First meeting of 2023 with the governors and mayors of the country.

Photo: Revolution Studies.

If in the meetings we settle for speeches and exposing the good experiences, and we leave the analyzes there, we will not be able to advance.

We have to base ourselves on those good practices that exist in the provinces and generalize them;

that is what it is about, that is the great challenge that lies ahead.

So emphatic and reflective —as these times demand— was the member of the Party's Political Bureau and Prime Minister of the Republic, Manuel Marrero Cruz, when leading the first meeting of 2023 with the country's governors and mayors, which this Wednesday was headed by by Salvador Valdés Mesa, Vice President of the Republic;

and Esteban Lazo Hernández, president of the National Assembly of People's Power, both members of the Political Bureau.

Compliance with the Housing Plan was the first item on the work agenda.

As reported by Vivian Rodríguez Salazar, General Director of Housing,

last year more than 20,000 houses were completed, 55% of the planned plan and only the provinces of Cienfuegos, Sancti Spíritus and Matanzas advanced in the program indicators.

Marrero Cruz reiterated that this is one of the problems that impacts the population the most and in which not enough progress is being made.

In this sense, he called for the implementation of different work systems, based on the local production of construction materials.

The General Director of Housing spoke of projections for this 2023, and among them she alluded to the completion of real estate with greater use of new forms of management and popular participation, prioritizing the solution of pending climatological affectations in all territories, as well as guarantee housing rehabilitation actions to eradicate conditions of vulnerability.

In this regard, Esteban Lazo Hernández called for the delegates to get involved with the population in solving this matter, and for the analyzes to go to the bottom of the problems.

"The systematic vaccine, he said, we have to give it every month."

"The systematic vaccine, he said, we have to give it every month," said Esteban Lazo.

Photo: Revolution Studies.

Recruitment in sight

The contracting of agricultural production, a process that to date supports the delivery of only 37% of what was planned by the Ministry of Agriculture, was widely analyzed at the meeting.

Similarly, reference was made to compliance with the Law on Food Sovereignty and Food and Nutrition Security, approved by the Cuban Parliament, and that "it is not more of the same", according to the Prime Minister.

In this sense, Salvador Valdés Mesa affirmed that, in the midst of this situation that we are experiencing, it is urgent to achieve municipal self-sufficiency and for this it is necessary to integrate actions and use, in the shortest possible time, the autonomy that the Constitution of the Republic confers on the territories.

"To the same extent that autonomy is used, they will assume more political, economic and social responsibilities."

The situation of theft and slaughter of large cattle and issues related to compliance with the contract with the dairy industry were rigorously evaluated.

Photo: Revolution Studies.

Meisi Bolaños Weiss, Minister of Finance and Prices, reiterated that when there is a shortage of food, there is an excessive rise in prices.

"We are going through a month of January in which we ask the government leadership to insist, deepen and systematize the control and monitoring of prices, especially of agricultural production, since we are receiving an excessive increase."

He pointed out that, in the midst of the deficits in offers and agri-food productions, there are elements that can help us to overcome the situation.

One of them is the agreement on prices, according to the Minister, and she called for making it sustainable and organized, since it has a great impact on the population.

"Within this, we must look at the alternatives that can allow us to eliminate intermediaries, because if we continue looking for agreements, after a long chain between the producer and the final consumer in the small square, which is the town, we are not going to solve the problem either. Of the prices.

"We have to get to the producer, analyze what price it is selling for and then discuss with the intermediaries or remove them," insisted Bolaños Weiss, who did not fail to recognize the value of this figure.

But, as she said, it must be reviewed, because it is weighing "on the prices at which some foods are being sold today, such as sweet potatoes and plantains, for example, at unsustainable prices."

The situation of theft and slaughter of large cattle and issues related to compliance with the contract with the dairy industry were rigorously evaluated.

On this last aspect, the vice prime minister, Jorge Luis Tapia Fonseca, called for a good contract with the producers and that there are no defaults on them.

It was called for a good contract with the producers and that there are no defaults to them.

Photo: Revolution Studies.

That improves maternal and child well-being

Special attention was given to the behavior of the Maternal and Child Care Program (PAMI), another sensitive and determining program for the future of the country, and which, despite the efforts of medical personnel, last year did not achieve the desired results.

Only the special municipality of Isla de la Juventud and six provinces closed 2022 with infant mortality rates below six per thousand live births, and so far in January the scenario also remains complex in many territories.

This is an issue that we must address in an intersectoral manner and calls us to raise the demand to reverse the situation we have, assured the vice prime minister, Jorge Luis Perdomo Di-Lella;

while the vice prime minister, Inés María Chapman Waugh, urged to rescue the founding concepts of the Family Doctor and Nurse program.

In line with this, Reinol Delfín García Moreira, Vice Minister of Public Health, pointed out, among PAMI's priorities for the year, ensuring the medical and non-medical resources related to the program, guaranteeing the updating of system professionals involved in the maternal and child care processes, and achieve proper functioning of primary health care and the network of hospitals dedicated to this program.

He also referred to strengthening issues related to intersectoriality, with greater emphasis on the prevention of adolescent pregnancy and abortion, family planning and prematurity;

to increase comprehensive care for young people and adolescents with actions that cut across all agencies involved in maternal and child health;

and to expand the assisted reproduction program.

Towards the end of the meeting, the implementation and compliance with the general directives for confronting crime, illegalities and corruption was discussed, a combat —which as has been said— requires the support and participation of all the people in a rigorous struggle , systematic and efficient against these scourges.

The implementation and compliance with the general directives for confronting crime, illegalities and corruption were addressed.

Photo: Revolution Studies.