we have
provided guidance that when a real shortage of a given product exists we
regulate it and allow only two or three cans per stay....

10.  [Castro, interrupting] What is in short supply? We are receiving no canned
goods from Bulgaria at this time or many other things such as sundries and
nicknacks. What is being used for camping requires sacrifice and one has to
adapt to the situation.

11.  [Delegate] Right. She was saying that more can be done about the way the
facilities are used. I do not know to what she is referring because [words
indistinct] says that in East Havana, the place to which she is referring,
there are not enough facilities and the 10 campsites opened recently are not
sufficient. We are beginning to have terribly long waiting lists....

12.  [Castro, interrupting] Are there waiting lists in East Havana?

13.  [Delegate] What?

14.  [Castro] Do you have waiting lists?

15.  [Delegate] Yes, of course.

16.  [Castro] There are not enough campsites in East Havana.  There is a reason
for that. There was a time when the construction of campsites was stopped. We
wanted to build up to 40 campsites there. I think it is great that the people
in East Havana have somewhere to go here. Even if it is just a little bungalow
where people are not bitten by mosquitoes because there is mosquito netting.
All the necessary equipment was given to the Havana People's Government so it
could build those campsites, and it turned out that no resources were
available, problems came up, and the equipment was redistributed. I had to
provide equipment for East Havana's campsites. I want to see how they are doing
because they told me the story of the great captain. I was told that since they
were not being used there they could be used for something else.  When I went
to ask for the equipment it turned out that the equipment was scattered all
over the place. Everything had to be torn down to build the East Havana
campsite. New equipment had to be obtained.

17.  [Victor Fernandez] You said that the building of campsites stopped at one
point and that a decision was made to redistribute the equipment you had handed
over.  Later, you....

18.  [Castro, interrupting] It disappeared.

19.  [Fernandez] You asked for the equipment to be collected, and we collected
a good part of it again, and it is at the campsites. You later completed the
number of equipment to begin the new plan. The new plan is being carried out
with new criteria and new ideas. We believe that the population feels better
with that new project and new concept of building campsites.

20.  We are building motels, not campsites. La Laguna is a motel with a
swimming pool in the middle and bathrooms. It is wonderful. The campsite at
Pena Blanca is a motel with all the facilities for the people. There are large
waiting lists and great demands are placed. Residents from the capital go
there. The people go to the campsite, to the latest one that was built....

21.  [Castro, interrupting] You said that there is a lot of demand, there is a
waiting list [words indistinct] in the summer months?

22.  [Fernandez] Before, in the winter the campsites were practically not used
at all. This winter all the campsites were used.

23.  [Castro] All of them?

24.  [Fernandez] All of them, including the ones without bathrooms.

25.  [Castro] That is good news. People are learning to use the campsites.

26.  [Fernandez] They are learning to use the campsites. The people are using
recreation sites....

27.  [Castro, interrupting] When is the demand greater, now, in the summer?

28.  [Fernandez] In the summer.

29.  [Unidentified delegate] In July and August it is over 20,000.

30.  [Castro] Are those the ones who want to go to the campsites?

31.  [Delegate] Yes.

32.  [Castro] This means that the demand is twice as great as the available
facilities. If you had 20 campsites, would they be full in July and August?

33.  [Delegate] Yes, they would be full in July and August.

34.  [Castro] How many workers do you have in the national organization?

35.  [Delegate] There are 4,181 throughout the country.

36.  [Castro] This would equal three sugar mills. Well, one and a half. Four
thousand and something? What is your income in sales?

37.  [Delegate] This year it was 31 million [currency not specified].

38.  [Castro] How much this year?

39.  [Delegate] It was 31 million in 1989.

40.  [Castro] You are going to sell 31 million-worth. How much are you
spending?

41.  [Delegate] No, we sold 31 million in 1989 and spent 29 million.

42.  [Castro] That was sales in a full year. How much do you think you will
sell this year? At least you are not subsidizing camping.

43.  [Delegate] This year we think sales will be....

44.  [Castro, interrupting] We do not think of it as big business; we think of
it as a service to the people.  According to your estimates, how many people
will go camping this year?

45.  [Delegate] Some 1.3 million.

46.  [Castro] That is something. Some 1.3 million citizens spending one or two
days or a week at campsites. What percentage of campsites will be occupied
throughout the year?

47.  [Delegate] About 47 percent. About 45 or 47 percent.

48.  [Castro] In East Havana?

49.  [Delegate] Much more, up to 60 percent, not including July and August,
which are at 100 percent.

50.  [Castro] At 100 percent total in July and August?

51.  [Delegate] At 100 percent.

52.  [Castro] We can use this as a guideline. There is heavy demand here in the
west for campsites in East Havana where a steering plan, a project, was drawn
up a a number of years ago. We are moving ahead. We have to see the resources
at hand. If it comes to a halt, then so be it. That is if there are no
resources or anything else. We do not know what the immediate future will bring
despite our best intentions, but for the moment we have a guideline in terms of
the efforts that need to be made, and we can see what you need there and what
we can do every year. We have learned that there is a great demand in East
Havana. This shows us that if we can, we must continue developing East Havana.

53.  [Delegate Dulce Maria Torres] There should be an effort made to stop
money-changing activity called jinetero, which leaves a false image in general
of the Cuban attitude. The City of Havana is where this is seen more. Those who
have easy access to restricted areas, unfortunately in recreation centers,
where there are foreign tourists. They can get in.  Comrade Pablo [not further
identified] said a few hours ago that these areas are for foreign tourists and
Cubans cannot get in. These people who we call money changers get into these
places easily and [words indistinct] and I think that something should be done
to prevent these people from getting into these centers and to reduce the
irritation they cause by getting in.

54.  [Unidentified speaker] Excuse me, Dulce Maria. It is not that we have to
do something. We have being doing it for a long time. There is easy access
because of those who are inside, not outside.

55.  [Torres] That is true.

56.  [Speaker] And in this part of the whole struggle we have called on the
country to confront this problem. This is not prevented by the police or
members of the People's Vigilance Committee. This must be prevented by the
workers inside and by the needed awareness that we have been discussing in this
session. There are many things to do about issues such as ethics, principles,
etc. I believe that you are getting ahead of us regarding the matter at hand
because we later must deal with other items that are more closely related to
the issue you have raised. However, I do think that this is part of our
rectification program and our struggle.

57.  [Torres] Yes, and....

58.  [Delegate, interrupting] The policeman on the corner is not going to solve
this problem. It will be solved by the workers inside; it will be solved by
managers who impose discipline in their work centers and it will be solved by
various factors that are fighting for this.

59.  [Unidentified delegate] There are two aspects I would like to emphasize
within the framework of this assembly.  I feel it is necessary that Intur
develop a more detailed information program as to its achievements and
effectiveness, which will allow the people to become more aware that tourism is
and must be everyone's affair because it benefits everyone.

60.  [Passage omitted] [Delegate] The second important point is related to our
population's dissatisfaction regarding the different treatment that is still
perceived by domestic tourists, compared to the treatment accorded
international tourists. In some cases, the people are mistreated.

61.  [Castro] She says that attempts should be made for Intur workers to treat
equally the citizens who go to international or Cubanacan hotels. In this case,
we are talking about the laborer. I think this is a matter of educating people.
I believe we should [words indistinct]. I believe that what she said should be
noted. [screen shows figures on campsite visitors]

62.  We have the privilege of following a tourism policy that is in line with
the most modern criteria, in line with the peoples' wishes, with the wishes of
tourists. We have fantastic capabilities in this. I believe we can and should
find a solution to all these things which range from the problems with
elevators--Osmani has already explained that they were looking for only two or
three makes--to the food supplies matter.

63.  Much more serious problems exist, such as training of the labor force.
Much of the labor force is here. We need schools. There are enormous tasks
ahead, such as finding construction workers for the tens of thousands of rooms
we have to build. We have to find the staff. I believe that some 100,000 rooms
can be built in all those northern keys where we are building the causeways. I
rack my brain thinking who is going to build them. Where are they going to get
the people? What personnel are going to work there? This project also needs
almost 100,000 workers. There are a number of much more complex things. For
example, the study of joint ventures. Why do we have them? I believe that
strategic matters need to be discussed regarding the tourism matter.

64.  One of them was mentioned here when the distribution of available
facilities was discussed. How are we going to distribute them? Comrade Jose
[not further identified] said that there are not enough facilities. We do not
have enough. How are we going to distribute them now? How are we going to
distribute them in the future? You yourself told me in a meeting, someone asked
how more facilities could be obtained for domestic tourists. There are those
kinds of concerns. Tourism strategy and policy matters cannot be discussed, but
present and future tourism policy matters are extremely important for people.
There are questions which we need to have answered.

65.  One of the questions to be answered is, does the population gain with all
this tourist development, or not? In my opinion, the population does gain
because having 20,000 rooms is not the same as having 100,000. When the people
go to the beach.... [changes thought] One of the things we have to learn is
what ideas our people have about tourism, and how they will take care of the
facilities. There is no doubt we still do not have the European tradition--this
is the truth--of taking care of these tourist installations. We have some
terrible habits such as taking the entire family of 10, 12, 14 members and
breaking everything. We can talk about this without shame. What are we like?
What type of tourists are domestic tourists? What kind of treatment do we give
to those hotels?

66.  Tough and difficult subjects are presented here. I believe that the
situation will not be the same in 1990 as in 1997, 1998 when the country gains
other incomes and other possibilities. We would like the population also to
enjoy everything that is built for tourists, even if during part of the year,
during those two months in which our people generally go to the beach. Our
people want to go to those facilities with the entire family and with all the
children who are on vacation during those two months.

67.  Those houses? Yes, those houses. The people from East Havana have made an
enormous effort; they have accomplished a feat. They have recovered 700 houses. 
Those houses were destroyed by the people who used them. Sometimes an entire
tribe got into one of those houses. Twenty-five stayed at a house intended for
five.  How do we manage that? How do we distribute them?  To whom do we give
them? Under what conditions do we give them in our type of society? The
distribution of the few facilities cannot follow the market policy. Who will
pay 300 or 400 pesos for a house at market price?  Who will pay for it? The
rich people. We also have some of them. They are going to pay for them--I know
who is going to pay for them--and the ones who steal.

68.  There are people who steal and do it openly. There are people who drive a
truck and then take the goods [words indistinct]. Who knows how much money
people make with cabs when they have several people ride in them and turn in
only what one person pays. All these things are known. There are people here
who obtain easy money. They have enough money to pay for Santa Maria houses and
three-, four-, and five-star hotels. They do not know how to spend their money.

69.  What policy should we follow? I think this should be explained. This is
very important. [applause]
-END-