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The revolutionary town has grown, and
changed
• Artemisa hosts principal
commemoration of National Rebellion Day July 26,
pleased to showcase its accomplishments
Ana María Domínguez Cruz
THREE years ago everything changed for Artemisa,
previously a municipality within the province of La
Habana. Residents awoke to take on the mission of
becoming the capital of a new province, including
the municipalities of Mariel, Guanajay, Caimito,
Bauta, San Antonio de los Baños, Güira de Melena,
Alquízar, Bahía Honda, Candelaria and San Cristóbal.
Since then, the province has assumed the challenge
and intends to demonstrate what socialism can
accomplish, since the people’s potential and will is
unsurpassed, as President Raúl Castro has said.
Artemisa is already seeing encouraging results with
a new government management model, involving the
implementation of new conceptions in political and
administrative leadership; and the experimental
development of a new system of distribution for
agricultural products, meant to reduce losses and
simplify the pathway from producers to consumers.
Artemisa on July 26the.
Artemisa is the
nation's largest producer of vegetables.
Construction of the railway linking Mariel and
Havana.
Far
from satisfied, inhabitants continue to work toward
developing Artemisa’s strong agricultural base, and
making industry more productive.
The
Mariel Special Development Zone (ZEDM) is central to
meeting these goals, since it provides Cuba with the
opportunity to increase exports, effectively replace
imports with domestic products, launch advanced
technology projects, and promote local development,
while generating new sources of employment,
according to Juan Domínguez, president of the
Provincial Assembly of People’s Power, speaking July
23, during a seminar entitled ‘A growing province.’
No
doubt, Mariel will be a pole of attraction for
domestic and international investment, but should
also provide daily benefits to the people of
Artemisa, said Ana Teresa Igarza Martínez, director
of the ZEDM Regulatory Office.
“Inhabitants of the province are already enjoying
the services of a railway which moves passengers
from here to the capital, every 25 minutes. Around
1,500 Artemisians work in the Zone, making it not
only a development project with national benefits,
but one which has a positive impact locally, as
well.”
Despite the Special Development Zone’s promising
prospects, Artemisa will continue to be an eminently
agricultural province, with potential which must be
developed to meet local demand and that of Havana,
the principal destination of its many agricultural
products.
Tomás Rafael Rodríguez López, director of the
province’s Agricultural and Forestry Enterprise
Group, explained that the new system of distribution
and sales has been well-received in Artemisa, as
indicated by satisfactory results.
“This is a province with the capacity to develop
varied crops - which currently surpass 342,000 tons
- to meet the demand in Havana and the ZEDM. It is
our 37 cooperatives who are selling products
directly in the capital, in 77 markets rented for
this purpose, and we are in a good position to make
the leap in production the country needs, since an
annual growth of more than 20,000 tons is a good
outcome, but still insufficient.”
In
terms of the development of livestock farming,
Rodríguez López emphasized that the future is now,
saying, “Our plans are made through 2025, but the
process must be accelerated. We have the necessary
personnel, the structures and the genetic base to do
so. We need to work on clearing overgrown areas, and
guaranteeing the correct zootechnical handing of
livestock within the system, but we are making
progress.”
It
is no surprise, since Artemisa is the largest
producer of root vegetables and eggs in the country,
that milk production exceeds 20 million liters a
year. Rodríguez López reported, “We have great
potential in our poultry enterprise, since this year
we surpassed 243 million units, and the pork
enterprise can produce more than 12,400 tons of
meat.”
Sales of tobacco leaf have increased, as has the
production of seeds and coffee, which is recovering
with new plantings, the enterprise director
reported, adding, “It doesn’t even concern us that
70% of our populations resides in urban areas, the
statistics show that 63,788 hectares of idle land
have been awarded to individuals and incorporated
entities who have added to the increase in
production we need.”
Examples abound with the production of candy,
crackers, breading, sweets, jellies and marmalade,
even Soroa wine, reaching unprecedented levels,
appreciated on a daily basis.
In
the social arena, Artemisa has taken on the creation
of a university offering a broad range of studies,
and health care services previously available only
in Havana are now provided within the province.
Armando Andrés Marrero Mederos, provincial public
health director reported, “Previously non-existent
services have been recovered with needed investment
in equipment and infrastructure. Conditions were
assured for the provision of absent specialized
services, and intensive work continues to strengthen
hygiene and address epidemiological needs. Building
conditions have been improved at the primary care
level, including work on 453 family medicine
clinics.”
Requesting eyeglasses, restoring a tooth, receiving
infertility treatment, and even studying medicine in
Artemisa, are not longer idle dreams, he added,
since the province now has the means to provide them
all, although many needs remain unmet.
A
trip to the Red City - as Artemisa has been known
since its 28 native sons joined the Moncada assault,
July 26, 1953 - helps visitors understand the
singular designation. Beyond its revolutionary
history, the province is showing how to match words
with action. All the visible accomplishments were
projected and planned, their realization was
carefully supervised, and the process revealed more
challenges to be addressed in the future.
One
of the greatest challenges is the Mariel Special
Development Zone, located in the geographic center
of the province, but no less significant are those
in agriculture, livestock farming, education, health
care, industrialization, culture and sports. The
most important, which does not disappear with the
recently concluded July 26th commemoration, is to
show what Cuban socialism can achieve.
With
order, discipline and high expectations, the road to
success has been laid out, said José Antonio
Valeriano, first secretary of the Party’s provincial
committee, the task now is to continue what was
begun three years ago, and surpass what has been
done.
Artemisians’ identity and sense of ownership have
been strengthened. Now their dedication and
perseverance will be tested. Artemisa has changed,
and it must grow. (Cubahora)
Artemisa: The new province was established by Cuba’s
National Assembly in August, 2010, and began
functioning as such on January 11, 2011.
The
province includes eight municipalities which were
previously part of La Habana and three from Pinar
del Río. The capital city is Artemisa, the largest
in area and population within the former Havana
province.
The
population stands at 502,392 inhabitants; and the
area is 4,004.27 square kilometers.
The
province has 272,849 hectares of agricultural land,
68.1% of its surface area, allowing the province to
supply a significant amount of food to the nation’s
capital.
The
assault on the Moncada Garrison was carried out on
July 26, 1953, by a group of young revolutionaries
led by Fidel Castro, who also attacked the Saturnino
Lora Hospital, and Justice Palace in Santiago de
Cuba and the Carlos Manuel de Céspedes Garrison in
Bayamo.
The
fundamental goal was to launch an armed struggle
against the Fulgencio Batista dictatorship.
(1952-1958).
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