Speech delivered by Fidel Castro
Ruz, President of the Republic of Cuba, on the
occasion of the 47th anniversary of his
entry into the province of Pinar del Río at the
ceremony held in celebration of the successful
installation of electric power generators in this
province. Pinar del Río, 17 January 2006, “Year of
the Energy Revolution in Cuba”
(Stenographic version – Council of State)
Dear fellow Cubans:
I
will not intend to explain to you how life in
Pinar del Río was once like. Peasants forced to
pay a rent equivalent to more than 30 percent the
value of their produce, large and privately owned
estates, precarious social conditions,
unemployment, the merciless exploitation of the
people, illiteracy, high infant mortality rates,
the almost complete absence of medical and
educational services, the absence of drinking
water and basic public services. Until the triumph
of the Revolution, it was known as Cuba’s
Cinderella.
Whenever I visit this, our country’s westernmost
province on a January 17th, I cannot
but recall the passionate words I spoke that day
in Artemisa and Pinar del Río 47 years ago today.
No sooner had I arrived than I was making my first
speech there, saying verbatim:
“I
know there are many people in need”, I said then,
”I know there are many who are ill who have no
hospital to go to, that there are many children
who have no schools to attend, that there are many
families who go hungry, but we will not help one
or two people, we will help everyone”.
“I
will not promise you anything, I will only say
that we will do everything in our power, that we
will do more than what we will promise to do. And
changes won’t happen overnight, they won’t arrive
immediately”.
“That is why I ask you to have faith in us, that
is why I say to all of you who are in need that we
won’t be helping one, two, three or four people,
that the aim of the revolution is to help
everyone, because there are hundreds of thousands
of Cubans who are in need and to help but ten or
twenty people is really to do nothing at all, what
we must do is help hundreds of thousands of
Cubans”. I should have said millions of Cubans.
“I
have faith in the Cuban people, I know the
Revolution will continue to make progress, I know
that our country’s sovereignty will be respected
and I know that Cuba will one day be one of the
world’s most prosperous, just and happy nations”.
Back then, Artemisa, whence came most of the
revolutionaries who participated in the attack on
Moncada and who accepted the highest of sacrifices
and gave their lives, was part of the province of
Pinar del Río. Today, it is part of Pinar del Río,
of La Habana and of Cuba. Today, Pinar del Río, I
dare say, is also a part of the world. (APPLAUSE)
I
cannot but marvel at what Pinar del Río means to
the world today when I go over its history in my
mind, after 47 years of a criminal, imperialist
blockade, perfidious acts of aggression, the Bay
of Pigs invasion, the October Missile Crisis,
thousands of terrorist actions against our people,
the disintegration of our former socialist allies,
the collapse of the Soviet Union and the advent of
Cuba’s Special Period.
Let us look at some figures, to begin with the
most evident achievements:
Pinar del Río’s current unemployment rate is only
1.1 percent, what, around the world, is considered
full employment.
There are 31 dams and 65 mini-dams in the province
which hold over a billion cubic meters of water,
all of them constructed by the Revolution.
Pipelines carry this vital substance to nearly all
towns in the province, whether they face many or
few difficulties.
Rare are the homes —save in isolated places that
are difficult to reach—that have no electricity.
In
2005, infant mortality was of 5.4 per 1 000 live
births, one of the lowest ever reported in the
province’s revolutionary history, a far more
encouraging figure than that reported by the
capital of the United States.
The population’s average level of schooling is
upwards ninth grade. There are now 44,591
university graduates in a province that, before
1959, had only 541, of whom only 33 were women;
that is to say, there are now 80 times the number
of people who have completed higher level
education than there were then.
The province has a rich cultural life, especially
in the visual arts and in literature. More and
more people are involved in sporting activities,
and a significant number of athletes who are in
national teams and participate in international
events come from the province.
Pinar del Río’s natural beauty, especially its
mountains and its westernmost region, makes it an
attractive tourist destination indeed.
Two of the world’s biosphere reserves are found in
the province: the Guanahacabibes Peninsula and the
Sierra del Rosario. Viñales has been declared a
part of humanity’s natural heritage.
On
21 August, President Hugo Chávez attended the
inauguration of “Villa Bolívar”, a facility
constructed in cooperation with Venezuela.
On
the historical Aló Presidente broadcast from Villa
Bolívar, the people of Pinar del Río expressed the
Cuban people’s profound love towards that sister
nation and their determination to make the
Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas
victorious.
As
part of an investment program and the victorious
Battle of Ideas that our people are involved in,
important programs in educational, health,
cultural, sport and other spheres have been
undertaken in Pinar del Río.
Four thousand nine hundred and eighty five
students have completed the Comprehensive
Continuing Education Program for Young People
which began in 2001, all of whom have entered
university. Today, 7 158 students are enrolled and
pursuing the course in 37 different locations.
One thousand seven hundred and forty eight
students are enrolled in the Ministry of Sugar’s
Continuing Education Course for Workers, which
began in 2002 and is offered at eight locations: 2
in Bahía Honda, 5 in San Cristóbal and 1 in La
Palma, where the province’s former sugar mills are
located.
One thousand and eighty seven young people, 794 of
whom are women and 936 members of the Young
Communists League, have graduated as social
workers. The seventh academic year has seen an
enrollment of 454 students, who pursue studies in
138 different study groups based in residential
houses.
One thousand seven hundred and seventy one
students have graduated from the General
Comprehensive Secondary School Teacher Course. The
current enrollment is of 761.
Six hundred and eighty seven outstanding students
from all of Pinar del Río’s boroughs are enrolled
in the National University of Information
Sciences, an institution which is enjoying growing
international prestige.
Five hundred and thirty four members of the José
Martí Brigade have graduated as art instructors:
143 have specialized in music, 177 in theatre and
96 in dance. Currently, 1 357 students are
enrolled in the art instructors program.
One thousand five hundred and twenty four students
are enrolled in the specialties of Optometry and
Optics of the Health Technology Course which began
in 2004.
Thirty three Video Clubs have been created. On an
average day, 5 282 children and 4 325 adults (a
total of 9 607 people) attend these clubs.
Thirty six Computer and Electronics Youth Clubs, a
Computer Center and a Traveling Computer Module, a
total of 344 computers, exist in the province. Six
thousand four hundred and eighty nine students are
enrolled in different courses offered at these
facilities. Thirty seven five hundred and forty
eight students have graduated from such courses
during the last five years.
Six thousand three hundred and sixty four
television sets and 2 526 VCRs, distributed across
942 schools (163 of which are fitted with solar
panels), are used in the Audiovisual Program.
The Introductory Computer Sciences Course is
offered in the province’s 689 primary schools, to
a total of 66 719 students who have access to a
total of 1 540 computers. The student to computer
ratio in primary schools is 43.3:1; at the junior
secondary level, it is of 36.7:1, at the senior
secondary level 23.1:1 and at the
technical-polytechnic level 25.3:1.
One thousand one hundred and seventy two students
have graduated from the National Institute for
Sports and Recreation Qualification Course which
began in 2004; currently, 640 students are
enrolled in this course.
The universalization of higher education has
reached all of the province’s boroughs and sees an
enrollment of 21 502 students. Five thousand five
hundred and thirty six students are enrolled in
regular daytime courses offered in the province’s
four universities, for a total enrollment in
higher education of 27 038 students, more than
twice the number of students who were enrolled in
higher education, in the entire country, before
the triumph of the Revolution.
The Libertad Publishing House Program has made 122
253 copies of 15 different books used as course
material and 22 418 copies of books on Cuba’s
history available to students who complete
different levels of education.
Three hundred and thirty nine students from 44
different countries are enrolled in the
specialties of General Practice, Physical Therapy
and Rehabilitation offered by the Latin American
School of Medicine.
The programs undertaken as part of the Revolution
in the Battle of Ideas have created 42 429 new
jobs in recent years.
Three hundred and fifteen computers have been
installed in libraries, genetic centers and blood
banks as part of the Public Health Computerization
Program.
Eight thousand seven hundred and ninety six
patients have been treated in Municipal Intensive
Care Units, for a general survival rate of 97.9
percent. Six thousand and twenty three patients
with low survival probabilities (97.1 percent) are
saved.
Twelve dentistry units operate in the province’s
polyclinics and 38 new dentistry clinics have been
set up.
Fourteen opticians’, 8 of which have been repaired
as part of this program and 4 of which are new,
offer services to the public.
Of
the province’s 132 community pharmacies, 106 have
been repaired and 26 have been newly constructed.
The fourteen main municipal pharmacies are
equipped computers which are interconnected.
Thirty five radiology units are in operation.
Whereas before there were just 4 ultrasound units
working only in provincial hospitals, today there
are as many as 31, plus 43 such equipment offering
full coverage in polyclinics and hospitals. Eighty
two students have completed ultrasonography
training programs (56 graduating as specialists
and 26 as technicians) and now attend to a total
of 33 523 patients, successfully treating these
in primary care centers.
Endoscopy services have been expanded and now are
offered in five polyclinics. These services will
eventually be offered at all polyclinics, without
exception. Three thousand one hundred and twenty
one patients benefit from these new polyclinic
services, which before were offered only in
provincial hospitals. Thirty six general
comprehensive medicine specialists and 24 nurses
have completed diploma programs in this specialty.
Allergy laboratories have gone from 5 to 8 in
number. Ten thousand nine hundred and thirty three
patients have been treated in these.
There are now 14 minor surgery rooms in the
province: 10 in polyclinics and 4 in hospitals; 13
293 surgeries were performed in polyclinics this
past year (2 040 as many as those performed in
2004).
Twelve comprehensive services, in which 167 000
patients have been treated to date, are offered in
the 25 new rehabilitation rooms distributed across
the province’s municipalities.
Twenty nine thousand five hundred and two patients
needing ophthalmologic services and 7 985 in need
of optometry services benefited from this program
which offers a total of 23 services. The province
has a total of 17 interns specializing in
ophthalmology (2 in third and 15 in first year).
Thousands of others are being trained.
Two new hemodialysis units have been set up in the
Comandante Pinares Hospital in San Cristóbal and
the Augusto César Sandino Hospital.
The unit in the Abel Santamaria Hospital was
expanded, receiving 23 new artificial kidneys. One
hundred and thirty patients from across the
province receive quality care in these hospitals,
and the patient to artificial kidney ratio has
dropped from 9:1 to 5.2:1. Whereas the province’s
mortality rate was of 29 percent before the start
of the program, it is now 7.2 percent. Two Homes
for Nephropathy Patients have been created, making
the care of those affected by chronic kidney
problems tangibly and considerably more humane.
One thousand six hundred and sixty five patients
have been admitted to the Intensive Care Unit for
Heart Conditions; of these, 672 suffered acute
myocardial infarctions and reported a mortality
rate of 9.6 percent. Between 1995 and 2000, the
mortality rate associated to acute myocardial
infarctions was of 17.8 percent. For patients who
underwent thrombolysis and were administered
streptokinase —a Cuban product, developed in our
research institutions— the mortality rate was of
6.6 percent, that is, one third the number of
people who died as a result of this condition at
the end of the 1990s.
There are 43 electrocardiographs in operation
across the province.
Three hundred and ninety patients have undergone
mammography, for which a recently installed unit
was used. For the past seven years, the province
had no such unit.
A
Nuclear Magnetic Resonance unit was assigned to
the Abel Santamaria hospital. The projecting stage
has been completed, and the construction brigade
is now ready to begin work.
The construction of the facility which is to house
the Excimer laser, a unit used in eye operations,
has been completed and its climatization system is
now being set up.
Studies in five important health specialties are
pursued: medicine, dentistry, BSc’s in Nursing,
health technology and psychology. These programs
are offered in five different sub-centers in the
municipalities of Sandino, Consolación, San
Cristóbal and Pinar del Río. There are university
campuses in all parts of the province, in which a
total of 7 490 students are enrolled in medicine
or health-related specialties.
Nine university polyclinics operate in 7 different
municipalities; 165 medical students
—participating in a new program—and 116 teaching
assistants are trained in these.
Two thousand eight hundred and forty four training
courses, in which
46
098 workers in this sector have improved their
skills, have been offered in Pinar del Rio as part
of a program aimed at the development of human
resources.
Eleven schools in the countryside that had been
closed (in the municipality of Sandino) are
currently being repaired. Today, given the age of
the young people and the adolescents, the number
of students at these levels of schooling is less
than half the number of those who attended these
schools in the past. In Sandino, there were only
34 such schools, a number of which will be used to
train Latin American doctors. According to
estimates, by the end of this year 20 000 Latin
American medical students will come to Cuba to
study. In short, 3 479 young Venezuelan senior
high graduates will be arriving in Cuba. We hope
to be receiving as many as 10 000 this year, plus
another 10 000 Latin American students, in
addition to those who study at the Latin American
School of Medicine.
Since 2000, the Risso digital press has published
170 books by 198 different authors (a total of 106
959 copies) for the territorial publications
program. In any municipality, any talented young
people will have the opportunity to write. They
won’t need to wait for 40 years or death for their
works to be published.
All municipal cultural divisions have computers,
which have allowed them to implement this program.
These are the most important tasks that social
workers have undertaken in the province as part of
Cuba’s energy-saving measures:
Checking of electrical appliances used in Cuban
homes. The whole people cooperate, of course,
because they know how beneficial is this energy
Revolution for the whole people. Nine hundred and
eighty five social workers visited 208 127 homes.
Checking of electrical appliances used in the
province’s 8 120 workplaces, a task which involved
756 social workers.
Replacement of incandescent bulbs with 18-watt
lamps, in which 785 social workers participated;
they replaced 610 000 incandescent bulbs with
energy-saving bulbs, a service which was free of
charge.
Seminars on the use of the multi-purpose pressure
cooker and the use of electricity as a domestic
energy source. Six hundred and twenty five social
workers participated in these seminars.
A
study on the movement and use of fuel by the
tobacco factory in Consolación del Sur, in which
16 social workers participated. These social
workers visited 46 production units, met with 22
managers and 846 peasants, and measured the
energy-consumption of 92 irrigation pumps, 39
tractors and 36 freight vehicles.
Distribution of electrical appliances to family
households (rice cookers to families who used LPG
or kerosene to cook with; multipurpose pressure
cookers, electric hot plates, water heaters). Old
television sets were also replaced with new ones
in the Sandino municipality, and fans were
distributed in all parts of the province. Two
thousand four hundred and twenty six social
workers and 2 342 university students participated
in these efforts.
Socially important tasks, such as services for
people with disabilities, undernourished children,
and other tasks assigned as part of this program.
The extension, into Pinar del Río, of an
extraordinary nationwide campaign, headed by
social workers, against the squandering, diversion
and illicit sale of fuel.
Completion of the “Talking to Tractors and Trucks”
campaign and keep track of the itinerary of
tankers that distribute fuel.
As
part of a campaign that university students have
now joined, social workers have replaced or
distributed the following appliances to Cuban
households. The conditions in which this is being
done are well known by the whole people. In some
cases these appliances are being sold at half
their price in hard currency, and according to the
present exchange rate. In other cases, the price
of those home appliances will be equivalent to
their cost in hard currency, depending on each and
every case, the credit conditions, etc., of which
I will not speak right now, for I don’t have any
of these in writing.
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240 308 conventional pressure cookers, the
traditional non-electric type, which are very
useful because they save energy.
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233 297 rice cookers
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228 017 electric pressure cookers, which the
people call “the Queen”; a multipurpose cooker,
of miraculous energy-saving effects.
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227 567 electric hot plates
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96 455 water heaters, and within some days we
will be receiving around 137 000 more.
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43 532 fans and 1 757 television sets were
replaced with new units
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The gaskets for 85 986 fridges and 8 380
thermostats were replaced
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646 160 incandescent bulbs (627 593 in the
residential and 18 567 in the state sector) were
replaced with energy-saving bulbs. Some specific
cases which may still be pending are currently
under review, mainly those houses which were
close at the time of the inspection.
Other articles which do not consume electricity
and contribute to energy-saving measures were also
distributed:
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236 141 gaskets for pressure cookers
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318 744 gaskets for coffee makers
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84 074 fuses for pressure cookers
The following numbers of makeshift appliances,
previously used in the households visited, have
been collected:
A
series of measures aimed at consolidating this
work are now underway; these include the repair
and improvement of electrical lines; at the
present time, 520 line-men are at work on this
task in 6 municipalities (290 of them come from
other provinces).
We
are monitoring the hourly demand and the total
consumption at the end of each day. This allows
us to have data on the province as a whole and to
obtain precise information on the municipalities
of Pinar del Río, Consolación del Sur and
Candelaria. This allows political leaders to
better guide discussions in those areas that show
the greatest energy consumption.
This task demands that mass organizations work
systematically on a household to household level
that the primary student organization (Pioneers)
and the media work on educating the public to read
their meters as well as to make a maximum effort
to free up peak hours of electrical use.
The Energy Revolution in Pinar del Rio and the
Changes to the Cuban National Electrical System.
The serious difficulties faced by the National
Electrical System in 2004, analyzed in detail
during the Round Table Discussions held in
September of that year and in successive meetings,
resulted in the implementation of new concepts
aimed at the development of a safer and more
efficient national electrical energy system, after
the situation was closely studied and after the
experiences we had in dealing with a series of
strong hurricanes.
The main measures that were adopted to transform
our system were:
·
Acquisition and installation of safer and more
efficient generating equipment with power
generators and motors conveniently placed in
different locations in the country.
·
Accelerated intensification of a program to
increase the use of the national oil accompanying
gas in order to generate electricity using a
combined cycle.
·
Complete repair of the out-dated and inefficient
distribution networks that were affecting the cost
and quality of the flow of electrical power.
·
Prioritizing minimum necessary resources for an
improved availability and conservation of electric
power generators.
·
An
intensive research and development program in the
use of wind and solar energy in Cuba.
As
of January 15, we have installed 205 power
generators with a capacity to generate 253 500 Kw/hour.
This new concept of energy generation has the
following advantages:
·
minimum amounts of fuel per Kw/hour generated
consumed: 210 gr./Kw/hour, on average, for Diesel
or Fuel Oil, depending on the motor type and its
purpose.
·
Unit power values whose capacity, in the case of
breakdown, has no significant impact on the
functioning of the system.
·
Adequate geographic distribution, which helps
protect the electrical service for the population
and economically and socially important facilities
against hurricanes and breakdown.
·
Availability greater than 90% and much greater
than 60% of the thermo-electrical plants
functioning in our system at the present time.
When oil is extracted, large quantities of gas are
released. In recent years, approximately 1
million tons of oil equivalent in gas have been
consumed.
-
The generation of electricity using gas is
already at 235 000 Kw/ hour. Additional amounts
of gas are used to cook in part of Havana and to
produce electricity in two of the units of the
thermoelectric plant in Santa Cruz del Norte,
designed to simultaneously burn gas and crude.
-
Soon, through the use of this technology, an
additional 90 000 Kw will be generated, as well
as a projected 70 000 Kw, to be generated by two
new gas turbines and a combined cycle that will
contribute more than 200 000 Kw, for a total of
almost half a million kilowatts using this
source of clean, economical energy.
-
A process aimed at repairing electrical networks
has begun to reduce losses due to poor
distribution and low voltage.
To
carry out these plans, it has been necessary to
increase the production of cables and posts in the
country and to triple the production of
distribution transformers, so that we can reach
the number of 15 000 per year.
In
order to carry out this work, regiments of
line-men have been mobilized throughout the
country, especially in the provinces of Pinar del
Rio and Holguin. At this time, additional
transportation and equipment is being acquired to
guarantee the fulfillment of this mission and to
substitute the old fuel-guzzling equipment that
are currently used in these activities.
In
our country, thermoelectric plants, many of which
have been in use for more than 25 years, account
for 2 940 000 Kw of installed power, have an
average availability, as we have already
mentioned, of 60% and consume large amounts of
fuel per Kw/hour generated.
This thermoelectric plants system which I
mentioned will be gradually replaced by the new
generation of motors, including the combined cycle
motors, and for this the minimum necessary
resources are apportioned in order to maintain the
most efficient units functioning. Other units
will be kept and will be ready to work when the
system requires them, while the first phase of the
transformation of the present system is under way.
-
It is well-known that, in recent years,
wind-power has become the most widely-used type
of renewable energy in the world. Its
installation costs are already competitive when
compared to traditional sources of energy.
As
a strategic development in this field –-the
development of wind energy-- different
technologies, including those designed to
withstand the frequent hurricanes which lash our
country.
Areas with wind power potential have been
identified in the country and include:
-
The westernmost part of Pinar del Rio
-
Isla de la Juventud
-
The northern coast between Holguin and Villa
Clara
-
The north-east of Cuba’s eastern end
Pinar del Río is among the places under study. We
already know how wind power is like at the Cabo
San Antonio. Tests are being made there and
elsewhere.
Measurements of wind speeds are being taken at
altitudes of 50 meters at selected sites within
these macro locations. This will allow us to
determine the precise location of the most ideal
sites and steps will be taken to discover the
potential for wind energy in the entire country.
In
addition to this, the nation has purchased a total
of 4 158 emergency power generators, representing
a total potential of 711 811 Kw.
To
date, the country has received 3 003 of these
emergency power generators, representing 72.2 per
cent of the total number purchased.
The emergency power generators can be switched on
after an order. They can release the energy they
are consuming without starting up. If there is
a deficit of 100 000 and the installed capacity is
of 100 000, they will start up with the 100 000 at
that peak consumption time. So these are there as
part of the reserve, but they have a role to play
in hospitals, at cold stores, areas were foodstuff
must be preserved, areas where there are key
industries which can not dispense with electricity
not even for a single moment. All of these
equipment are brand new.
As
part of Cuban medical assistance to Pakistan, in
response to the earthquake in that country, 54
emergency power generators were sent there, so
that they could be installed in field hospitals.
The installed potential to date guarantees the
protection of the following basic centers and
institutions, among others:
-
290 polyclinics
-
191 hospitals
-
241 other health centers, such as: 17 blood
banks, 1 hospital hospice, 2 Retinitis
Pigmentosa centers, 89 dental clinics, 101 homes
for the elderly, 17 homes for the mentally and
physically challenged, etc.
-
128 educational centers
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89 centers for graphic, radio and television
communication
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54 meteorological stations, they can not run out
of power ever, even if a tree falls down on
them. A power generator plant must stand by
there, otherwise we would be left without the
information we so much need about what is going
on at Turquino, La Bajada, Escambray, or La
Gran Piedra.
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51 tourism facilities
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37 centers for the production, storage and
elaboration of food products
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188 water supply units (pumps, re-pumping units
and water disinfection plants). There are some
adjustments still to be made, because some of
these pumps required a compensation equipment,
as it is the case for the pump that supplies
water to the Manuel Lazo neighborhood and other
areas in Pinar del Río, the capacity of which is
70 Kw, and requires an electric capacity of 210
Kw to start up. That power generator which has
been installed there costs around
40
000 dollars, and the so-called compensator costs
around 1 300 dollars. With that compensator the
capacity of the motor that supplies the Manuel
Lazo neighborhood would be more than enough to
operate a 35 Kw equipment, and then we could
reassign the far more powerful generator which has
been installed there to another location as an
emergency generator.
We
have ordered 500 such compensators to operate the
water supply system in the whole country. Each
one of them will have its own motor, but we have
to check them all. There are more than
100 000 water pumps, most of them very old
already, electricity-guzzling equipment. That is
why I was telling you that there is still much to
be done.
Today we disinfect water and do something else:
almost everybody boils water for drinking. All of
that has been duly studied, as well as the
appropriate solutions to this problem, since the
country is consuming 15 to 20 percent of the fuel
available to heat water for bathing and boil water
for drinking. There is much more to say, but not
everything will be said here today.
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589 bakeries and other centers which will have
electrical generators. Diesel will no longer be
used by the almost 1000 bakeries across the
country. What Diesel has to do with wheat flour
and bread? We have to supply electricity to
those places.
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22 centers in the chemical-pharmaceutical
Industry. That supply can not fail.
One thousand nine hundred and thirty four of the
program’s power generators remain to be
installed. These are motors, because there are
other power generators made up of several motors,
which means those yet to be installed, 569 274 Kw
of power. A special effort is being made, and this
will also be so in the next few days. Everybody
is getting ready for that.
A
gigantic construction and assembly effort has seen
the installation of
2
281 power generators in just 6 months –the
smallest were the first to arrive- and today our
main effort lies in the maximum usage of installed
capacity in order to increase efficiency of each
Kw. The example I mentioned of a pump that
supplies the Manuel Lazo neighborhood explains all
this very well. We must install there the
appropriate pump, the electrical emergency pump,
the adequate pump with its corresponding
compensator. It costs almost nothing as compared
to cost of other equipment.
A
special effort has been seen in the work of the
provinces and municipalities, which have
contributed much to the progress attained; our
comrades in Pinar del Rio are especially worthy of
recognition for their efforts. All entities have
taken part in this program.
The new system has already been installed in the
Pinar del Rio area. Let me say that Pinar del Rio
will no longer suffer black-outs. Who could have
possibly imagined that? In addition to the
national supply, 164 000 Kw/hour of newly
generated capacity supplements the provincial
system and the national system as much as is
required. (APPLAUSE.) It could be that there is a
black-out because a tree has fallen on some lines,
or a transformer is affected for any reason.
There will be less and less black-outs, there will
be less and less old transformers, and there will
be less and less problems with the main grid. Any
electrical work that necessitates a temporary
power outage, or perhaps a hurricane, will force
us to turn out the lights. When the wind blows at
a speed higher than 70 km/hour we must all be
ready. There could be a power outage due to any
of these reasons, but not because there is a
shortage of energy in the system, which is
something that has been happening very often as of
late. If something like that happens, each
household will have the equipment and a reserve of
LPG or kerosene to be able to cook.
Is
that clear? It is very important to look at the
way this is being done here in Pinar del Río.
Very soon, the provinces of Havana, Matanzas and
Holguin will be in the same shape as Pinar del Rio
–although we are anticipating some favorable
actions that will be taken, using the power
reserves that we may have, and reserves will
increase as long as we speed up the installation
of all the equipment that we now have. Even
before the program ends, a program that will
extend indefinitely towards the future, by the
first of May of 2006 at the latest –and listen
very carefully to this, unless our enemies are
willing to put up a huge provocation as a result
of the overwhelming success achieved by our
country in the field of economy and others- that
glorious day in celebration of workers, one
hundred per cent of all Cuban households that have
electricity, more than 95 per cent of the entire
population, will not be using LPG or kerosene,
except in the exceptional cases, as I mentioned
above. By that date, we will have achieved the
capacity to generate a million kilowatts per hour
in coordinated generators, equivalent to 3.3
thermo-electrical plants such as the “Antonio
Guiteras”, whose total cost will be around 1.7
billion dollars in investment and whose
construction will require no less than six years
of work. To such capacity, no less than a million
kilowatts/hour will be added, produced by
energy-saving measures. Thus, the nation will
have a capacity of two million kilowatts/hour more
than what was had just six months ago. (APPLAUSE.)
We
can understand the meaning of the energy
revolution better in these terms: a significant
saving for the nation in convertible hard
currency, a noble, safe and healthy fuel –the
electrical fuel all those households will have-
without flames, gas, odor or bad taste, without
any misappropriation of resources, without robbery
or fraud, without heavy objects to carry up the
stairs, without all the odious attendant miseries
to each frequent and inopportune black-out that
characterized an old-fashioned concept for the
delivery of electrical power.
Once this program, which we are working on at top
speed, has concluded, the nation will be saving
one billion dollars each year.
I
have been very cautious in sharing this
information with you. Much thought has gone into
this. The technical data I’ve offered you, and
each one of the steps which need to be taken, are
much more complicated and detailed than I have
outlined, since I am constrained by time and other
obvious reasons.
This grand energy revolution, and the social
impact it has had on Pinar del Rio in such a
brief period of time, would not have been possible
without the important work of the Party and its
provincial and municipal cadres under the
direction of Carmita –as we affectionately call
her- the Party’s First Secretary, a woman who is
the representative of the manual and intellectual
workers of this province. I can speak of her
activities because I have been in touch with her
almost on a daily basis, especially during the
last decisive phase of this battle, when she was
directing the political and social forces of her
province, mainly in the town of Pinar del Rio,
backed by grassroots organizations and by all
provincial and national government structures.
I
have asked myself many a time how we managed to do
all this. Carmita was not just the administrator;
she directed and coordinated, she requested
information, she analyzed each detail
scrupulously, conveyed information at the national
level, reported on the general situation, what
progress had been made and what problems had been
run into, together with her analyses and points of
view; she fulfilled all instructions in a
disciplined fashion, she traced the corresponding
provincial strategy, confident in victory and
radiating her reassurance and optimism to everyone
around her. Her style and methods serve as an
example to other cadres. We have been able to see
the efficiency of the Revolution in action and the
experienced political direction of cadres of
different generations.
I
was reminded of the glorious days spent fighting
battles both within and outside of the nation: in
days of yore, with our heroic “mambises”; in the
more recent past, in the struggle against the
Batista tyranny; today, against the cowardly
blows of an impotent empire that attacks Cuba, in
a world where people are saying “no” to being
colonial slaves, “no” to imperial domination and
plunder.(APPLAUSE.)
Here today, together with the people of Pinar del
Rio, stand the national leaders of political and
grassroots organizations, the highest
representatives of our national government, the
political and government leaders of each of our
provinces, wherever the battles of our nation are
being waged in this decisive moment of our
history. Our glorious Armed Forces will also
participate in this titanic effort. There will
be a before and an after to this Cuban energy
revolution. It will teach lessons that will be
useful to our people and the other peoples of the
world.
Homeland or death!
We
shall overcome!
(OVATION)
