-DATE-
19911109
-YEAR-
1991
-DOCUMENT TYPE-
-AUTHOR-
-HEADLINE-
Castro Speaks on Literacy in Melena del Sur
-PLACE-
CARIBBEAN / Cuba
-SOURCE-
Havana Radio and Television Networks
-REPORT NO.-
FBIS-LAT-91-221
-REPORT DATE-
19911115
-HEADER-
*********************
Report Type: Daily Report AFS Number: FL1411035391
Report Number: FBIS-LAT-91-221 Report Date: 15 Nov 91
Report Series: Daily Report Start Page: 11
Report Division: CARIBBEAN End Page: 16
Report Subdivision: Cuba AG File Flag:
Classification: UNCLASSIFIED Language: Spanish
Document Date: 09 Nov 91
Report Volume: Friday Vol VI No 221
Dissemination:
City/Source of Document: Havana Radio and Television Networks
Report Name: Latin America
Headline: Castro Speaks on Literacy in Melena del Sur
Author(s): President Fidel Castro marking 30th anniversary of end of literacy
campaign in Melena del Sur on 8 November-recorded]
Source Line: FL1411035391 Havana Radio and Television Networks in Spanish
0154 GMT 9 Nov 91
Subslug: [Speech by President Fidel Castro marking 30th anniversary of end of
literacy campaign in Melena del Sur on 8 November-recorded]
-TEXT-
FULL TEXT OF ARTICLE:
1. [Speech by President Fidel Castro marking 30th anniversary of end of
literacy campaign in Melena del Sur on 8 November-recorded]
2. [Text] [applause] [crowd shouts ``Fidel!''] Dear comrades of Melena del
Sur. [crowd chants indistinct slogans] I do not want you to think that I am not
punctual. The truth is, well, what happened was that I knew you were having one
or two events in this municipality to mark the 30th anniversary of the end of
the literacy campaign. On 5 November I scheduled a tour of Havana Province and
dropped in at the 5 November event being held at the school. I did not know
which event would be more important. Later, Comrade Lemus and other comrades
told me that the main event would be held on the afternoon of 8 November. At
that time I could not promise that I would be here. I did say that I wanted to
participate in the event, and some residents and comrades also wanted me to
participate; but I also had commitments scheduled for the week. At this very
moment, the International Fair is being held in Havana and for us, that event
is very important. Several commercial transactions are being made. Therefore, I
did not know what to do. At 1600 I had to be present at the signing of an
agreement for the creation of a mixed enterprise between our country and a
group of Basque businessmen. I had promised to be there. So I asked myself:
What should I do? In the end, what I did was try to attend the two events. I
had to go to that other event, [applause] so I went there. [applause] ExpoCuba
is on the way to Melena del Sur. I went there, did what I had to do quickly,
and came here. Despite all that, I got here late. I heard that Armando Hart
was breaking out in a cold sweat. [laughter] Not breaking out of town, but
breaking out in a cold sweat. [applause] Comrade Armando was given a piece of
paper asking him to continue talking. I know what that can be like. A person
starts talking, [laughter] the public begins to get tired, [laughter] but that
person has to continue to talk and talk, about anything. I know you are very
nice and kind people and would not have given him any signs that you were
getting tired. I heard that Comrade Hart talked, talked, and talked. I heard he
talked for approximately 50 minutes, and all because of me. The organizers of
the event could have said that Armando ran out of fuel [laughter] and that he
was going to take a break. They could have asked you to wait a few minutes
because another guest was on his way. They could have said that, because they
knew I was on my way.
3. One of the reasons I did not get here earlier was because of that doggone
road, that famous freeway that has been under construction for so many years.
[applause] After the 26 July events were held in Havana, we said that the
freeway had to be completed. For some time now we have been cutting into the
mountains in that area. You know that the area between Havana and Melena del
Sur is a mountainous area. Huge excavations were made and we do not know how
much dynamite was used to open stretches. A few months ago we asked the
Ministry of Construction to make a special effort and complete at least one
lane that would end here. It is true that we have had problems with fuel and
other problems, but it is also true that we could have done something to finish
building at least one lane of that road. [applause]
4. You have no idea the detours one has to take to get to Melena del Sur. It
is a miracle that no one gets lost, and then there is the fuel and gasoline
that is used up. I am sure that the fuel we use to finish that lane will be
saved in a matter of months because of all the detours the trucks, cars, and
buses have to make to get to the capital city. [applause] Therefore, I am going
to make it a point to continue the battle and speak to the ministry.
[applause] Even if we are living in a special time, or whatever, finish the
lane and tell me when the hell it will be finished. What little asphalt we have
we can use on that lane. Let us finish that lane and once we have more asphalt,
we can build the second lane. It would save us lots of time, resources, and
fuel. We must remember that Melena del Sur is one of the largest food producing
enterprises. All this has to be taken to the capital. A huge potato crop is
grown here. Plantain and many agricultural products are grown here and all this
must be taken to the capital. We have been aware of the need for this road for
quite some time now.
5. Well, today, as we have said quite often, we are commemorating a truly
historic date, a date worth recalling. That day marked-not the day it ended,
which was 5 November, the day the event that led to all this confusion was
held- the end of the literacy campaign in this very municipality and in this
very city. This municipality was the first in the country to end the literacy
campaign. This is a historic fact at local and international levels. No other
country has carried out the literacy campaign like Cuba has. Cuba did it in a
year. I believe that it is a great achievement and glory that will always be
remembered. Melena del Sur was the first municipality to be declared free of
illiteracy in Cuba and in Latin America. [applause]
6. I do not want to repeat many of the same ideas, but recently while talking
with some neighbors of the 5 de Noviembre School, I explained to them that none
of the things that we have today would have been possible without that literacy
campaign. From that place we were able to see schools in the countryside. In
those times we could not even have dreamed of it, nor even of basic middle
schools in the countryside or in the cities, or high schools in the
countryside, or schools for teachers, or schools for physical education
teachers, or Camilitos schools, or athletics schools, or dozens of university
schools throughout the country. Without the literacy campaign, we could not
have dreamed of the hundreds of thousands of upper level university graduates
we have today. Without it, we could not have thought of having, as we do today,
300,000 professors and teachers, 300,000. Notice how human and intellectual
resources have been accumulating in our country. Without it, we would not have
the more than 40,000 doctors we have today. But if we speak of doctors, we must
also mention the tens of thousands of agronomists, civil engineers, electrical
engineers, economists, and scientists. Without it, we would not have today the
tens of thousands of scientists who are working so hard to help the country
overcome the problems of the special period. In other words, 30 years later,
our people are reaping the enormous harvest of what was planted in them. Thanks
to this scientific knowledge, and thanks to the intellectual level reached by
our people, we have one of the highest levels of education among all Third
World countries. No other country in the Third World, among more than 100
countries, has the level of education of Cuba. There are many developed
countries that do not have the levels of education of Cuba. Even in the United
States there are millions of illiterates, and dozens of millions of
semiliterates. It is very difficult to find an illiterate citizen here. It is
very difficult to find even a semiliterate. I visit a work center, a factory;
many times I ask a young worker in a factory: What is your level of education?
He answers twelfth grade. A great number of Cuban workers have, if not a
university education, at least twelfth or tenth grade. Many developed countries
wish they had the education level of our country. This is an enormous resource,
perhaps the greatest treasure created by the Cuban nation over the last 30
years. This is what makes it possible for us today to employ all this force to
find solutions to problems during very difficult times. If you ask today what
is the most valuable asset of our country, we would have to answer: its talent,
its intelligence, its education, its preparation. [applause]
7. The best proof of this is the so-called Spare Parts Forum which will be
held soon. It is really not a spare parts forum, it is a forum of innovation,
rationalization, and all that. That is what it was called in the beginning, but
today it has another name. It is going to be held annually. This year,
scientists are also going to participate. Do you know how many proposals there
are for the forum? There are 35,000 proposals-35,000 works, to give you an
idea of the intellectual productivity of our technicians, of our trained
workers, of our college professionals, and how our labor is interested in
finding any kind of solution to current problems, either an agrarian problem,
or an industrial problem.
8. One of these proposals may be on a type of seed, a new planting method, or
an innovation on a piece of equipment. The proposal may be useful to our
industry as well as to our food production. It might contribute to savings on
parts, may conserve energy, conserve fuel. In other words, we have turned our
country into a human anthill. Everyone is thinking and finding solutions to
the problems we have been forced to confront as a result of the fall, or the
dismemberment [desmembramiento], as I call it, of the socialist bloc because of
all the mistakes which created chaos and disorganization in those countries.
This was not something that occured at the bottom, it began at the top. Those
at the top created the chaos and disorganization.
9. Our country, which had been implementing its economic and social
development plan for over 30 years, based upon the solid pillars of economic
relations with these other countries, has now had to confront the tremendous
consequences of the problems those countries have developed. In many of those
countries, socialism has disappeared and is being replaced by a system that
cannot be described as anything other than primitive capitalism. Even
capitalism is a system that requires organization and time. Despite its
injustice and error, capitalism requires time and structure. Many former
socialist countries unfortunately have neither socialism nor capitalism. They
have only disorganization and chaos. It follows that our country should be
facing enormous challenges and problems. We must confront these challenges and
problems, and we are doing so. That is why intelligence is so important.
10. Intelligence is tied to the heart; [applause] the heart is tied to
courage; courage is tied to patriotism; patriotism is tied to the revolutionary
awareness of our people; and this awareness is tied to our historic, heroic,
and glorious traditions. [applause] Tied to these traditions is our love for
freedom and independence. Tied to that love for freedom and independence is the
love for the land where we were born and which we have struggled for,
[applause] that land that the revolution turned from a semi-colony into a free
country, that land that the revolution turned from an underdeveloped country
into a country that has made the most social progress in the shortest period of
time in the history of mankind. Cuba was the country that created the social
basis for its future development, and we love that freedom and independence. We
also love our country's honor because our honor is Marti's honor, Maceo's
honor, [applause] Cespedes' honor, Agramonte's honor, Maximo Gomez' honor; it
is the honor of the patriots who fought the 1868 and the 1895 wars; it is the
honor of the Moncada, Granma, Sierra Maestra patriots; it is the honor of our
heroic internationalists. [applause] We cherish this honor and independence too
deeply to accept the idea that because others crumbled [desmerengaron], Cuba's
independence must drown, that the revolution must drown, that socialism that
has given us so much must drown. [crowd shouts ``No!''] Because we will not
accept this, we are willing, above all, to work and struggle to keep the
fatherland, to keep the revolution, and to keep socialism forever, despite the
sacrifice. [applause] Even if we had to do with less, and fewer resources; even
if we have to go to bed earlier and get up earlier; even if we have to work
with oxen, mules, horses, or our bare hands, we will do all what we must do. We
will produce, first of all, food. That is what we are putting our greatest
efforts into and you, here in Melena del Sur, know it. We will produce medicine
not only for local consumption, but for export purposes, and will turn that
industry into one of the greatest export industries in the country, the
medicine, biotechnology, and medical equipment industries. We will search for
other sources of income, such as tourism, so that we may have the necessary
money to purchase much of those raw materials we do not have today. We will
work with the same spirit with which we work to ensure that no industry stops
operating, that no industry is closed. If we do not have the raw materials, we
will find them no matter what. We will find a partner who will supply us with
the raw materials. We will tell them: You give us the raw materials we do not
have at this time and we will give you the workers, equipment, factories. In
this manner, the factories will continue producing. [applause]
11. We are individually evaluating all our activities and industries in order
to confront this situation that we call the special period in peace time. Our
minds were prepared for a special period in war time should a total blockade
occur. Now we have had to prepare and adapt quickly to a special period in
peace time. This was accomplished in a situation of a practically double
blockade. On the one hand, we have the Yankees with their ferocious pressure to
ensure that our country cannot receive even an aspirin; and on the other hand,
the disaster of the socialist countries. We must find new markets for many
products. We must find sources for the supply of many products. We must find
new and daring ideas and abide by these principles; and I repeat, while saving
the fatherland, saving the revolution, and saving socialism. [applause]
12. Just picture this: Despite tremendous problems and all that has happened,
we have begun the 1991-92 school year without a single child being left without
a school to attend. There is not a single child without a teacher or without
his paper and pencil. Even though we do not have that many textbooks, not a
single school at our universities has been closed, not a single hospital has
been closed, not a single polyclinic has been closed, not a single family
doctor's office has been closed. And we will continue to keep all these open
because during the war we did not have electricity, but we had doctors. We did
not have electricity, but the doctor took care of patients and solved problems.
The doctor even performed operations when we did not have electricity. There
were times when our doctors in the mountains performed operations with light
provided by flashlights. Many lives were saved. Man is what is important. That
is why we do not have to close schools. If we do not have electricity, then we
will use this or that house. There is no reason for a teacher or an engineer to
be without a job.
13. Furthermore, and what may be even more extraordinary, is the humane way in
which the revolution is confronting the special period. The revolution has not
left a single worker out on the street, not a single family has been left
without food. If there is no raw material to work with, and there are no other
jobs, that worker is sent home, but he still receives more than half his wages.
That worker receives enough to buy the necessary things. You will not see this
in any other country of the world. The first thing those countries do is throw
millions of workers out onto the streets and increase prices. Those people who
do not have money go hungry. I will not deny that the special period leads us
to egalitarianism, and this is not very good; it leads us to excessive
egalitarianism; there is, however, no other way; there is no alternative during
the special period but to share what we have with everyone. It is the best and
fairest solution. It is what the people want. Unfortunately, the bum also
receives his share; the common criminal receives his share. [applause] Well, we
cannot let them die of hunger, but under the present conditions we can do
nothing else. We have hardly touched prices.
14. During the congress we said that there was a possibility that some prices
would be affected. This would not occur to solve the financial problem, but to
establish better distribution; to promote the production of some food products
in the rural area, to cut down the subsidies paid for some products that are
difficult to produce. You live in a rural area. To give you an example, you
know how much work goes into picking a sack of string beans. And to give you
another example, you know how much work goes into picking a sack of okra. Huge
investments have to be made to maintain those large plantain plantations; they
need pipelines, equipment, machines, motors, hoses. Therefore, we must
establish certain guidelines.
15. We have increased the wholesale prices for the farmers, we must make
adjustments to the prices of some agricultural products. And I repeat, this is
not to make money. We are doing this to regulate the products because we want
to produce a variety of products. We have to have malanga, this, and that. But
if every time a caballeria of one of those products is planted, money is lost,
then it will not be contributing to increasing the production. Food and money
is what we have a surplus of at this time. However, we need certain products.
That is why some agricultural products are being sold at wholesale prices
because this has improved the price the farmer gets paid. But in essence, our
country has followed a different policy from the policy followed by other
countries. In those other countries, billions are put out on the street during
times of crisis; millions are left penniless; millions are left homeless;
millions get no help. That is capitalism. Those are the methods capitalism uses
to confront the social problems, to confront a crisis. Our country is
socialist, truly socialist, truly revolutionary, truly fair, and it has sought
other ways to confront the problems, and we are doing it. Our difficulties may
increase, but in the end we will win. [applause] In the end we will be more
capable. In the end we will be more efficient. In the end we will do things
better. In the end we will be absolutely independent. [applause] We will depend
on no one. We will not depend on what may happen here or any other place in the
world.
16. That is why I am telling you that we must find ways to better use our
resources. We have tamed 100,000 oxen and we are taming 100,000 more. We cannot
eat them. Just as we do not eat a tractor, today we cannot eat an ox. The ox
is our tractor if we do not have fuel. But we do not only save on the tractors.
Unfortunately, we will always have to use a machine to do some things. Some
areas are very large and the time to prepare the land is too short. The
technology used at the collection centers, for example, centers around machines
and combines. In other words, we will always have to use some sort of machine,
but our farmers, the camp workers, and the contingents are finding out that an
ox can do the work of 10 or 15 men. They are finding out that an ox not only
saves fuel, but also increases productivity. They are finding out that much of
the work that cannot be done with a tractor, because of the humidity or mud,
can be done easily by using oxen. The most incredible part of it all is women
working with oxen. I have seen women from Old Havana working with oxen. That
shows you what the revolution will do, what patriotism is all about, what the
human heart is all about. [applause] I know a woman who is 64 years old who is
one of the best at working with oxen. She works for a contingent in Batabano. I
visited the area one day and told her that I wanted to see how she works. I
wanted to get an idea of the work she was doing. It is not easy. If you are not
paying attention, the equipment will move from its tract and cut everything
around. Instead of cutting grass it will cut the crop. There is a system to
handling the oxen, and our workers have found ways to increase production.
Today our agricultural sector has the necessary manpower, our camps have the
necessary manpower. Approximately 70 camps have been built. The schools are
also contributing, and they can contribute even more. Therefore, there are
times when all that manpower is not needed.
17. Right now the machinery brigades are the ones working. As you know, we
had continuous rains throughout the spring. We were getting worried. We kept
asking ourselves if we would have enough time to prepare the land to plant by
November. We only had a few days to do it. We asked ourselves if we could
complete the planting by December. Onion, garlic, potatoes, tomatoes, and other
products must be planted in November and December. We cannot wait until
January, February, or March to plant those crops. We kept asking ourselves if
we would have enough time. Fortunately, for the past eight to 10 days, the
rains have stopped in the southern area of the country where all this land is
located. The machinery brigade workers, laboring 20, 30, and even 36 hours
without stopping, working night and day, have already prepared, even tilled it
three times, a vast area of land that has to be planted in November and
December. A few days ago the first thing we would ask was: How is the weather?
Has it rained in the municipalities in the south? Has it rained in Artemisa,
Melena, Batabano, or in Guines? On 5 November, when I came through here, it had
been eight days since it had rained. Yesterday we were a bit worried because a
northern wind was blowing around here. But it rained in other areas. When in
rains in pasture area there is no problem. There was rain in some areas of
Artemisa, but there was no rain in the other municipalities. Today as we were
driving out to Melena, we kept looking at the cloudy skies. We were wondering:
Is it raining in Melena? The three municipalities where we still have land to
prepare are Melena, Guines and Nueva Paz. Those were the three municipalities
with recent rainfalls. Here is where we must put forth our greatest efforts,
and it was great to learn that it did not rain yesterday or the day before
yesterday, and that it had not rained today.
18. If we ever needed a short drought, it is now. Not only to till the land,
but to prepare it properly so that it will yield an excellent crop.
19. You [not further identified] have been calling me for a long time. Can you
wait until the event ends? You do not let me talk to the residents. [laughter]
All I hear is Fidel, Fidel, Fidel. [laughter] What is your name? What? Yes.
Gabriel? Oh, Yaciel. Raciel? How old are you? How old? Eleven. What grade are
you in? And your teacher has never taught you that it is bad manners to
interrupt a speaker? [laughter] [applause] Please Raciel, do not force me to
criticize you in public. Thirty years from now you will be known as Raciel, the
man who did not let others speak. Oh, you are the one who spoke the other day?
The same one that is calling out Fidel, Fidel, Fidel? Well, come up here.
[laughter] Now that is something else. Great. This is the speaker. Come here.
This is the speaker; the friend I have to take with me to the meetings to help
me with my speeches. [laughter] He was the one talking and here I was
criticizing him. You were the one saying Fidel, Fidel, Fidel? You want to say
something? Tell me later. You will summarize what I am saying. Is that clear?
So think real quick, with that intelligent mind you have, how you are going to
summarize what I said in two minutes.
20. By the way Raciel, do you remember what it was I was saying? I believe I
was talking about the rain.
21. [Raciel] That is right. The rain in Guines, in...
22. [Castro, interrupting] In Nueva Paz. I said that if we ever needed a short
drought, it would be at this moment. Do not go away. [laughter] We not only
need that short drought to till the land, but to prepare it properly so that it
will yield an excellent crop. You know that if the land is prepared properly,
it will yield more potatoes, more sweet potatoes, and more yuca.
23. You know how well the plantain crop does with the use of the microjet. The
farmers had never seen anything like this. One aerial microjet-sprayed
caballeria produces up to 30,000 quintals. One caballeria sprayed with a land
microjet yields 20,000 quintals or more, and approximately 10,000 quintals of
burro plantain [variety of plantain]. But we have to work hard to achieve this.
After it is planted, and after it has grown, we still have to wait a year
before we can begin to pick the bunches. But we have hundreds of caballerias
already planted and grown with microjet, and we are going to plant hundreds of
caballerias more. This is not only going to be done in Havana, but also in
Ciego de Avila. Should we be hit by a cyclone, if a little cyclone should
decide to come this way, we can still have plantains we need while we rebuild
the other plantations. A cyclone would down the plant, but it would not destroy
the plantation. We can cut down the plant, fertilize it, and make it grow
again. We may lose a few months, but we have to have some solutions should a
cyclone hit us. But the plantain crop is yielding excellent results. You should
see how much sweet potato and yuca can be grown if the land is prepared
properly. This is why this moment is so important. It not only has to do with
the amount of land we prepare, but how we prepare it. It even includes killing
the weeds. One of these days we are going to have to put an end to weeds, to
the Don Carlos [variety of weed]. In the past, these weeds grew and spread. All
we have accomplished with the type of equipment we used was spread the weed.
Today we have the multiple plow, an invention of one of our outstanding
innovators, a Cuban engineer. This multiple plow helps kill the Don Carlos
because it does not spread that type of weed. It kills the weed from the very
root and dries it. We must keep those weeds from spreading. There are many
things that must be improved and we are improving our agriculture. But as I
told you earlier, we already have the manpower.
24. As I said, right now the bulk of the work is falling on the machines. The
machines are working day and night. However, soon, within the next few days,
we must begin to plant tomatoes, one little plant after another, or with seeds.
We must also plant garlic, one clove after another. We must also plant yuca,
plant after plant. We must plant sweet potato, sprout after sprout. Six hundred
thousand sprouts are planted in one caballeria and these sprouts must be
planted properly. We also have to plant potatoes. This is done with the help of
machines, but it still is hard work. All this must be planted-some of the
things I mentioned, potatoes, tomatoes, some things like carrots, vegetables,
garlic, onions, even though we are still fighting to control the onion
blight-by 31 December. Other crops will follow. Undoubtedly, we do not have to
wait until May. In May those plants will be big. We must study very closely
what it is we are going to plant after the tomatoes, after the potatoes. How
much each crop yields, how much corn we will get. We have already studied the
land that the state, cooperatives, and farmers have, and we know what is going
to be planted in each of the 42,000 hectares set aside for various crops. We
have taken 850 caballerias, 750 caballerias, previously planted with sugarcane,
to the various crops and plantains. We must plant lots of plantains in these
months of drought. Plantains do not have to be planted only in November and
December. They can also be planted in January, February, March, April, and
perhaps that would be better because the rains will many times harm the
prepared land. The rains delayed our planting of plantains for this year. We
have to make that time up in November, December, January, February, March.
25. We have to begin digging, laying down the pipes, preparing the land,
planting, and then see the crop grow. Plantain does not have to be cleaned.
The plantain leaves kill the weeds. We are studying ways to use the leaves to
turn it into a fertilizer for the plantain. The plantain that I was telling you
about, the type that yields 35,000 quintals per caballeria a year, uses up a
lot of fertilizer. We have to find a way to recycle the fertilizer, put it to
good use and reuse the leaves. Much technical work is being done with this in
Batabano. In Batabano there were dozens of caballerias that could not be
planted because of the number of rocks in the area. In Batabano they have
gathered the rocks and have dug deep trenches-quite different from the method
used in the past century when they gathered rocks to make fences- that are 3 or
3.5 meters deep, and dropped the rocks in there. They then covered the
trenches, leaving an approximately one-meter deep trench. This is good for the
planting of plantain and other crops. In addition, the dirt they dig out is
taken to areas that need to be leveled. Our agricultural land has to be
leveled. Otherwise, when the irrigation begins, puddles are formed. When it
rains, there are puddles all over the place. That is work to be done.
26. Here in Melena we are drafting drainage plans. When the July rains fell we
saw how the area flooded and how the land flooded. We have two important
drainage works on the drafting table. One is in Nueva Paz. There is much low
land in that area. A large enterprise of various crops has been started in
Nueva Paz. Here in Melena we have to clean the drains, dig more trenches to
improve drainage. Melena is affected by too much rain. We must dig a channel
all the way to Govea. Using the Guines-to-Guira channel, we will be able to
take water to Govea. The wells in Govea do not have water. Engineers, we have
some drainage work to do. We have to level the soil. But we are waging a
battle for productivity, to ensure high-yield crops. That is why in the next
few months, when all this work has to be done, in addition to the cleaning and
the harvesting, we will need our manpower.
27. This year we are going to be working approximately 28 caballerias of
tomato on sticks. It had been a long time since we planted tomatoes on sticks.
The enterprises are already cutting the sticks, what do you call those sticks?
Stakes. In addition to the tomatoes, we are going to plant a new variety of
string beans, a vine-type string bean. It produces even more, and is more
immune to blight. It is a safer variety. Much testing will be conducted this
year. We are going to need the manpower, but we have the camps, we have the
rural schools, we have mobilized workers, and I think that we are in great
shape, despite all the problems. We have thousands of oxen at those
enterprises. We did not have that last year when we were planting the crops.
Very important changes are going to be made in the agricultural sector and you,
the residents of Melena del Sur, will play an important role in the production
of food during the special period. Do not forget that Melena plays an important
role in the food production plan. [applause]
28. Just as you won the battle against illiteracy, you will win the
agricultural battle. [applause] One day we will be able to say that just as you
were able to cultivate intelligence, you also cultivated the land with
intelligence [applause] and helped the fatherland, helped save the fatherland,
the revolution, and socialism. And now before I give you, Raciel, a chance to
speak, I will proclaim as always, our glorious slogan of Socialism or death!
[crowd shouts ``Or death!''] Fatherland or death, we will win! [crowd shouts
``We will win!'']
-END-
LANIC |