The deplorable condition of the nursing home of the municipality of Primero de Enero was what most horrified the prime minister
14ymedio, Havana, April 20, 2024 — With an entourage of eleven ministers, three deputy prime ministers and twenty senior officials, Manuel Marrero left Ciego de Ávila this Friday dissatisfied with the results of the province and leaving behind a trail of slogans and catchphrases. “We’re not here to ask for the impossible,” “Efficiency does not depend on good luck” and “We have to get our act together” were some of the “tips” he offered in what – the official press emphasizes – is his third annual visit to make sure the cadres understand that the country is living in a “war economy.”
“We have focused on what has not been done,” Marrero said, explaining the “method” of his entourage to “correct distortions and boost the economy.” The deplorable condition of the nursing home of the municipality of Primero de Enero in Avila was what most horrified the prime minister, Invasor admits. “We can’t sleep peacefully,” the ruler concluded.
Deficient food and buildings in poor condition, two characteristics that also affect, according to the provincial Communist Party newspaper, “maternity centers, children without family protection, grandparents’ homes, homeless and psychiatric centers.” The situation is so alarming that the leader ordered them to “change their godfather” because of the “poor attention given to them by the Bocanaza cooperative, from the territory itself.”
Marrero, whose entourage contained deputy prime ministers Inés María Chapman, Jorge Luis Tapia Fonseca and Jorge Luis Perdomo Di-Lella, said he urged local leaders to “come up with a plan of measures to solve the problems.”
“Review the statistics and check on the ground that they are true, because the people can’t eat statistics,” Tapia Fonseca said
“Review the statistics and check on the ground that they are true, because the people can’t eat statistics,” said Tapia Fonseca, “with his usual eloquence,” adds Invasor. The numbers are, in fact, serious. The newspaper itself regretted in March that the livestock of Ciego de Ávila has decreased in the last 12 years by more than 5,100 animals each year, and that it has just 12,300 liters (3,249 gallons) of milk a day, half of what it should offer.
Marrero combined voluntarism* and scolding in each of the meetings, especially during those he held with the agricultural and industrial sector, which fail to “shake off the damage of decades.”
He verified, inspecting the situation of the sugar harvest, that the Ecuador sugar mill is “unstable” and that the Ciro Redondo – on which the hopes for the harvest depended- is “a giant with feet of clay, unable to function because the synchronization with the surrounding bioelectric plant has not been made effective.”
Chapman, who moved away from the entourage to inspect the municipality of Florencia, was not optimistic in his evaluation either: not only the drought, but also the terrible management of Water Resources in the province, have caused a critical water shortage. The main reservoir of the municipality only has 7 million cubic meters of water, when it should have 30 million. The local managers defended themselves: they have broken pipes and no pumping equipment.
In addition, they said , the little fuel available to Hydraulic Resources is spent on moving the tanker trucks that distribute water to the 6,500 residents in Florence who “officially” lack it.
The only discreet success of the municipality is its canning factory, which fulfilled its plan of 500 tons of tomato puree
The only discreet success of the municipality is its canning factory, which fulfilled its plan of 500 tons of tomato puree in the first quarter of the year. However, it is not known what happened to the product, because they were “hit” with the lack of packaging to market it.
For his part, the Minister of Public Health, José Ángel Portal Miranda, visited the psychiatric hospital of Ciego de Ávila. The “problems” were multiple. They do not have nurses or custodians; it has not been repaired in more than 20 years and lacks medicines, its managers admitted to the official. “By not having all the medicines we need, it is difficult to get patients to improve, and that is why admission times have increased,” said one of the doctors.
Even more alarming is the situation of the patients: seven malnourished and 10 “with a weight less than recommended.” The lack of food has become one of the “triggering factors of psychosis.” Upon leaving the medical center, an 85-year-old man approached the minister, the newspaper says, and described a litany of ailments with no apparent solution.
The conclusion of Portal Miranda, quoted by Invasor, is not good news for the sick: “Althout the intention is to reinsert them into their family as soon as possible, some will be admitted here for a long stay.”
* Translator’s note: In other words, it’s the responsibility of the provincial leaders, rather than the State, to solve problems.
Translated by Regina Anavy
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