“We come from a critical assembly, I would say profound,” the First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party and President of the Republic of Cuba, Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, commented this Thursday to a group of residents of the Pastorita neighborhood.
Under a rain that had not yet worsened as it happened later, the dignitary who had previously asked the residents how they were, was referring to the partisan assembly of the municipality of Santiago de Cuba, of which he also highlighted the commitment of the militancy, and the awareness in it about “the things that we are experiencing in the current complexity”, and about everything that can be done to improve.
The president explained to the residents: “Now we wanted to take a tour of some places in the municipality and we came to the neighborhood because they know that we are closely following the work of the neighborhoods, to improve them.”
Regarding the place visited, the First Secretary said that the neighborhood of Pastorita (known as its emblematic architect, Pastorita Núñez González) has been one of the first to have received a transformative action: “Now I saw some images of you working,” he said to the settlers-; (…) and I think that is what we have to do: together, defending the concept of popular power that our Commander in Chief developed. In other words, you proposing, criticizing the things that have to be criticized, and proposing a solution”.
“Their representatives who are the delegates of the District Assembly, and the President of the Council, take (what is proposed) to the Municipal Assembly. With the resources that exist, within the priorities that you approved, what can be covered is approved; he comes to the neighborhood; and you participating, and also controlling so that everything that is done looks good”.
“So, the Cuban President emphasized, that way we are going to be tearing a little bit out of the problems every day, and with a tightened blockade we are going to move forward.” What is important, reasoned the Head of State, is that “in everything we advance” nothing “turns us back”, that “never again in any of our neighborhoods, and in this Pastorita neighborhood, which is such a beautiful neighborhood , so historic, the number of problems we had accumulated, and for that we have to work systematically”.
“We cannot accommodate ourselves to complacency – emphasized the president-; As hard as times may seem, there will always be solutions, we can always get ahead. The people from Santiago, in addition, are energetic, combative”.
Santiago is Santiago, the crowd exclaimed; and the President accompanied them in the expression. “A hug to all, and much love for all,” said Díaz-Canel. And he did not say goodbye without first sharing another reflection: “With COVID we have lowered the cases, we have a lot of vaccination, I don’t think we have to go back to restrictive measures”, but what is vital is that everyone, he stated, drive responsibly.
“All that that scientists gave us, everything that the health system has worked on, puts us in a favorable situation to face the epidemic,” said Díaz-Canel Bermúdez; and asked to notice how the current peak of COVID-19 “has been very high and we have been able to keep it under control, but the vaccine alone does not solve everything. Therefore: vaccine with social responsibility, maintaining hygienic-sanitary measures. In agreement?”.
Upon leaving the meeting with the people, the President and those who accompanied him walked a section of the route through the capital municipality of the province under the impact of torrential rain. The waters did not last long, but they were so abundant that leaders, journalists and other participants in the visit arrived soaked at the “Tamara Bunke” Teaching Gynecobstetric Hospital.
In said center, which has been the scene of a capital repair that began in December 2020, and in which various entities have taken part, the Head of State visited several remodeled premises and from which important services will be provided to the population.
The final point of the day was one of the student residences of the Universidad de Oriente. “It’s a pleasure to be here,” said the president when he said goodbye to the place whose premises have also been renovated.
Due to the pleasant atmosphere that is perceived there, Díaz-Canel Bermúdez shared this reflection with those present: “We have to aspire little by little so that all the residences are like this. This is also how better educational work is done.” Said change for the better, he commented, means “giving responsibility to the boys in caring, in having rules of coexistence, in respecting the effort that was made. (…) This is the community of students, this is the neighborhood of the boys”.
There the dignitary exchanged with English Language students. It happened at one point in his tour of bedrooms and other spaces. Internet connectivity to optimize study days was one of the topics in which the President was interested, who was accompanied by the member of the Political Bureau and Secretary of Organization and Staff Policy, Roberto Morales Ojeda; the First Secretary of the Communist Party in the province, José Ramón Monteagudo Ruiz, as well as the Governor of the territory, Beatriz Johnson Urrutia.
It had symbolism that this afternoon session had begun with the “La espiguita” nursery school, located in the Pastorita neighborhood that shows new spirits: in that educational center – where human beings begin the path of their formation and growth, where care is taken and cradles the future-, where a restoration has been carried out in tune with the numerous changes experienced in the surroundings, President Díaz-Canel shared a certainty that encourages and sheds light on a method: “Let people see that by participating we can build socialism from the neighborhood”.
