Cargando...There is a phrase of the national hero José Martí that «one should not fear but bless hurricanes, because after them the earth remains renewed and pure», and this precept of the apostle is fully valid today in Guantánamo with the devastating hydrometeorological phenomenon Oscar that has changed the lives of more than 100,000 people living in the mountainous municipalities of Maisí, Baracoa Imías and San Antonio del Sur.
At dusk on Sunday, October 20, the cyclone made landfall near Mata Bay with Category 1 winds of 130 kilometers per hour, bringing high winds, heavy rains and flooding on a scale never before seen in these areas.
Three days later, a complex process of recovery began in these areas, in which the members of the trade union movement in Guantanamo played a leading role, possessing a resilient and tenacious spirit, typical of Cubans who never give up in the face of adversity.
Juana Eglis Fernández Louit, General Secretary of the Provincial Committee of the Central de Trabajadores de Cuba (CTC), was one of the first authorities to arrive in the municipalities most affected by the natural disaster, and detailed that «thousands of highlanders, especially in San Antonio del Sur and Imías, hurricane Oscar took everything or almost everything they had.
«But life goes on with its daily hustle and bustle, more difficult than before, but full of daily heroics and the hope that sooner rather than later these populations will regain their usual splendor,» she stressed.
Questioned by this editor, the union leader confessed that «it was very painful and shocking to see the serious damage caused by the flooding in the municipal headquarters of the CTC of San Antonio del Sur and Imías, where damage was reported to the roofs of the premises, computer equipment, furniture and other resources.
«The same situation exists in the homes of the organization’s cadres and thousands of workers. They are not alone or abandoned to their fate.
«It took us two days to remove large amounts of mud and solid waste and to salvage some basic facilities. Paint is currently being applied to beautify and resume union work as soon as possible,» she said.
Fernández Louit thanked, on behalf of the Party, the Government, the social organizations and the people of Guantanamo, the arrival of the first hurricane of human solidarity from the province of Las Tunas, in a caravan led by Odalis Batista Pérez, General Secretary of the Provincial Committee of the CTC.
State and non-state workers, farmers, new economic actors, young people and housewives organized the transport in four 25-ton trucks of products such as wheat flour, cooking oil, biscuits, clothes, shoes, personal hygiene products, household appliances, household goods, medicines, food and vegetables.
Call for a Day of Decisive Action: Guantanamo Rises
To work with dedication to fulfill in each of the work collectives the commitments made with the 41 actions included in the program of the Day of Decisive Effort: Guantánamo Rises, called the Provincial CTC and its unions to ensure the fulfillment of the economic, productive and service plans, in salute to the 66th anniversary of the Triumph of the Revolution.
The proposal, approved by the Provincial Defense Council, includes the organization of massive mobilizations for the coffee harvest, especially in the municipality of Maisí, the largest producer of the aromatic bean, where significant losses in the exportable crop have been reported.
The union’s highest authorities announced the upcoming deployment of brigades in the municipalities of El Salvador, Guantánamo, Yateras, Manuel Tames, Caimanera and Niceto Pérez to help the most affected areas, especially in food production and the cleaning of sewers, public streets and affected roads.
Donations are also collected in support of the victims and massive sanitation actions and blood donations are organized to ratify once again the confidence of living in a country where helplessness does not exist.
Donations are also collected to support the victims, and massive clean-up and blood donation campaigns are organized to reaffirm the confidence of living in a country where helplessness does not exist.
Acerca del autor
Jorge Cantalapiedra Luque
Jorge Cantalapiedra Luque
Licenciado en Filología (Universidad de Oriente, 1995) y egresado en 2002 del Diplomado de Reorientación al Periodismo, organizado por la Unión de Periodistas de Cuba. Ha participado en coberturas periodísticas de primer nivel en la provincia de Guantánamo. Se especializa en temas de Ciencia, Tecnología y Medio Ambiente. Colabora con la Agencia Cubana de Noticias (ACN) y Radio Progreso. Profesor Asistente de la carrera de Comunicación Social en la Universidad de Guantánamo.
