CIEGO DE ÁVILA.–The municipality must stop being a passive link and become the protagonist of its own development, said the Prime Minister of the Republic, Manuel Marrero Cruz, when summarizing the extraordinary meeting of the Provincial Government Council held this Thursday in Avila territory.
The Cuban head of government was clear in defining that municipalities are the battleground for addressing the main problems currently afflicting the population.
That is where the population feels the transformations. That is why he called for rhetoric to be buried and action to be multiplied. "The surest thing in terms of sustainability," he said, "is what each municipality can contribute, from within, through collective effort." It is not a question of following "a line of wishes," but of drawing "a line of intense work there, where the productive forces are," he said.
Marrero Cruz warned that the complex situation we are experiencing today, as a result of the intensification of the blockade and the increasingly hostile policy of the United States government, does not allow for half measures. Both factors have imposed a harsh reality: "practically a war economy." And a war economy, he said, requires profound transformations, a radical change in mentality.
"We act as if everything were normal," he said, pointing to a contradiction that needs to be resolved urgently.
In this context, the Prime Minister's analysis focused particularly on the potential of Ciego de Ávila.
In a candid exchange, he highlighted the strategic role of this province in food production. With almost 35,000 hectares dedicated to root crops, vegetables, grains, and fruit trees in the agricultural sector alone, its lands are a bastion for the food security of the people of Avila and the inhabitants of other territories.
In this regard, the intervention of the Minister of Agriculture, Ydael Pérez Brito, highlighted the strategic significance of the province in the battle for national food security.
He stressed that its geographical position, almost in the center of the country, constitutes a key logistical advantage for food distribution. However, he emphasized that its true value in the sector lies in the tangible combination of land availability and the capacity of its workers.
The minister emphasized that the nearly 35,000 hectares of various crops are a setting where the in-depth knowledge and efforts of farmers who have mastered the craft of production are applied. This convergence of factors—location, land resources, and human capital—makes Ciego de Ávila an essential pillar, with the premise that endogenous development is the surest basis for the country's sustainability.
For Cuba, it was stated, 2026 is shaping up to be a year of definitions. It will be difficult, the Prime Minister acknowledged, but it will be, above all, the year of "strengthening the application of regulations and policies" to, once and for all, untie the ropes that hold back the territories. "If you want to move forward," he said, "you have to do things differently and not be afraid of change."
The tone of rigor and self-criticism was taken up by the governor, Alfre Menéndez Pérez, in his report. Far from complacency, he focused his analysis on what remains to be done: the urgent need to diversify and increase exports, the search for new markets, the reduction of fines in arrears and the budget deficit.
Among the priorities is also the supply of water to the population, with a special focus on the communities facing the most complex situations: Punta Alegre, Tamarindo, Florencia, and the provincial capital.
The intervention of Ana María Mari Machado, vice president of the National Assembly of People's Power, brought a fundamental legal and institutional dimension to the debate on dissatisfaction. From her perspective, the intensification of municipal processes requires not only political will, but also an agile and facilitating regulatory framework that responds to the urgent needs of the territories.
She emphasized the role of local governments in implementing national laws and policies, highlighting that the effectiveness of management is measured precisely by the ability to translate that legal framework into concrete solutions that the population can feel.
The potential is the extra that the country needs
If the economic plan conceived by the people of Sancti Spíritus were based on the unquestionable exploitation of all the territory's potential, the Governing Council—chaired by Manuel Marrero Cruz—might have been not only shorter but also less profound in its considerations and prospects for continuing to face adversity and shortages.
Marrero Cruz's initial observation about whether the growth proposed by the province in various activities or indicators is above the aforementioned plan or only in relation to the year 2025 immediately led to reflection on such reservations.
This made it clear that, indeed, growth compared to the previous stage does not always measure what can potentially be achieved.
He therefore urged that the plan, which remains open, continue to be enriched in order to achieve better results for the national economy and to meet the basic needs of families.
Evidence of this feasibility came in the form of examples such as fishing, which, while not yielding to hostile conditions, can achieve more with greater integration of actors and more objective contracting.
Despite the drought, the rice program is not giving up, and the 11,000 hectares that will be planted by the hub located in La Sierpe will be joined by another 6,200 through popular efforts in other municipalities.
It became clear, in short, that not all productive possibilities are yet being exploited to generate foreign exchange earnings or export items ranging from charcoal, fruit, vegetables, briquettes, and medicinal plants to the feasibility of placing onions on the international market.
The same approach distinguished the assessments regarding the use of animal traction, windmills, biodigesters, and other alternatives that proved useful decades ago and are timely in the current context in favor of changing the energy matrix and food production.
Cases such as that of the meat company or the municipality of Fomento indicate that it is not a pipe dream to aim higher. Years ago, they had to seek production elsewhere, and today they contribute to other territories.
COMPASS FOR ACTION
There was marked interest in the analysis of the Government Program to correct distortions and boost the economy, described by Marrero as a compass to guide and direct the work going forward.
In this regard, I would agree with the point of view expressed by Ana María Mari Machado regarding the impact of objectives such as those related to food production and the need to strengthen care for vulnerable individuals and families.
Progress in this area should not be an impediment for a territory that can do much more to continue incorporating surplus municipalities (it has three, and the total reduces the deficit), an effort considered strategic by the Party's top leadership and the Government itself.
NOW, FULL SPEED AHEAD FOR THE MUNICIPALITIES
Now we are going to the municipalities," explained Marrero Cruz, referring to similar meetings that should contribute even more because that is "where the potential lies and where the main concerns of the population are concentrated."
He then called for making the most of the annual balance sheets, from the grassroots to the ministries, putting all capacity and intelligence to work for a year of deeper and more solid transformations, not fearing change, identifying the objective and subjective obstacles that slow down both the state and non-state spheres, and "not using the imperial blockade as an excuse for matters that are our responsibility."
After weighing the stability of the province in the maternal and child program, he affirmed that the surest way to provide for households is for the country to be able to produce locally, without downplaying the importance of foreign investment alternatives at the provincial and municipal levels.
Finally, he recalled the lesson that Fidel's historic determination leaves us in the current circumstances when, on the eve of the Granma landing, he assured: "If I leave, I will arrive; if I arrive, I will enter; and if I enter, I will triumph."
