Cuba gets ready for Gustav
Cuban
Radar Read Spanish Version
Cuba
gets ready for Gustav
A
Service by the Radio Progreso Alternativa Havana Bureau
Although,
at this moment, Gustav is no longer a hurricane and has been degraded
to a tropical storm, the Cuban eastern provinces have taken the
necessary measures to face its force.
At
our deadline, Wednesday, August 27, Gustav, located some 25 km
South-Southwest of the province of Guantánamo, had winds of 95
km/h and is moving at 7 km an hour. Its downgrading has been
attributed to the path taken over the mountainous areas of the island
of Hispaniola (Dominican Republic and Haiti).
The
eastern province of Granma reported that it had relocated 4,700
people in shelters prepared for such emergencies, as well as in the
homes of relatives and friends.
The
strategy in this and the rest of the provinces is to evacuate all
those residing in high risk areas, such as all coastal areas and
mountainous zones.
According
to José Rubiera, head of the Cuban Institute of Meteorology’s
Forecast Center, Gustav should become a hurricane again in the next
few hours due to two factors: its transit over warmer waters (310
to
320
C) and the existence of favorable conditions in the higher
atmosphere.
Dominican
media have reported that up to the moment there have been 8 deaths.
(More
information about Gustav may be found in Ramy’s Blog’s blog in
Spanish version, Progreso
Semanal.)
School’s
opening
On
September 1, the new school term will begin in Cuba. According to
official sources, more than 2.5 million students have enrolled.
In
its Tuesday, August 26, edition, Granma
daily
reported declarations by Minister of Education Elsa Vázquez,
who claimed that "in this academic year there will be 235,943
teachers, of which over 32,000 are still studying. As to the response
from retired teachers who have been called back to school, she said
that 4,948 will return to the classrooms, mostly at elementary and
junior high school levels."
The
quality of education has been severely criticized by the public and
has been the subject of discussion in the National Assembly (Cuban
parliament). The main criticisms have been aimed at the so called
Emerging Teachers, young students who are training to teach, but are
still not qualified.
Earlier
in July, Cuban President Raúl Castro called on retired
educators to go back to the classroom. Those who accept will still
receive their full pensions as well as the appropriate salary for
their work.
Fidel
and the Olympics
Former
president Fidel Castro has published two "Reflections"
after the Beijing Olympic Games. In the first one he calls for a
discussion of the Cuban sport system, as he writes, "every
discipline, every human and material resource," as well as how
"to apply new ideas, concepts and knowledge."
He
also lashed out against the commercialism of these events, as well as
corruption, an issue where he referred to boxing and taekwondo. In
the latter, there was an incident where Cuban athlete Ángel
Valodia Matos, who was ahead 3-2 during his match, and asked for a
time out so as to be looked at by the doctor. When he returned to
combat, the referee disqualified him without any explanation. Matos
protested and got a "rude answer," according to the Spanish
daily El
País.
The athlete then proceeded to kick the referee.
Fidel
expressed solidarity with Matos and also with his trainer. The
following day he published a second "Reflection" focused on
comments made by foreign media in reference to his article. He titled
it "what those media did not say about Cuba."
On
Monday, Cuban media reported the return home of the last group of
Cuban athletes who participated in the Olympics. At the airport they
were welcomed by President Raúl Castro.
(For
more details on the incident and the Olympics, go to Manuel A. Ramy’s
blog in our Spanish version, Progreso
Semanal.)
A
shortage of construction workers
In
its August 25 edition, Granma
published
an article on the problems of the construction sector, subjected to
harsh criticism by the population and by the Cuban parliament in its
last two sessions.
"A
basic cause? A shortage of construction workers," asks and then
answers the newspaper. But when it prints the opinions of old workers
and officials at construction companies, it shows not only the
neglect of trade schools, but also other factors that influence the
critical situation.
For
Eliaquín Hernández Monje, a founder of the Julio
Antonio Mella Contingent, "it’s about dealing with ‘many little
things’: material resources for investments, tools and means of
protection in the hands of the workers, better food and conditions at
camps, salaries linked to results, the example of officials and
organization at the work site, because perhaps there is nothing more
negative than losing time and quality due to disorganization."
Norberto
Pérez, director of Entrepreneurial Group for Constructions
(GEOCONS) in Havana, "recognizes that among adverse factors are
the incorrect use of salary systems due to superficiality, and the
bad distribution of work and salary adjustment because of lack of
trained officials.” However, he said that “pay should be raised
for construction workers on the Ministry’s payroll, for in other
sectors salaries are better for the same work.”
Pablo
at the Anti-imperialist Auditorium
Famous
Cuban singer/songwriter Pablo Milanés will perform next
Thursday at the Anti-imperialist Auditorium, located in front of the
U.S. Interests Section in Havana. In a concert dedicated to Cuba’s
youth, Pablo will share the stage with Puerto Rican Andy Montañés,
as well as with Cubans Omara Portuondo, Santiago Feliú, Polito
Ibáñez and others.
