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href="https://www.counterpunch.org/2017/09/13/cuba-after-irma-a-call-to-our-combative-people/">https://www.counterpunch.org/2017/09/13/cuba-after-irma-a-call-to-our-combative-people/</a></font>
<h1 id="reader-title">Cuba After Irma: a Call to Our Combative
People</h1>
<div id="reader-credits" class="credits">by <span
class="post_author" itemprop="author"><a
href="https://www.counterpunch.org/author/raul-castro/"
rel="nofollow">Raul Castro</a> - September 13, 2017<br>
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<p>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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
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<p class="author_description"> <em><strong>Raul Castro Ruz</strong>
is the president of Cuba.</em> </p>
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