Santiago de Cuba, with a view to economic development (+ Infographic)

As part of a tour of the country to monitor progress related to the Economic-Social Strategy to boost the economy and face the global crisis caused by COVID-19, the Cuban president, Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, accompanied by members of the Council of Ministers, arrived in Santiago de Cuba on his third government visit a that province.

There he highlighted the work of the territory during the confrontation with the pandemic, which has now been more than 160 days without a single case of COVID-19.

With half of its usual composition, given the hygienic-sanitary measures in force, the visit to the province was mainly directed towards the economy sector. Above all key aspects such as food production, investments, local development and industry.

During their visit, Díaz-Canel and the ministers noted the progress and difficulties in the agricultural sector, so necessary at the present time to satisfy domestic demand.

The president exchanged with producers from Santiago and visited the “La Fortaleza” farm, located 15 kilometers from the city of Santiago de Cuba, a pioneer of urban agriculture in the territory.

It also reached the Barquillo Industrial Production Area, a National Reference, which stands out for the application of renewable energy sources through photovoltaic panels, firewood and coal.

In addition, at the Universidad de Oriente, he met to find out how the university-business link is working.

On the other hand, the prime minister, Manuel Marrero Cruz, took an interest in local development projects in the San Luis municipality. There he visited the Vallina poultry farm and learned about its results in raising chicken.

Another point on the tour was the La Esperanza farm, belonging to the UBP La Silla. This was visited by the Cuban Vice President, Salvador Valdés Mesa, who was informed about the intercropping of crops, the application of science and technique, and yields. This belongs to the Project for Sustainable Development of Coffee in Vietnam and Cuba.

Valdés Mesa also dedicated his time to the UBPC Santa Rosa Livestock Module, an example of good results for municipal self-sufficiency.

Likewise, the delegation was interested in other sectors such as the hydraulic sector, by checking the investments in Palma Soriano in this matter; biotechnology, with a visit to the Molecular Biology Laboratory of Santiago De Cuba and the Bioproducts and Scorpion Plant of LABIOFAM in the municipality of Songo La Maya; energy, through the investment in the joint venture Elf Gas Cuba SA to store liquefied petroleum gas; The education; health, among others.

During the tour, the ministers and the president paid tribute to the leader of the Cuban Revolution, Fidel Castro Ruz, in front of the monolith that keeps his remains in the Santa Ifigenia patrimonial cemetery.

Regarding the epidemiological situation, the Deputy Prime Minister, Roberto Morales Ojeda, during an exchange with the Provincial Directorate of Public Health, highlighted the need to prevent outbreaks and respect the stipulated hygienic-sanitary measures. He called for the implementation of actions to improve the negative results of the maternal and child program and the fight against arboviruses.

In addition, the Cuban president and the representation of the Council of Ministers held a meeting with the local authorities.

During this, the governor of Santiago de Cuba, Beatriz Johnson Urrutia presented the main interests of the province to boost the economy and social welfare. Among them, he ranked food production as the first task, followed by the sugar industry and its derivatives.

Promote the productive poles, the development of transport infrastructure, tourist attractions, infocommunications, the construction of houses with their own efforts and the increase of industrialization in the agricultural sector, to avoid the escape of the labor force to other provinces; were other of the priorities indicated by Johnson Urrutia for the territory.

At the end of the government visit, 103 economic and social objectives had been checked, exchanged with more than 3,000 workers and residents, and visited eight of the nine municipalities in the province.