Address by Commander in
Chief Fidel Castro Ruz, President of the
Dear fellow Cubans,
Distinguished guests,
I will begin exactly where I left my latest address
but a few hours ago, on April 29, at
The
This past April 22, after 13 months of silence in
response to our insistent questions, Miami's El Nuevo Herald revealed FBI documents submitted by the District
Attorney's Office to the Federal Court trying terrorists Santiago Álvarez and Osvaldo
Mitat in which US authorities recognize, for the first time, that murderer Luis
Posada Carriles entered the United States illegally at the end of March of
2005, on board the Santrina vessel
owned by Santiago Álvarez Fernández Magriñá.
We had denounced this many times and urged the
president of the
It happened exactly as it had been reported by
Quintana Roo's Por Esto! newspaper and by
Although Posada's entry in the
Gilberto Abascal, the prosecution's key witness in
the case of Santiago Álvarez Fernández Magriñá and Osvaldo Mitat, informed
authorities of his participation in an illegal operation to bring Posada
clandestinely from
A document signed by US District Attorney Alexander
Acosta and Assistant Attorney Randy Hummel reveals that Abascal, an FBI
informant, reported the fact. The disclosure about Posada appears in a letter
dated
"He
—Abascal— “also traveled with Santiago Álvarez
Fernández-Magriñá in his boat"—[Santrina—" to Mexico during the successful adventure in human
trafficking that resulted in Luis Posada’s illegal entry in the United
States", the text of the letter reads.
El Nuevo Herald admitted that "it is the first time
a government document has corroborated that an FBI informant was in contact
with Posada during his transfer to
Abascal,
Álvarez and Mitat were the crew of the Santrina, as were skipper José
Pujol and Rubén López Castro. The vessel sailed to Isla Mujeres and ran aground
in a reef area on
In his
comments for the CUBADEBATE web-site, renowned lawyer José Pertierra, the
Venezuelan government’s legal representative in the extradition case of the
Cuban-born terrorist who is a naturalized citizen of
"By
affirming that Posada Carriles entered the
Upon
entering the
"'Now
we learn that one of the people who helped Posada to enter the country
illegally worked for the FBI. It is evident that the White House has always
known how Posada entered the country, with whom he entered, and where he was
living’, assured Pertierra, who added: 'This
besmirches them all’.
"’If the FBI knew —argues Pertierra—, the
Security Department knew. Why didn’t they arrest him in March? Why didn’t they press charges
against Álvarez and Mitat for having helped a terrorist to illegally enter the
country?'
"A
month before these statements appeared in the Herald, on March 22, the US
Immigration and Customs Enforcement wrote Posada Carriles a letter to explain
the reasons why he, tried as a mere ‘illegal immigrant’, continued in prison.
In the letter, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement tells
Posada that he: ‘...will not be released from the custody of US Immigration and
Customs Enforcement (ICE) at this time, because, as described below, you
continue to present a danger to the community and a flight risk’.
Further
on, the letter states that Posada has a ‘history of engaging in criminal
activity, associating with individuals involved in criminal activity and
participating in violent acts that indicate a disregard for the safety of the
general public and a propensity for engaging in activities proscribed within the
provisions of INA § 212(a) that pose a risk to the national security of the
United States’.
"Further,
you have shown a cavalier attitude towards the impact your actions have had on
the safety and well-being of persons and property. Open source information and
your own statements link you to the planning and coordination of a series of
hotel and restaurant bombings that occurred in
At the
end of the letter, the ICE reminds the terrorist that his "expertise in
assuming false identities, your disregard of the immigration laws of the United
States, your history of escape and the presence of your pending international
extradition request demonstrate that you pose a significant risk of fleeing, if
released from custody".
In
spite of the facts mentioned by the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement in
its letter, Posada Carriles continues to enjoy many privileges and is not in
the least bit treated as a criminal. While thousands of illegal immigrants are
persecuted, imprisoned and sent back to their countries, in the midst of the
largest political mobilization by Latinos seen in decades, terrorist Luis
Posada Carriles has the privilege of a nearly 6-hour-long hearing to review his
request for
An
article published last Wednesday in the Mexican periodical Por Esto! the same newspaper which
reported the Santrina’s accident in Isla
Mujeres, unflinchingly accuses Mexican authorities of knowing about and
supporting the operation to take Posada Carriles from
In an
article titled "Cover-up for terrorist”, journalist Renán Castro affirmed:
“What Por Esto! had
denounced on March 2005 through a journalistic indictment is now being
recognized by US authorities in court, the indictment that has undermined the
credibility of the White House" —if it had any left, I say.
“After
going through Honduras, Guatemala and Belize", the article continues, “Posada
Carriles entered Mexico, arriving at Cancun and Isla Mujeres via Quintana Roo,
with aid from the Mexican Federal Government.
“Federal
government officials offered members of the Cuban American National Foundation
(CANF) protection to guarantee the safety of the international terrorist during
the week when he remained in hiding in Isla Mujeres, awaiting the arrival of
the vessel that took him to
"Starting
“The
crew of the Santrina, registered to a
non-existent Ecological Marine Protection Foundation named Caribe Viva and
Research Inc., headed by terrorist Ernesto Abreu, who was a key actor in the
operation to protect and transport Posada Carriles from Honduras to Miami,
Florida, through Mexican territory, attempted to conceal the covert action to
facilitate the entry of the international criminal into Miami.
"At the time, the Por Esto! periodical published photographs and eyewitness accounts to
denounce the presence, in
“’Three
arrived and four set sail’ were the titles of these articles published in April
2005, when the Cuban government issued an international alert reporting the
presence of Posada Carriles in Mexican territory and Commander in Chief Fidel
Castro Ruz demanded an explanation from the federal government about the covert
operation that had been executed there to help the international terrorist
escape and subsequently enter the United States.
“Then,
an investigative report had revealed that, upon its departure, Mexican federal
authorities had protected the vessel that took Posada Carriles to
"None
of this would have been known", the Mexican newspaper goes on to assert, “had
'the Santrina' not ran aground in the early morning of March 14, at the coral
reef area of “El Farito”, as the protection of Mexican federal authorities,
tasked with guaranteeing a clean operation, was guaranteed and in line with the
commitments assumed by the current
Mexican president, Vicente Fox Quesada, who became a close friend of several
distinguished members of the Cuban American National Foundation when involved
in the electoral campaigns that placed him in power in July 2000". This is
how the article ends.
Por Esto! played an exceptional role in denouncing how the
monstrous terrorist Luis Posada Carriles, the Bush family's friend and protégé,
entered the United States, whose Department of State hypocritically and
shamelessly accuses President of Venezuela Hugo Chávez of supporting terrorism
and calls Cuba a terrorist country.
But,
would this be the end of the
On
April 19, when we celebrated the 45th anniversary of our victory at
the
No
sooner had he been detained than Ferro declared himself a member of the
anti-Cuban terrorist organization Alpha ‘66 and stated that the latter had 100
members in
On
April 28 —that is to say, 72 hours ago— the Los Ángeles Times, one of the most
important newspapers in the
“The
”Police
say felon Robert Ferro had 1,571 firearms and some hand grenades stashed inside
secret compartments and hidden rooms he built inside the sprawling foothill
estate. He was arrested last week after a search of his home in connection with
another case uncovered the weapons.
"But
in an interview Thursday” —it's Monday today, no? Okay, in the article
published, as I said, 72 hours ago—, "Ferro, 61, contended that some of
the high-powered weapons", pay attention to this “— including assault
rifles, silencer-equipped handguns and Uzis — were supplied to him by the
"‘Obviously,
now it will not take place’, Ferro said. ‘Those guns I had were very
sophisticated weapons. It was for a fight. I was just trying to mimic what
President Bush has done in
" ‘I was born [in
"
They
hadn’t tried this type of nonsense for some time.
The
”Ferro
was arrested last week by officers with L.A. IMPACT, a Southern California
multi-agency task force, as they investigated his connection to Frank Beltran,
”Beltran
was wanted on suspicion of shooting a Glendora police officer in the hand after
the officer responded to a domestic dispute between Beltran and his wife. A few
weeks later, Beltran shot his wife eight times at a
”Ferro,
who says he's a member of a Miami-based group, Alpha ‘66, that advocates the
overthrow of Castro's regime" —they have insisted on this nonsense for
ages, ignoring the people, ignoring the masses, ignoring the laws of society
and history, the laws of a revolution—, "said Thursday that about 50 other
U.S. citizens were scheduled to accompany him to Cuba, with further assistance
coming from people inside Cuba.
"FBI
spokeswoman Laura Einmiller said her office was investigating the possibility
that other anti-Castro sympathizers connected to Ferro had stashed weapons in
their homes.
"
‘Mr. Ferro's motives, and all aspects of what Mr. Ferro's statements have been
— whether or not he was planning violent acts — are under investigation,’ she
said. ‘No one else has been arrested in this matter.’ "
“In
the 1990’s, Ferro was sentenced to two years in prison for possessing
"Prosecutors
in the 1990s case said Ferro was an Alpha ‘66 member training Mexicans at a
"Ferro
(…) entered the military and ultimately joined the Army's Special Forces,
performing covert operations that included a search for missing servicemen in
"‘I'm
advocating the same thing President Bush is doing in
These were
quotations from the article published by the Los Ángeles Times.
Though
military spokespeople have tried to keep Ferro's plan and the military exercise
in the Caribbean separate matters, the US government has maintained absolute
silence —once again, for the umpteenth time— with respect to whether it
supplied weapons to this terrorist, who, in 1992, was sentenced to two years
imprisonment for illegal possession of explosives, after being accused of
heading an Alpha ‘66 paramilitary camp in Pomona ranch, where Mexicans were
being trained to carry out anti-Cuba operations. On that occasion,
In the
course of his life as an anti-Cuban terrorist, Robert Ferro has worked for the
CIA —just look, he had as many infantry weapons as those brought by the fifteen
hundred something mercenaries who landed at the Bay of Pigs, under the
protection of a US squadron, which also included an aircraft carrier and a good
number of maries, who contemplated the last battles that took place there,
three miles off the coast of the Bay of Pigs. There they were, back then the
limit was set at three miles, it was later extended to 12—, has been an
official of the US Special Forces and a member of Alpha ‘66.
Though
Alpha's main leader has denied any ties between his terrorist organization and
Ferro, judge Oswald Parada, in charge of the case,
turned down his petition for bail, considering he has "access to more
weapons and explosives through Alpha ‘66". Defense attorney Wayne M.
Rozenberg stated he was not surprised by the organization's denials, as it is a
paramilitary group which operates clandestinely.
Alpha ‘66
has a long history of paramilitary actions and of
planning terrorist actions against
The
list of crimes perpetrated is long: foreign ministers, like Letelier,
assassinated in Washington; honorable military men, such as Pratts, who opposed
the Chilean coup, were killed; generals like Juan José Torres, who dignified
the Bolivian military; personalities like the leader of the Christian
Democratic party, Bernardo Leighton, whom they tried to assassinate in Italy in
an action organized by Operation Condor operatives; there were no seas or
borders that placed a limit on their criminal activities, actions that people
are beginning to become aware of and remember more clearly, because these
actions had not been fully described or denounced.
What’s
important, what links the Bush family directly to Orlando Bosch, Posada
Carriles and the bombing of the plane which claimed 73 lives, is that this act
of sabotage was planned there in
Just
see how many things this perverse empire has done in nearly half a century.
I was
saying that Alpha ‘66 participated in several of the so-called "autonomous
operations" directed by the CIA from its JM/WAVE Miami station. The
criminal actions this group has perpetrated include pirate attacks and the
hijacking of fishing vessels; armed infiltrations into our country; death
threats aimed at people with links to Cuba living in Mexico, the United States,
Ecuador, Brazil, Canada and Puerto Rico, and numerous attempts to assassinate
me.
Don’t
forget that this gentleman I mentioned, Santiago Álvarez Fernández Magriña,
that guy —you've seen him on TV—who gave orders over the phone to a man who had
infiltrated Cuba, who he had sent with explosives and firearms. The infiltrator
was captured and Fernández Magriña, who was later
arrested for who knows how many crimes in the
You
recall that phrase, the last instructions he gave. When he asked whether the
infiltrator had seen the plan through or not, and the latter responded that things
were getting complicated, he asked about the mission he had been tasked with, a
monstrous act of terrorism on the Tropicana cabaret, he said: “Throw the two
tins inside, through a window of the cabaret, and nothing will remain standing”.
He admitted that he had said this and he was there in
Posada
Carriles was there, all of these things were taking place in Miami and this
super-organization, designed to protect the United States from terrorism
--headed by Negroponte who is implicated in the dirty war in Nicaragua-- which
controls over 30 intelligence organizations, didn't know anything. The State
Department declared on numerous occasions that it didn't know Posada Carriles'
whereabouts. The White House said it didn't know, and everyone else was saying
the same thing, that they didn't know anything.
Just
look at how morally, how ethically impoverished they are, how low they have
stooped in such basically ethical questions. They arrest him, protect him and
don't send him to
They
took him out of Panama, because the US government knew of and was responsible
for the assassination plans that were to be executed at that meeting of heads
of Government and State who participated in the Ibero-American Summit, myself
among them, who had planned to meet with students, and that’s where they were
planning to set off
I
spoke of Mr. Díaz Rodríguez, head of Alpha ‘66, who was trained in
On
I
mentioned two exceptions in this long period: President Ford who, following the
investigation on plans to assassinate me conducted by the (US Senate) Church
Commission, apparently embarrassed by these, had issued a resolution
prohibiting these types of actions. Another president who was unquestionably
incapable of ordering these kinds of assassinations was Carter, whom we know
well —he visited us and participated in that important baseball game between a
team from Baltimore and Cuba, he visited the University of Havana and spoke
there, engaging in discussions—, he doesn't share our ideas, his ideology is
not even remotely related to ours, but we can say that he is an honest
American.
Then,
the same people who had organized Operation Condor, the bombing of the Cuban
airliner in
It
remains to be seen whether they can do this or not, whether the American people
will allow it, if they are willing to put up with more crimes like the genocide
and the countless acts of torture they are committing around the world today,
in any country in the world, encroaching upon the sovereignty and borders of
nations and ordering killings. Not long ago, at a joint session of the US
Congress, Bush said that many enemies of the
This
is what he has done. Bush was quick to rescind Ford's decree and, with the
support of the President of the US National Rifle Association who was at the
House, he repealed the prohibition to commit those crimes and misdeeds. Not
even
No one
has the right to issue such an order, even when dealing with terrorists. Where
is the Law, where are the laws, where are the courts? Even though some of the
empire's judges are also repulsive, like the one who sentenced our Five Heroes,
a ruling that a court acting with a minimum of freedom
and honor later had to overturn, the notorious Court of Atlanta, which
overturned that trial’s ruling. Then, instead of releasing them, something
unprecedented took place, they appealed the court’s ruling, turning —even from
the point of view of
On
June 2, 2005, the US president expressed his gratitude for Alpha ‘66’s "support"
in a letter in which he stated that he "appreciated knowing" the
ideas of the paramilitary group.
Alpha
‘66's activities in
In
1995, an Alpha ‘66 ringleader privately stated that the organization's
In
November 1999, news arrived from California that René Cruz and Eusebio Peñalver
(both closely linked to Posada Carriles) and terrorists Roberto Martín Pérez, Ángel
D'Fana and Ernesto Díaz, Alpha ‘66's current leader, were involved in a plan to
assassinate President Hugo Chávez, receiving aid from a group of wealthy
Venezuelan individuals. This was denounced by
The
plan was to be executed in the month of December by a commando made up of
Cubans and Venezuelans, who were to arrive in
SELECTED ECONOMIC INFORMATION
In the
first quarter of 2006, Cuba's economy grew by 11.8 % more what it did in 2005;
its current growth rate —hear this— is
of more than 12.5 % (Applause). I know %ages can get annoying and that they are
both used and abused. Some people say: "There's such and such %age of
growth, but where do we see it?" If you're building the premises to
produce eggs and poultry meat and breeding the chicks you need, you're growing
but you're not distributing eggs —though eggs are already being distributed— do
you understand? If you construct high-tech storage silos to conserve the
grains, you're making an investment; if you buy hundreds of locomotives and
repair thousands of wagons, or purchase trucks and motors by the tens of
thousands, and you reconstruct everything, or if you work in an enormous plan to construct houses after a hurricane
razed more than 50,000 to the ground —and it did more than raze houses to the
ground, you also have to count the houses that were damaged, those that required
new roofs and many other things— you’re not seeing the finished houses, you may
not even visit the site of the disaster. A bus on a ship sailing across the
Atlantic is not yet in service; when it arrives, one first tests it and uses it
to address the country's urgent needs, it is not yet picking up passengers down
a regular route. When you start using the bus, you really have to look at the
routes you're going to assign to it, though these vehicles are not used
exclusively in bus routes, the country needs to and has the duty to optimize the
resources and costs associated to every route.
That
is why we speak of growth which is not yet immediately evident. But we're
starting to see some things, you know this, everyone knows this, and these
things are becoming ever more numerous and reaching never-before-seen figures.
We're not after luxury; we're not simply moved by a desire to improve the
living standard of our people, which is our greatest wish, for our people to
live better in every sense of the word. We're not selfish,
we want to support other peoples of the world, because humanity is one. I spoke
of this not long ago, on the 29th.
I say
this because we need to learn many things, all of us, you and we; you, many of
you well educated, there are already more than half a million Cubans pursuing
higher education studies, and we also, who didn't have such privileges, some of
us have to learn more, and less, than others, depending on how privileged we
were. We are all duty-bound to think and learn constantly, to learn from the
lessons of history and continue till our last breath. No one graduates at the
end of the fifth or sixth year of their university studies —and, in
Our economy’s current growth rate already exceeds
that of 12.5 %.
This is the result of the rapid development of
services, with high added value, that the country is offering.
The construction sector grew 15.8 %, transportation
4.8 % —it will grow much more than this, at a much quicker rate—,
communications 12.9%, and trade, owing to the sale of domestic electric
appliances over this period, 30.8 %.
The
industrial sector as a whole remained at levels similar to those reported in
2005. The seven sub-sectors that experienced growth were: construction of
non-electrical machinery (11.4 %); electrical engineering and electronics (50.5
%); metallic products (15.8 %); clothing (14 %); building materials (13 %);
fishing industry (11 %); and chemical industry (7.9 %).
As of
We can
say we feel satisfied with the efforts of the farmers and sugar industry
workers (Applause), who are sowing and working intensely to produce even more
in 2007, when sugar prices will be even higher.
You
should know, comrades, that these efforts I am
describing mean more than 200 million dollars more than would have been earned
at the pace we had in mid-February.
The
production of the following products has experienced growth: Wires (up to 1
KW), 14.1 %; steel structures, 44.9 %; laundry soap, 20.1 %; medication, 35.7
%; paper, 2 times; concrete blocks, 33.6 %; asbestos-cement tiles, 69.3 %;
fabrics, 14.9 %; clothing, 58.1 %; eggs, 22.7 %; corrugated metallic tiles, 9
times —don’t forget a hurricane lashed us a few months ago; pressure cookers, 9
times; fertilizers, 1.3 times; retreads, 50.7 %; porcine meat on the hoof, 21.7 %; dairy milk, 15.2 %.
Nearly
1 million 244 thousand tons of equivalent crude oil and natural gas have been
produced domestically in this four-month period, four times what was produced
at the beginning of the Special Period.
We are
working hard to dig 36 new wells this year, in addition to other shallow wells
dug up while the wildcat wells are made operational or their operation is
discontinued. Currently, 11 wildcat wells and 2 development wells —wildcat
wells are very important, they tell us what’s there and what should be done
there— are being worked on; 5 of these new wells are being evaluated or about
to enter the exploitation phase.
The
consumption of oil-based fuels, including the consumption of electrical energy
expressed as the quantity of oil-equivalent used to generate it, is estimated
to reach 2,716,000 tons, which represents a 3.7 % reduction of the real
consumption reported until April
The
consumption of diesel fuel also dropped by 7,000 metric tons, as did gasoline
consumption, which had gone down by 1,000 metric tons up until March, in spite
of the economic growth achieved: there are more bricks, more blocks, more
concrete, more rods, all of this has to be transported, don't forget. Cuba's
energy intensity figures (units of energy per unit of GDP) —not including
population figures—were reduced considerably during the first quarter, by more
than 15 %.
The
electrical energy consumed during this four-month period is estimated at 3.656 million
kilowatts/hour, a figure similar to that reported during the same period in
2005. But, in relation to how many generators? This is
a question we must ask ourselves, because, from it, we can derive the truly
significant figure of over one million kilowatts/hour —I would say that well
over one million kilowatts/hour—saved, that is to say, what would be being used
without the energy saving measures, during consumption peak hours.
In the
residential sector, the average monthly consumption per household has been
reduced from 130 kilowatts/hour to 126.8 kilowatts/hour. What do you think? And
there are many things still to be done to reduce the country's total energy
consumption. There are energy saving measures, more energy is being consumed in
some places and less in others. All of these factories I am mentioning and all
of these production and growth processes consume and consume energy, especially
electricity. The number of new consumers of electricity has gone up to
approximately 43 thousand. Not only is the economy growing, the number of
consumers is growing as well.
To
satisfy the electricity consumption needs of the national electrical energy
system, some 4.660 millions of kilowatts/hour will be generated approximately,
a mere 0.3 % increase with respect to last year. Until April, energy generation
has been increased by 5 % through the use of ENERGAS natural gas…One of these
facilities, one of the most economical ones, was giving us a bit of headache
some days ago, strong winds that hindered the supply process, the accompanying
gas. This rarely happens, and we hope the measures taken will remedy the
situation as quickly as possible. Are they operational today? (Minister of
Energy Yadira tells him something).
For
how many hours did it stop working the second day? (Yadira tells him it stopped
working for 10 hours). Ten hours. And the first day?
(She tells him three hours). Yadira, tell those plants to stop fooling around,
okay? We’re talking about 200,000 kilowatts, and they produce electricity the
safest and cheapest way. Solar energy is cheaper, though not easily
exploitable. We have thousands of solar panels in schools, and the video rooms
in the mountains are also powered by thousands of solar panels.
Electricity
generation went up by 5 % and, in the first months of 2006, Diesel generators
produced 4.5 % of the total energy output. This has meant a 5 % reduction in
terms of thermal energy generation using fuel and crude. I can tell you these figures will go down considerably this year,
and we're talking about hundreds of millions of dollars saved in terms of costs
associated with thermoelectric plants.
The
above-mentioned reduction, by 45,000 tons, of the volumes of fuel and crude
used in the generation of electricity is the result of increased efficiency in
thermal generation, a reduction in the volume of consumables used (from 7.57 %
to 6.91 % during the first quarters of 2005 and 2006)—that is to say, 7.5 and
6.1 % savings at the plants, we're talking about savings in terms of
consumption, these are not insignificant figures—and the total losses due to
transmission and distribution —we’ve seen a reduction in this sense— (which
went from 17.99 % to 15.75 % in that period).
You
should know that this piece of equipment that amplifies our voice is powered by
electricity and electricity, wherever it comes from, must first go through a
transmission and then a distribution network.
A
program aimed at improving the country’s power grid, to which a total of $ 262
million has been directed, is currently underway — it’s like building
thermoelectric plants but these do not consume fuel— and gaining in momentum. Once
concluded, this program will allow for improved services and a reduction in the
total losses associated to electricity distribution to, according to
calculations, approximately 11 %. Look,
from about 18 to 11 %. The cost is high, but it considerably reduces costs,
improves the quality of the electricity supply which, when poor, damages
electrical appliances and causes all sorts of inconveniences for the
population.
The
installation of emergency generators and those synchronized to the national
electrical energy system, which we will talk about later, continues, unabated.
Up
until April 28, the population has received 2 million 478 thousand 300 electric
stoves —I already mentioned we're going to improve these, optimizing their
maintenance, replacing them immediately, if a defect cannot be immediately
fixed, honoring the State's guarantee; improved electric stoves are now being
produced and are about to be imported into the country, and additional measures
are being taken in this connection, measures closely linked to our energy
saving efforts and the quality of services for the population. Everyone has a
different type of cooker, all sorts of cooking pots, and it is very important
to bear the shape and size of these instruments in mind, of cooking utensils,
pots, and to adjust these to the energy source. We can reduce energy consumption in this
connection six fold.
With
respect to articles distributed: 3 million 59 thousand 926 rice cookers, 2
million 50 thousand 381 ‘Reina’ pressure cookers —these save a lot of energy,
70 %, whether they are on an electric, kerosene or oil-derived liquid gas
stove; I should have mentioned it, normal pressure cookers are not electrical
appliances but they have the same effect— 2 million 314 thousand 284 water heaters,
251 thousand 676 fridges, 39 thousand 187 television sets — I don’t want to
promise anything with respect to these two articles, but transportation
personnel and those tasked with distributing these should start getting ready
for lots of them, aimed at saving electricity, incredible amounts of electricity.
The immense majority of refrigerators in the country consume four to five times
what one of these consume in 24 hours, some even more, even after having been
fitted with gaskets. Only at the end of this process, with all of the
information at hand, will we truly know how much we have saved and what remains
to be done. Just about everything that will be distributed from now on will be
energy-saving equipment, electricity-saving equipment, which will multiply, by
several times, hard currency resources that are today needed for many other
things and to continue investing and improving, as much as possible,
consumption by the population. Only this way, through the use of electrical
appliances, will the country free itself from these things that horrify us, such
as kerosene and its derivates, which all of you, save for our invitees, know
well— and 967 thousand 56 fans. You know very well how many were being
manufactured using the motors of Aurika washing machines which were imported
into the country by the millions and which guzzle electricity; nearly one
million have been replaced. In addition to this, 9 million 118 thousand 250
energy-saving light fixtures have been distributed to households to date. You
know about this well, there are still some bulbs out there that have not been
replaced, those that must replaced by better and more economical fixtures won't
last long. I say fixtures because they could be bulbs, they could be
fluorescent lamps, etc.
More
than 4 million 400 thousand gaskets for fridges, nearly 650 thousand
thermostats and 7 million gaskets for coffee makers have also been distributed.
All of this has contributed to our energy-saving efforts, but the antediluvian
fridges continue to consume as much as I told you.
I’m
talking about the economy, not the energy revolution. There were some data
related to economic developments and spending which I thought fit for inclusion
here, data related to the saving of energy.
The
investment program which has been underway in the pharmaceutical industry for three
years now, with a total budget of $120 million (recall the times when things
were going badly, when we faced problems, some of which we still have today; it
is comforting to see how we overcome obstacles and the spirit to continue
clearing these obstacles is strengthened) —of which $ 52 million have been used
(
The
investments made from 2004 to date have allowed us to expand our production
capacity to that of 10 billion tablets a month and 78 million vials a year, to
duplicate our production capacity in terms of powders for suspensions and
increase vial production capacity from 27 to 32 million a year. This is what
we’ve accomplished, and growth rates continue to increase.
Since
mid-
We have been continuing the repairs of the facilities
for this production, reaching 255 units to date. This figure will remain unaffected and we
will make every effort to produce the 100 thousand tons in 2006.
The goal of producing some 60, 700 tons of rice in
2006, is progressing without problems, and in the first four months, 20
thousand 100 tons were produced. Rice production dropped in the large harvest
areas due to drought, hurricanes and high fuel costs. Following rational
planning techniques, we can see there are production areas in which it is
neither economical nor reasonable to invest, though investments continue to be
made wherever this is economical and possible. There are other, much more
economical areas to look into, no country in the world
can aspire to self-reliance. The least self-reliant country in the world is
also the richest, the
The program for the production of soy yoghurt is on
schedule. The first stage after the
production capacity was increased concluded at the end of 2005 and has netted a
million liters per day. We had been supplying the yogurt to nearly half a
million junior high school students who today have meals at school, to workers,
teachers, etc. We had been supplying it to the population, in limited
quantities, in all other parts of the country. We are now expanding the
production capacity of this product, which is in high demand because of its flavor
and nutritive qualities, and Pinar del Río is our
experimental province, not only with respect to electricity.
Capacity is growing in that province; it is growing
day by day. Cold storage facilities for the yogurt have been created there.
Till recently, some 6 million liters were being distributed daily. Today, it is
more than 15 million liters a day and I hope that, within a few weeks, a
distribution rate equivalent to 40, 000 liters a day is reached in Pinar del Río, not counting the yogurt distributed to schools and
other places. There’s no limit, if you consume 50,000, 60,000 or more, it will
continue to be supplied to you. It is being sold at the same price as before,
but before it wasn’t as subsidized as it is today. Today, it is subsidized at
20 % its production and distribution cost. It wasn’t a rationed product, but it
wasn’t abundant either. Now, we’re going to increase production to one and half
million liters a day in the following six months and, if more is needed, we
will produce more.
Evo and Hugo were here, as you know, and we spoke of buying
soy from
In the first quarter of 2006, 47 thousand 100 tons
were produced, 34 % higher than in the same period last year, at a rate of 850
thousand liters per day. This is more exact data. This is what's being
produced, you have to take the container in which it is distributed into
account, you can’t bottle it, we use a very light plastic product which we have
to purchase and which must be included in the production costs.
In the chocolate-milk program (Chocolé) —when we
first spoke about this product, we called it chocolatín and, since man is a creature of habit, I continue
calling it chocolatín— we produced 2,800
tons during the first quarter and production has been progressing according to
the effective demand in order to ensure that there are no shortages of this
product and that there are no surpluses above the demand.
In the program of pasta production there were some
delays in the investment process.
Nevertheless, we are aiming to set up the two factory production lines
in Santiago by the end of June 30 —we'll see if we can get it finished by July
26, I know they're working hard, but they're months behind schedule, it has to
be completed within that period —increasing that factory’s capacity from 6
thousand tons to 21 thousand tons. The
new line for the Vita Nova factory has already entered the country, and we plan
on setting it up as well by June 30.
Where's the minister of the Food Industry?
So, things should be up and running by June 30, and
this should allow us to expand production by 10, 000 tons, to reach a total of
24,000 at this important factory.
If, one the one hand, we have 21,000 tons and 24,000
on the other, we have a production capacity of 45,000 tons, three times what we
had before, a quality product, because the quality of that pasta depends on the
quality of the wheat and we know what wheat we need, Bonasso can help us buy it
in Argentina, durum wheat.
In the program for noodle production, we are working
with the Ministry of Sugar in 12 of the 13 projected plants. We have to define
the terrain here, because the idea is use those facilities that were shut down
to produce different things: pasta, noodles, bonbons, food industry products.
But we don't have to divide the ministry, only expand it to include the food
industry, because the Ministry of Sugar, in addition to sugar, deals with
agriculture, that is, the production of food, quality vegetables, for instance,
and other products. The Ministry of Sugar had many unused lands, and these
lands ought to be parceled out. But industrial food products are quite another
thing, we don't want pastas to be administered by the food industry and noodles
and bonbons by the Ministry of Sugar. The Ministry of Sugar does not specialize
in bonbons and the Food Industry Research Institute, responsible for so many
excellent things, cannot be absent from quality control and production of
bonbons and other things the Ministry of the Food Industry is concerned with.
The production of sugar was not good business any way
you looked at it, these sugar prices are subject to market fluctuations,
because we no longer have agreements that protected sugar prices, what we face
in sugar production is chaos, as in so many other branches of the world economy.
We're taking advantage of the favorable situation now and the fact that alcohol
being used in fuel is at such a high price now.
These bonbons I mentioned require very fine and hence
more expensive sugar. So, our country's food industry is going to need more
quality sugar. Currently, there are markets for the limited production of sugar
at reasonable prices.
Our country is experiencing climatic changes. We are
experiencing more and more droughts and hurricanes are more violent and
frequent. This has had an impact on rice production, because fields have been
flooded and dams have burst, and much cane is lost every time a hurricane
passes through a cane field, the harvesters have to cut pieces scattered across
the ground.
We no longer have the slaves or illiterate unemployed
people who used to cut the cane by hand, in the time of slavery and at the
beginning of the last century, when the large US sugar cane plantations were
established and they brought over Caribbean immigrants who lived worse than
slaves, no one looked after their health and they were paid peanuts. It's the
truth.
The Ministry of Sugar is working on 13 plants as part
of the noodle production program. Plans are to complete four in April, seven in
May and two in June.
We are working on finishing three plants for the
production of chocolate candies; the four remaining are in various construction
stages. These seven are but a few of the factories we're going to build. These
high-quality bonbons will not be subsidized. Chocolatín, cocoa with milk, will be subsidized, but the
high-quality bonbons will have market prices. 60 different flavors have been
developed by the Food Industry Research Institute. One hell of a research
facility! And they'll develop more flavors, mark my words.
All of this allows us to have a production capacity
of pasta that will reach a proposed capacity of 70 thousand tons in 2006,
guaranteeing a greatly increased supply.
We planned for a first phase of 120 silos that would
store 240 thousand tons of grain. We have just set up 58 units and the
remaining 62 should reach completion between May and June.
For the second phase, 130 silos are planned; 84 are
already in various stages of construction.
When this stage ends in August and September, storage capacity will have
increased to 246 thousand tons. We are
already working on the third phase in order to reach a storage capacity in 2007
for another 500 thousand metric tons.
In the program for protected vegetable crops on land managed
by the Sugar Ministry, 462 out of a planned 2,800 vegetable gardens have been
finished. Around 1,647 are being built;
691 are yet to be built. We hope that, as soon as possible, and as soon as the
sugarcane harvest ends, work in which I have mentioned, their construction and
conclusion speeds up. Vegetable production is very important, especially in
these centers where processes are costly and in which high quality products are
produced, where many different spices are produced, I’m sure that you’ll be
able to season the beans and many other products you will consume much better
after this. We have much to learn in
these culinary matters, though organoponics have taught us a lot. In the
intensive orchards—another category— 369
out of the planned 376 have been finished. The 112 cultivation houses projected
to be built were concluded; sowing has begun in 108 of them.
The Ministry of Agriculture, by the way, has centers
growing these types of crops. The Ministry of Agriculture has planned to
construct 666 cultivation houses and by April 28, only 99 had been completed.
The investment process in the construction materials
industry, which began in 2005, continues. The plan for 2006 approved 41 million
dollars of investments and this will increase the production of sand by 9 %,
stone by 26 %, blocks by 36 % and flooring materials
by 44 %.
By April 2006, 27,900 homes were completed. Additionally, we plan on completing 52,764
new homes, during the remainder of the year, to replace those that were totally
destroyed during weather disasters, and plans continue to complete new
constructions in order to look after the most pressing needs, with at least 30
thousand additional homes.
It’s very important for people to learn how to build,
for families to learn how to build their own houses, because everyone knows how
to use weapons, knows how to build, how to harvest, do you understand? This is
very important; because there are not enough workers for the State to build all
of the houses the country requires (Shouts of "Long live Fidel!”).
Up until April, approximately 27 thousand projects
for the restoration and conservation of homes have been carried out, this
representing a 43% increase over the results of the same period in 2005. In addition, during the remainder of the
year, we shall be repairing most of the 90 thousand homes that were partially
affected by all the reported weather phenomena.
Drought conditions continue affecting our
geography. Rainfall in the November 2005
to March 2006 season amounted to only
The provinces most affected by the drought are: Holguín,
Ciudad de
Until
For this year, an investment plan was approved for
this purpose, for a total of 144,500,000 pesos, of these 54,300,000 in hard
currency. At the present time, we are
working on an important group of projects in different territories of the
country, among these the pipes factory in Ciudad de
We have been continuing work on the transportation
recovery program that was initiated last year.
We plan investments in the area of railway
transportation for the approximate amount of 157,500,000 convertible
pesos. Until the present, we have
repaired 124 freight cars for 337,100 convertible pesos which, when added to
last year's repairs, totals 1,824 cars.
Here it says convertible pesos. I warned about this,
that we had to indicate whether purchases were made in dollars, purchases from
Until the present, we have repaired 124 freight cars
for 337,100 convertible pesos which, when added to last year's repairs, totals
one thousand 824 cars. This is in merely
a year. Intense efforts in this area began at the beginning of last year. All
railway workshops that can repair wagons are working day and night and they're
consuming electricity, don't forget. In the contract stage, there are 100 cement
silo wagons which could also be used in the transportation of other construction
materials.
Repairs of 131 flat wagons used in containers
transport have been carried out and we plan on acquiring 150 more, thus
allowing for improved loading and unloading operations in the newly outfitted
loading areas. For fuel transport, 78
tankers have been repaired and we shall be acquiring 200 railroad tank cars
which will improve the transport of fuel. The preceding is complemented by the
purchase of 100 locomotives from
In automotive freight transport, we also plan for immediate
investments of approximately 72 million convertible pesos, which will further
improve this type of transport; including the purchase of 23 cement trucks, 127
flatbed trucks with semi-trailers for grain —to store them, you have to unload
them, you have to transport them—, 40 semi-trailers for containers and the
acquisition of a thousand 20-ton trucks for a total of 65 million dollars, to
be used in the domestic economy and to replace inefficient equipment —and to
clean up our ports, one of our big headaches, which delays ships and we must
pay hard currency for every hour that we keep the ship at the port over the
agreed time, and we’re talking about tens of millions of dollars we lose, you
could almost pay for these 1,000 trucks in a year and a half.
An important feature is the acquisition of some 1,400
devices for the control of the fleet to be installed in the trucks; this will
allow for the control of the usage of this equipment and will decrease fuel
consumption.
We have already signed contracts for 20,600 new engines
for replacing the engines in 3, 5 and 5- ton trucks, as well as thousands of pick-up
trucks and other light vehicles for the same purpose of saving a great deal of fuel.
That is to say, they have been purchased; a great many things have been
purchased, and we're working in this area, because the energy revolution goes
hand in hand with the fuel saving revolution.
A similar effort is being carried out in all areas of
transportation. We have purchased buses of all sorts to replace non-efficient
vehicles such as school-buses, city and inter-municipal buses. You know there
are people who have an old banger from who knows what year, which they have
fitted with a Diesel motor that no one knows how or where they obtained, who
charge five or six times, sometimes more, sometimes less, than what these new
buses are going to charge, especially the inter-provincial buses which are
starting to circulate, for which the State will subsidize 20% of the fare. If
we don't do this, we face either ruin or the risk of never having this type of
transportation in
We have to do two things: we have to be economically
efficient and we have to educate the people. And I count on the people’s
support, as the people have no doubt about the fact that everything the
Revolution has done, successfully or not, has been for the people, and that
everything the Revolution is doing today, with more experience, absolutely
everything is for the people and to meet our internationalist duties (Applause
and shouts of "Hurray!").
These investments, begun during this quarter, have
permitted us to transport 173,300 tons of freight more in this period as
compared to last year and we estimate an increase of 3,900,000 tons by the end
of 2006.
Thanks to the program for the repairing and totally remodeling
of polyclinics, 19 were totally refurbished in the first quarter; this brings
to a close projects involving 146 units of this same type, which will allow for
the provision of 20 new services. At the
present time, work is going on in 183 and in 15 more it is about to begin. This program —I prepared it when I was
gathering, compiling and organizing the data—, due to its enormous importance
for public health, must be as intensive as can be, because we’re talking about
446 centers, and we must devote special efforts, due to its enormous importance
for public health.
Sáez gave me very good news, that, currently, infant
mortality in
During this first quarter, a new rehabilitation ward
was constructed. Thus, this program for
the refurbishing of polyclinics is practically concluded, with the grand total
of 453 wards of this type being built throughout the country. There will be 52 more constructed in rural
hospitals, along with the repairs being carried out in these institutions.
In the remodeling and expansion program for 52
first-rate hospitals that began in 2004, work is being done to conclude repairing
in 6 hospitals in the capital by July 26 this year. As part of this program
963 projects have been undertaken, 254 of which are already completed. A total of 118 pieces of medical equipment,
of which 59 have been fully installed, must be installed. Only 6 of 52
first-rate hospitals have been completed. They are very challenging works,
there’s been much disorganization in terms of construction and we’ve been
inefficient. I feel embarrassed about how long it's taken to construct many
works. This sector must make a very serious effort to organize itself, to
overcome weaknesses in many areas. We are dealing, no doubt, with some delayed
activity; organizations, construction crews and other sectors working on this
task should be required to make a more serious effort.
Not all problems are easy to solve. One of them has
to do with the workforce, it does not suffice. Productivity is low,
construction workers and their bosses delude themselves many times. Still, we
are hopeful. Construction materials and equipment are being developed; nothing
has been neglected in the area of construction.
We have sometimes approached our friends in the
construction sector and said to them: "If you don’t start making progress,
we’ll have to hire foreign construction companies for some works". That’s
almost inconceivable; but, again, there were many inconceivable things before.
I think we haven't been especially happy in the area
of construction in the course of our Revolution and that's been the area where
we've faced the most problems. I know something about this, because, for many
years, I paid close attention to the construction of dams, roads, schools, farm
facilities, sugarcane irrigation and drainage structures, flat rice terraces —I
could go on and on—whole years devoted to these special efforts. Ramiro Valdés
remembers this, when we had to divide the Ministry into various departments.
Construction has been a chaotic sector throughout our
history and we have to solve this problem, because we have no other choice.
For the second quarter, we will have 12 highly modern
oil drilling machines, some through joint ventures with
When our construction crews cannot take on a certain
job because of the number of projects on their plate and after they have
exhausted all resources in this sense, then we may have to hire foreign
companies. Needless to say, all of our efforts have been devoted to top quality
works and to satisfy the urgent needs of our people, who have heroically
defeated this loathsome blockade which has lasted nearly half a century
(Applause).
Now they’re thinking about what they’re going to do
in May —I’m curious to know myself—their more than well-known period of
transition, with their warships, aircraft carriers, submarines, bands of
killers, arsenals, and assassination plots. Let’s see what they say now,
because all of you know we're in a transition period, didn't you know this?
It's true, but it is the complete opposite of the bushavian or bushist or
bushonite transition (Laughter and applause). I don’t mean to offend anyone,
but one comes across such strange, strange things, one can’t help but laugh and
poke fun at them.
In
The repair of 20 schools in the countryside has been
completed and these are already being utilized to train Latin American doctors:
Operations Hope and Miracle.
At the present time, the nation’s primary and
secondary schools are equipped with more than 109 thousand television sets, 43
thousand VCRs and 36 thousand computers. Growth in this area is expected, and
the television sets in primary schools will be gradually replaced with 29-inch
sets this year (the ones currently in use are 21-inch sets).
Today, 126 children recreation centers, 72 boyscout centers
and 16 children camps have become fully operational.
As for junior high school education, the school lunch
or snack program is now in general use, reaching 434 thousand students.
More than 110 thousand young people are studying in
comprehensive training courses, of these some 18,600 will be completing their
high-school graduation and another 16,400 will be graduating from 12th
Grade. At the present time, more than 90
thousand graduates from these courses are enrolled in university studies.
University enrolment has increased to a total of more
than 510,000 students this year, taught by 122,000 professors. The Municipal University Campuses (SUM by the
Spanish acronym) total 3,150 throughout the country, including those associated
with the Ministry of Higher Education, the Ministry of Education, the Ministry
of Public Health, the National Institution of Sports, Physical Education and
Recreation and others.
The construction of the
In support of the new plans of the Revolution, more
than 28 thousand social workers (Exclamations) are participating in various
jobs having great social value and recognition: in the care of senior citizens,
the physically impaired, the sugar industry workers under the Álvaro Reinoso
Project, in Operation Miracle and together with university students in the
energy battle delivering electrical appliances, among other important tasks.
Three hundred new Youth Computer Clubs have been
opened, which add up to the existing 300. One hundred ten thousand and five
hundred people are benefiting from the courses taught at these centers, which
speaks highly about their solid work so far.
There are 352 video clubs for young people that have
a capacity for more than 21 thousand people and offer a cultural option which
is widely appreciated for its broad program. In addition to this, 26 computer
science polytechnic schools are undergoing major repair work around the
country; nearly 40,000 technicians are being trained in this specialty.
Together with the 8,000 students enrolled at the
Television broadcasts on the educational channels
reach every province, bringing benefits to 87.9 % of the population.
Eighty nine municipal radio stations, 8 television centers
and one 1 918 television viewing rooms in remote populated areas are currently
working. Channel Habana, covering the
two
The
The Art Instructors Schools are training as many as 15
thousand 700 young people. At the present
time, the graduated instructors look after more than 700 thousand children and
adolescents during school hours and 130 thousand in artistic creation
workshops.
The Book Fair was held from February 2 to March 7
this year, and traveled through other 35 cities. Twenty-five countries
participated, more than 3 million 300 thousand book copies were sold and,
including the books brought by Venezuela as the invited country, more than 4
million books reached the hands of readers. Next year, let me tell you, there’ll
be many more, we’re already purchasing the paper, because there is great
interest in books. We have two highly modern printing presses which are almost
capable of printing all of the books needed.
In March, the First Baseball World Classic was held;
this was a competition where, as everyone knows, we ended up in second place,
with very notable results both politically as well as in sports (Applause).
Hats off to the fabulous —I say fabulous because of
their conduct, their performance, their honesty—members
of this team, that wrote a glorious page for Cuban and world sports! (Applause). Now, we have the Cuban National Olympics. There
are many athletes competing, and this event will continue to grow in
importance.
We have advanced in the investment process of the 17
EIDE (Schools for Initiation in Sports), a program that allows for the capital
repairs of the 15 existing centers and the construction of 2 new ones in the
provinces of Guantánamo and Granma —I mentioned this recently. The repair of the José Martí EIDE in the
capital was thus concluded, and the 14 remaining ones were operational after
the main construction projects were completed, after which they are now able to
accommodate some 12 thousand students.
Works continue at the
The
Full employment prevails, and unemployment is kept at
less than 2 %.
I'd like to know if many countries in the world can
say the same thing right now (Applause).
Consistent with an economic policy that would ensure
the satisfaction of social interests and the basic priorities of the nation, a
group of measures in the monetary-financial realm have been taken aimed at
strengthening the national currency.
Some of the practical effects of these measures have
been: a 42 % increase in Cuban peso
savings (after comparing close of March 2006 to close of February 2005) which shows
greater confidence in the national currency; an increased ratio of convertible
Cuban pesos deposits in the foreign currency savings total, which went from 20 %
to 65.3 % at the end of 2005 –well, it was in 2005 that we prohibited the
circulation of the dollar, not deposits, any citizen knows that he/she can
deposit foreign currency at the bank and withdraw it, that money is sacred,
untouchable; before, most deposits were made in foreign currencies. Today, 65.3
% are in convertible pesos. These are highly important economic data, let the
Chicago Boys say so, yes, they’re always talking about that, to muddle things
up so that no one can understand them and manipulate the world economy and
exploit less developed peoples— and a significant increase of foreign currency
taken in by the Central Bank.
Likewise, the dollar’s share in the total cash
currency inflow has substantially decreased.
They thought they had annihilated us with their measures and the cruel
prohibitions they imposed on US citizens and Cuban-born US residents, allowing
them to see their relatives only every three years. They thought they were
going to ruin us, but
they are the ones who are economically ruined right now.
Though they say they’ve grown and that the stock
exchange is doing fine, etc., they have overdrawn more than 800 billion dollars
from their current account. And how's
Today, you don’t have doctors to send to
With this state of affairs, how can they send doctors
to
There are 8 times as many university professors in
In the past, the dollar accounted for more than 90 %,
while now it remains at around 30 %, thus substantially diminishing the risk
emanating from the threats launched by the
Since
It has also allowed for a more rigorous fulfillment
of obligations relating to the new external financial commitments and the
renegotiated debts, thus permitting access to new financing under more
advantageous conditions.
The agreement between the
In 2005, the commercial exchange between
Now I’ll get right down to what you’ve all been
waiting for, as the sun’s getting hotter and my time ran out long ago
(Laughter).
TRANSFORMATIONS IN
Our people are well aware that we are undertaking a
great energy revolution.
We have made a huge effort to acquire all the
technological and non-technological equipment that is needed.
Less than three and a half months ago, on 17 January,
in a ceremony taking place in Pinar del Río (Applause
and exclamations), the first province having a self-sufficient installed power generation
potential, the public opinion was informed that at that time a new capacity of
253,500 kilowatts/hour had been installed in the country.
After that ceremony was held in the capital of that
province, an appeal was launched so that, under the guidance of the Party, the
peoples’ power organizations, and all State bodies, companies, work centers,
electrical workers, construction workers, teamsters and the whole people mobilize,
without losing a single moment, to redouble their efforts in civil construction
and the installation of equipment and distribution networks, in order to
finally and immediately put in place the generators which would work in
synchronization with the National Power Generation System.
Until today, May Day, hundreds of generators with the
capacity to generate 903,000 kilowatts (that is, 3.6 times as much the capacity installed on
January
Another program which has been running smoothly has
been the installation of emergency generators at essential economic and service
entities in the nation in order to ensure power supply during any emergency
situation, be it some weather phenomenon or other natural or provoked
catastrophe affecting Cuba.
Up until today, 3,444 emergency generators have
arrived in
In the mountains of
Thousands of units are still being installed in the
country for this purpose. They are new,
standardized and consume very little energy.
Of those which have been installed, 750 produce 210 KW or more, so that
at this point they are able to reinforce the supplying of electricity to the
country during peak hours, with which the main grid gets rid of the power consumption
of the aforementioned centers.
To ensure the functioning of the synchronized
generators and other equipment, a huge special effort has been made in the
production of fuel tanks: 2,903 have
been produced in 10 factories of our steel and mechanical industry —also
working around the clock—, having capacities ranging from 1.5 cubic m. to 100
cubic m. In addition, the efforts made to
ensure transportation, both for the units themselves and for the fuel tanks
could be described as a prowess.
On
At that meeting in January we referred to the
importance of using accompanying gas, a source of pollution, which can be used
after a simple purification process, as a fuel for power generation at the
lowest possible cost for our country. Once we make this investment, we will be
able to produce one kilowatt for less than two cents.
As part of the process of making the most use from
accompanying gas, we have completed the substitution in Havana of LPG cylinders
which used to be distributed using methane—this accompanying gas began to be
used not long ago; before, we used naphtha, some naphtha, some gas, which would
blacken containers, this is no longer the case— after the starting up of the
Marianao Plant last February. This measure has allowed us to save, until today,
8, 650 tons of naphtha and 158 tons of liquefied gas.
Quick progress is being made in the studies, research
and tests that will allow us to resort to wind energy as soon as possible. We
have already purchased the first 100 pieces of equipment —they're due to
arrive— and, most especially, towers to measure wind speeds in all of the
country's key regions. There are good prospects for many of these regions.
We'll see when we have the information, how quickly we can build these. This
system adjusts itself well to wind energy, because winds are whimsical and
unpredictable, for a system with large plants like we had it was impossible to
synchronize electricity produced through wind power. Eight hours would suffice
and the process would be very economically efficient. We have places in which
12, 15 and 20 hours are guaranteed, and places in which measurements are being
made and the speed has not dropped to a level below that required to produce
electricity.
Reference was always made to the need of refurbishing
the network in order to reduce significant losses in distribution and the low
voltage that affects electrical appliances.
These topics were discussed at length in several consecutive round
tables during the past month of January.
What have we accomplished in the last months?
We have accomplished 85,538 actions to improve this
service as part of the ambitious plan of ending 2006 with a 60 % rate of fulfillment
of the full program.
Until April 30, the following actions have been
accomplished:
A much more comprehensive and complete study has been
made on the potential for savings in the residential sector, which included visits
to every household, and based on this experience, this study on the savings
potential was also carried out in the State sector.
This task was made possible thanks to the decisive
support of our social workers together with the University Brigades of Social
Work (BUTS), which joined enthusiastically this crucial endeavor. Our people recognize this work; the mass
organizations have welcomed them in the neighborhoods and communities, for they
are the key actors of this historic struggle.
As our country knows full well, we have also taken
important measures to eliminate stealing and squandering of fuel at the service
centers and gasoline stations where it is sold.
From
We can say that what we have done so far is just the
beginning. We have gone through a period
of learning. Some details must be
corrected, and so shall it be done, but we shall be advancing in a most decided
manner in the matter of saving energy, motivated by our people’s growing awareness
on this vital subject and for the benefits that will surely be ours as a result
of all this work.
If the efforts being made by
1st
The existing and potential hydrocarbon reserves would last twice as
much.
2nd
The pollution unleashed to the environment by these hydrocarbons would
be halved.
3rd The world economy would have a break, since the enormous
volume of transportation means and electrical appliances should be recycled.
4th
A fifteen-year moratorium on the construction of new nuclear power
plants could be declared.
Nothing will ever stop us!
Homeland or death, we shall overcome!
(Ovation).