[News] Cuba After Irma: a Call to Our Combative People

[Anti-Imperialist News]

https://www.counterpunch.org/2017/09/13/cuba-after-irma-a-call-to-our-combative-people/ 



  Cuba After Irma: a Call to Our Combative People

by Raul Castro <https://www.counterpunch.org/author/raul-castro/> - 
September 13, 2017
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Hurricane Irma, with its destructive power, battered our island for 72 
hours, beginning the morning of September 8 until this Sunday afternoon. 
With winds that surpassed 250 kilometers per hour on occasion, it 
crossed the north of the country from Baracoa – hit hard by another 
phenomenon of this type almost a year ago – to the outskirts of 
Cárdenas. However, given its immense size, practically no province was 
spared its effects.

Described by experts as the largest ever to form in the Atlantic, this 
meteorological phenomenon caused severe damage to the country, which, 
precisely because of its scope, has yet to be quantified. A preliminary 
view shows evidence of an impact on housing, the electrical system, and 
agriculture.

It also struck some of our principal tourist destinations, but damage 
will be repaired before the beginning of the high season. We have on 
hand for this the human resources and materials needed, given that this 
constitutes one of the principal sources of income in the national economy.

These have been difficult days for our people, who, in a few hours time, 
have seen what was constructed with great effort hit by a devastating 
hurricane. Images from the last few hours speak for themselves, as does 
the spirit of resistance and victory of our people that is regenerated 
with every adversity.

In these difficult circumstances, the unity of Cubans has prevailed, the 
solidarity among neighbors, discipline in response to instructions 
issued by the National Civil Defense General Staff and Defense Councils 
at all levels, the professionalism of specialists at the Institute of 
Meteorology, the immediacy of our communications media and its 
journalists, the support of mass organizations, as well as the cohesion 
of National Defense Council leadership bodies. Special mention for all 
of our women, including leaders of the Party and government, who with 
aplomb and maturity provided leadership and confronted the difficult 
situation.

The days that are coming will be ones of much work, during which the 
strength and indestructible confidence in the Revolution of Cubans will 
again be demonstrated. This is not a time to mourn, but to construct 
again that which the winds of Irma attempted to destroy.

With organization, discipline, and the coordination of all our 
structures, we will move forward as we have done on previous occasions. 
No one should be fooled; the task we have before us is huge, but with a 
people like ours, we will win the most important battle: recovery.

At this critical moment, the Cuban Workers’ Federation and the National 
Association of Small Farmers, along with all other mass organizations, 
must redouble efforts to eliminate as quickly as possible the trail left 
by this destructive event.

One principle remains immovable: the Revolution will leave no one 
unprotected and measures are already being adopted to ensure that no 
Cuban family is left to their fate.

As has been customary every time a meteorological phenomenon has struck 
us, there have been many expressions of solidarity received from all 
parts of the world. Heads of state and government, political 
organizations, and friends in solidarity organizations have expressed 
the desire to help us, who we thank in the name of more than eleven 
million Cuban men and women.

We face the recovery with the example of Comandante en Jefe de la 
Revolución Cubana, Fidel Castro Ruz, who, with his unwavering confidence 
in victory and iron will, taught us that nothing is impossible. In these 
difficult hours, his legacy makes us strong and unites us.

/*Raul Castro Ruz* is the president of Cuba./

-- 
Freedom Archives 522 Valencia Street San Francisco, CA 94110 415 
863.9977 www.freedomarchives.org
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