Fidel backs Correa

Cuban
Radar                                                                             Read Spanish Version  

Fidel
backs Correa

A
Service by the Radio Progreso Alternativa Havana Bureau

When
dealing with the violation of Ecuador’s sovereignty on the part of
Colombian armed forces, Fidel Castro assured that Cuba is not "an
enemy of Colombia," but that "to remain silent would make
us guilty of complicity."

Castro’s
declarations are included in an article published by Cuban media (for
full text of Fidel’s reflection go to the Neighbors from the South
Section in today’s Progreso) on Tuesday, February 4, that deals
with the raid by Colombian troops on Ecuadorean territory which
attacked a guerrilla unit of the FARC (Revolutionary Armed Forces of
Colombia).

According
to the historical leader of the Cuban process, who writes his
articles under the heading "Reflections by Comrade Fidel",
"Concrete accusations against that group of human beings (FARC
guerrillas) do not justify the action.” 

Fidel
wrote that the attack was with "Yankee bombs guided by Yankee
satellites," and categorically assured that "No one has the
right to kill in cold blood. If we accept that imperial method of war
and savagery, Yankee bombs could fall on any group of Latin American
men and women, in the territory of any country, whether there is a
state of war or not. Correa has the few survivors and the rest of the
bodies in his hands. The remaining missing two are proof that
Ecuador’s territory was occupied by troops that crossed the border.
He can now exclaim like Emile Zola: I accuse!" concluded Fidel
Castro.

High
productivity at
Camilo
Cienfuegos refinery

The
Camilo Cienfuegos refinery, inaugurated last December, has already
produced over two million barrels of gasoline which will be marketed
after March 15. The plant has already distributed diesel, liquefied
gas and naphtha. 

Located
in the city of Cienfuegos in Cuba’s Central South, the refinery was
inaugurated by presidents Raúl Castro and Hugo Chávez
in December 2007, a joint venture in the framework of the Bolivarian
Alliance for the Americas (ALBA).

A
report by Cuban Prensa Latina news agency said that projects for the
second stage of expansion will begin this month. The stage will be
finished by 2013 and will increase production to 150,000 barrels a
day.

Machado
Ventura: "Changes within socialism"

According
to Granma
(March
3, 2008), during his speech at a meeting of the Cuban Communist Party
(PCC) in El Cerro Municipality, a neighborhood of City of Havana,
First Vice President José Ramón Machado Ventura said
that "all changes that we must accomplish under a Socialist
framework. And it’s precisely the Party, the workers and the people
in general who must lead that battle."

Vice
President Machado said that work and bravery should be paramount for
addressing problems. "The Party must be at the vanguard, must
take firm steps and detect and accept difficulties so that solutions
can be found."

Critiques
and congratulations

Vice
President Carlos Lage toured several important industries in the
province of Granma, in the Eastern region of Cuba.   

A
building materials plant was one of the centers visited by Lage, who
is also a member of the Party’s Politburo. According to the news
media, he asked about forms of payment and bonuses to workers who
manufacture floor tiles for housing and social centers.

The
province’s building materials’ industry, one of the best in the
country, produces building blocks, sand, gravel and floor tiles.

Criticism
was thrust upon the water mains in the city of Manzanillo, whose
aqueduct "has not worked well. It has been deficient,"
causing a lack of water in the city, at times for days. Lage said
that "two important decisions have been made: an evaluation of
what must be done to meet the initial goal and to seriously discuss
the mistakes made in order to take the appropriate steps."

Festival
closes with cigar auction

The
classic auction of several humidors in the recently closed Havana
Cigar Festival in early March brought in 945,000 Euros (almost 1.5
million dollars) that were donated to the Cuban public health system.

Each
humidor contains from 400 to 700 Premium handmade Havana cigars.

The
award for the country’s best tobacco grower this year went to Héctor
Luis Prieto, from the province of Pinar del Río.

Water
supply targeted

The
official Granma
daily
on Wednesday, March 5, published an article on the measures taken in
two provinces to improve the availability of water.

Havana
province, with 19 municipalities, "is a complicated case due not
only to the deterioration of water mains and equipment, but also
because many institutions are involved in water distribution."

In
the province there are over 200 pumping stations not part of the
National Institute of Hydraulic Resources (INRH), but belonging to
ministries such as Sugar, Education and Agriculture. Now they will be
handed over to the INRH.

Water
mains are being repaired to avoid losses and old pumps will be
substituted for other more efficient and energy saving equipment.