“If we do not work with promptness, quality and competitive prices, we are not going to recover the market; clients exist, but we have to go out and look for them,” said Yanosick Guilarte Fernández, general director of the Metal Mecánica Varona Company, to the First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party and President of the Republic, Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez.
The key to moving forward, as they have done, lies in these ideas, even in the midst of such complex times. Productions should not stop because, as they have learned there, initiative and proactivity are principles that should guide the actions of Cuban entrepreneurs.
In this important industry of Havana, located in the capital municipality of San Miguel del Padrón, the head of state began his tour of the province on Wednesday. He visited several companies that have found new ways to insert themselves in production despite economic constraints.
At Varona, created for the purpose of casting, forging and shaping equipment and complete plants, Díaz-Canel was updated on the measures they have adopted to recover productive capacities and retain the labor force.
Guilarte Fernández assured the President that maintaining production in the midst of such complex times has required a constant search for alternatives, mainly aimed at collecting foreign currency and satisfying the demands of the territories.
Unable at this time to reach the production levels of a few years ago, Varona has resized its social purpose and undertaken secondary productions such as the construction of playgrounds, as well as responding to requests from non-state management and from several health institutions that require the repair of their facilities.
The Cuban President, accompanied by the member of the Political Bureau and Secretary of Organization, Roberto Morales Ojeda, and the top authorities of the capital, arrived at the Luis Melián Hernández Base Business Unit of the Envametal Company. Envametal manufactures both metallic and plastic containers to preserve various products in the country.
The chaining they have achieved with canning companies has allowed them to meet the demands of the Ministries of Agriculture and Food Industry, and of the Provincial Administration Councils, which has given them the possibility of placing their products on the national market.
The import of raw material for the annual production began in 2025, explained the director of the factory, Daimel Pérez González, who also commented on the start-up, at the beginning of February, of a new line to manufacture plastic containers of various formats, which has allowed to expand and diversify the destination of the products.
The Anillo del Puerto Milling Industry, located in the municipality of Regla, is one of the most modern plants in the country, and plays a key role in the supply of flour for the production of the standard family basket in Havana and other western provinces.
Also there, its workers have had to look for alternatives to face the deficit of raw materials, one of the main challenges faced by this company, which has been operating for 15 years under the mixed modality with Mexico. In addition, there is also the need to improve its technological capacity, for which an investment process is being undertaken to restore the productive capacity with which it was designed.
And as part of the exchanges with workers from different industries in Havana, the Head of State also visited the Refrigeration and Boilers Company, whose Alastor division, in the midst of a complex scenario, has found ways to maintain a productive line, in which they are leaders in the country.
The company, located in the municipality of Plaza de la Revolución, was founded in 1962 by Ernesto Che Guevara, and from the teamwork they have fostered with other institutions are able today to provide comprehensive services throughout the national territory, which have required, first of all, the strengthening of links with different universities.
The companies visited by the President of the Republic, even though they are not currently able to take advantage of all the potential they have in their infrastructures, are among those good experiences that show that, in order to move forward, the most important thing is not to stop along the way.
TO DEFEND THE SOCIAL CONQUESTS AT ALL TIMES
There may be many economic deficiencies in the country, but if there is one thing the Revolution has always defended, it is its precious social achievements, among which Public Health has an essential place.
By virtue of that principle, President Díaz-Canel arrived around noon this Wednesday at the “Lidia y Clodomira” polyclinic in the capital's Regla municipality. Several specialties operate there, it serves a population of more than 43 000 inhabitants, and among the achievements consolidated by his work team, it stands out to have at this time an infant mortality rate at zero per thousand live births.
That institution, seriously affected in 2018 by the passage of the tornado that hit Havana, has since undergone a process of recovery of its different areas, which has allowed guaranteeing the vitality of services.
And if we talk about recovery in the capital, it is impossible to ignore what has been done in the Rosa Luxemburgo kindergarten, in the municipality of Plaza de la Revolución, where, with the support of the Union of Military Industry, it was possible to “bring back to life” every corner of the institution, which months ago had serious construction problems and is now a beautiful educational center where 115 children run around, learn and grow.
In dialogue with the people, who were waiting in different places of the three municipalities visited, the First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party not only shared ideas associated with the importance and objectives of the tours he has been making throughout the country since last year, but also learned about criteria and experiences associated with the participation of the community in the transformation of the neighborhoods.
The Rocafort demarcation, in San Miguel del Padrón; La Pera Park, in Plaza de la Revolución, and the Emilio Rivero Merlín Cultural Promotion Center, in the Loma Modelo popular council, in Regla, were meeting points for reflection and emotions, because in the strength and sensitivity of its people, Cuba has an unmatched heroism.
