Urban agriculture, a safe and productive alternative

Cárdenas, Matanzas -Army General Raúl Castro Ruz, leader of the Cuban Revolution, sent his greetings to those who promote the Urban Agriculture Movement in the country, an idea of which he was the promoter and driving force 36 years ago.

This was made known by the member of the Political Bureau and Prime Minister, Manuel Marrero Cruz, at the national event of that program, held at the Zeoponico in this city, which highlighted the results of this province in the current year.

Marrero recognized the decisive role of the Movement, for its integrality and economic dynamics, and for obtaining healthy and innocuous products, in addition to the impact on the municipality’s scenario.

Although he appreciated the progress, with the incorporation of new areas in exploitation, higher yields and the incorporation of more families in food production, the Prime Minister called to consolidate in 2024 those initiatives undertaken this year, as well as to increase the number of organopónicos, flower beds, and yards and plots.

The six outstanding provinces, outstanding producers, experts and founders of the Movement were recognized at the ceremony.

The Head of Government was accompanied by the Deputy Prime Minister, Jorge Luis Tapia Fonseca; by Major General Eliecer Velázquez Almaguer, head of the Youth Labor Army; by Major General Andrés Laureano González Brito, head of the Central Army; by Susely Morfa González, first secretary of the Provincial Committee of the Party, and by other leaders of the Government, the FAR, the Ministry of the Interior and Agriculture.

During the event, it was ratified that urban, suburban and family agriculture contributes to the availability of food, and is an increasingly popular, safe and productive alternative.

Cuba y China inauguran nueva sede de hospital oftalmológico

HOSPITAL OFTALMOLOGICO
Foto: Tomada de Cubaminrex

Representantes de Cuba y China inauguraron la nueva sede de un hospital oftalmológico con especialistas de ambos países, como parte de una colaboración de más de diez años, precisó el sitio Cubaminrex.
De acuerdo con la cónsul general de la Isla en Shanghái, Mileidy Aguirre, el intercambio médico en esta especialidad entre la nación antillana y la provincia de Anhui tiene su origen en la visión a largo plazo de los líderes Fidel Castro y Hu Jintao.
La diplomática aseguró que la cooperación entre las dos partes benefició a más de 400 000 pacientes en estos años, lo cual fomentó la gran acogida por parte de la población local. «La nueva sede del Hospital Oftalmológico Amistad Cuba-China constituye otro hito en la colaboración en materia de Salud», señaló.
La Cónsul reiteró el agradecimiento al Gobierno chino, a empresas y en especial al II Hospital Popular de Anhui, «por el envío de toneladas de suministros médicos, indispensables para romper el cerco del bloqueo de Estados Unidos en el contexto del combate contra la pandemia» en la nación antillana.
En otro momento, destacó el excelente estado de las relaciones entre Cuba y China, y en particular subrayó los consensos alcanzados entre los presidentes Miguel Díaz-Canel y Xi Jinping.
En Anhui, los médicos caribeños recibieron numerosos reconocimientos por sus servicios, como el de Membresía Honorífica en la Asociación de Personalidades Extranjeras y el premio al Buen Médico de Anhui, otorgado por las autoridades provinciales de Salud, reseñó Cubaminrex.

Cuban medical brigades have collaborated in several of the Caribbean islands, as in the case of COVID-19.
Cuban medical brigades have collaborated in several of the Caribbean islands, as in the case of COVID-19. Photo: Ricardo López Hevia

Among the most important dates that the Caribbean celebrates is December 8. Just 51 years ago, four independent states of the region: Barbados, Guyana, Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago sovereignly decided to establish diplomatic relations with Cuba.

This was a break with the diplomatic isolation imposed on our country by the U.S. Government, with the complicity of the OAS.

The Caribbean Community (Caricom), a sub-regional organization with which Cuba maintains the closest and most fruitful relations, has provided permanent support in all international forums and maintains its firm opposition to the economic blockade imposed by the U.S. administration against the island.

The presence of Cuban collaborators in health and other areas of social interest has been and continues to be a proof of true South-South collaboration.

Cuba has been an important support for the development efforts of the insular Caribbean for four decades now, and this is recognized by the leaders and the peoples. The permanence, in those countries, of Cuban medical brigades that have taken health to the most unsuspected places in the area; the immediate response of our nation to some climatic inclemency that has affected those nations, and the training of human resources -mainly in the health area- in Cuban schools, plus the significant contributions of the well-known Miracle Mission, which cured the eyesight of tens of thousands of citizens, are some examples that today have become a necessary reference when talking about solidarity.

Every December 8, therefore, we celebrate a date that has set a course of solidarity, unity and mutual respect that must be preserved.

At the Second Cuba-Caricom Summit, held in Barbados in 2005, Fidel warned: “We must respond to neoliberal and selfish globalization, to the anti-democratic international political and economic order, with unity and the globalization of solidarity, and the promotion of dialogue, integration and genuine cooperation”.

At the same Summit, the governments of the Caribbean Community conferred on the Commander-in-Chief the Honorary Order of that organization, in recognition of his impeccable human conduct and his unconditional support in favor of the progress and welfare of the area.