By
Manuel E. Yepe

The
air of pride and dignity being breathed in Cuba in the days following
the onslaught of a succession of atmospheric phenomena that swept
through the Cuban archipelago in less than three weeks can only be
compared with the air breathed here after the revolutionary victory
at Bay of Pigs…

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By
Manuel E. Yepe                                                                Read Spanish Version

The
air of pride and dignity being breathed in Cuba in the days following
the onslaught of a succession of atmospheric phenomena that swept
through the Cuban archipelago in less than three weeks can only be
compared with the air breathed here after the revolutionary victory
at Bay of Pigs in 1961, or the collective ability to resist with
dignity the worst dangers, displayed by the Cuban people after the
Missile Crisis in October 1962.

From
late August to mid-September, four tropical storms, two of which rose
to the category of high-intensity hurricanes, provoked unprecedented
destruction and damage in the infrastructures of the nation’s 14
provinces and the special municipality of Isle of Youth.

It
is estimated that 50 percent of the crops were lost nationwide.

About
340,000 homes were damaged (of which 30,000 were razed) and many
schools, hospitals, clinics, factories, warehouses, tobacco-drying
barns and buildings for the raising of animals and other farm and
industrial purposes suffered considerable damage.

The
nickel industry, Cuba’s main export product, was paralyzed and will
have to await the repair of its installations and mines for several
days before resuming production.

The
tourism industry, in addition to being affected by the cancellation
of flights and hotel reservations, was seriously damaged, in terms of
its infrastructure and the natural, architectural and cultural
patrimony that girds its promotion.

Almost
4 million people were evacuated to protect their lives in less than a
month, with multimillion-dollar expenses in transportation, food,
medical attention and police custody of personal effects in the
evacuated areas, but the humanitarian effort produced the expected
results. Only 11 people were killed, almost all of them because of
negligence in the observance of the protective measures set up by a
Civil Defense Service whose excellence is recognized worldwide and is
the pride of all Cubans.

Cuba
takes pride in its efficient organization and broad participation in
the defensive tasks against catastrophes, especially because of the
priority given to the protection of human lives. This time, we
learned about true acts of heroism, individual and collective, some
of which were captured on film by journalists. Word of most of those
acts was spread by mouth and sometimes exaggerated by the people’s
admiration.

Wide
recognition has been given to the intense and extensive participation
of the armed forces and the police and firemen corps in rescue
actions where they placed their own lives in jeopardy.

A
singular demonstration of the level of inclusion of Cuban women in
managerial responsibilities is the fact that two of the regions worst
affected by the hurricanes have Defense Councils led by women who are
also top leaders of the Communist Party. They demonstrated great
managerial control and efficiency in the coordination of all the
urgencies and brilliantly kept the citizens informed of events, in
their territories and nationwide, through their appearances in the
media.

The
media performed in an outstanding manner when covering the tense
situation that lasted for several days in places isolated because of
the inclemency of the winds, the floods and the debris. The memory of
radio listeners, TV watchers and readers has recorded the names of a
large number of colleagues, many women among them, who did their job
with the self-denial demanded by that profession.

After
the storm, the acts of generosity and valor by electrical and
communications workers and construction workers of all specialties
did not cease but multiplied. It is up to them now, with the support
of all residents, to rebuild the communities, the homes and the
public buildings that were destroyed or damaged.

Amid
the panorama of destruction left behind by nature, Cuban men and
women are stimulated by the dignity with which the government of
their country has responded to the petulancy and arrogance with which
the Government of the United States has attempted to humiliate this
nation by imposing conditions to an aid that would therefore lack the
value of solidarity that, no doubt, is the real will of our noble
American neighbors.

Manuel
E. Yepe Menéndez is a lawyer, economist and journalist. He is
a professor at the Higher Institute of International Relations in
Havana. He was Cuba’s ambassador to Romania, general director of the
Prensa Latina agency; vice president of the Cuban Institute of Radio
and Television; founder and national director of the Technological
Information System (TIPS) of the United Nations Program for
Development in Cuba, and secretary of the Cuban Movement for the
Peace and Sovereignty of the Peoples.