Cuba announces shakeup of troubled farm sector

Cuba announces shakeup of troubled farm sector
Posted on Thu, May. 01, 2008
Associated Press

HAVANA --
Cuba announced a major shake-up of its troubled farm sector on May Day,
shifting control of the island's farms from officials at the Agriculture
Ministry to more than 150 local delegations.

The move is part of a potentially monumental effort to increase food
production and reduce Cuba's dependence on imports. It came as hundreds
of thousands of Cubans marched Thursday in a shorter May Day parade that
reflected the businesslike style of new President Raul Castro.

The Communist Party newspaper Granma said 169 new delegations would take
over control of the farm sector, and the government is considering
slashing 104 unnecessary departments.

Granma said relying on local farm leaders to make more decisions will
îîstimulate agricultural production, perfect its sale and increase the
availability of food and, in this way, substitute imports.''

Salvador Valdes Mesa, head of the nearly 3 million-strong Cuban Workers
Confederation, used his brief International Workers Day speech to urge
government employees to work harder and increase efficiency.

"It is fundamental to concentrate efforts on increasing production and
productivity, above all of food,'' he said.

Raul Castro, who succeeded his brother Fidel as president in February,
did not speak during the festivities, but smiled and waved from a podium
as marchers danced, sang and screamed "Long Live Fidel! Long Live
Raul!'' while streaming past him in Havana's Revolution Plaza.

The whole event was over in under two hours … less time than Fidel used
just for his speech at the last May Day event he attended in 2006.

For decades, May Day featured lengthy speeches, as well as music and
even skits. But Raul, who has spent most of his life running Cuba's
military, has a reputation for pragmatism and calculated efficiency.

Still, 57-year-old Rolando Gonzalez, who marched with government tourism
workers, said the two brothers aren't as different as many think.

"Raul's style is the same as Fidel's. With him we are on the same road
as always,'' he said. "But Raul does talk more about hard work,
producing more and that's important.''

The 81-year-old Fidel Castro has not been seen in public since emergency
intestinal surgery in July 2006. But he was still the star of Thursday's
parade, which began with a row of marchers carrying a huge sign reading
îîRevolution is Fidel.'' Several minutes went by before a picture of
Raul came into view.

The new government has already erased bans on ordinary Cubans obtaining
cell phones and renting luxury hotel rooms, as well as made it easier
for state workers to own homes they once rented as part of their jobs.
It also is letting more private farmers and cooperatives take a crack at
putting fallow government land to better use.

The government hopes granting small farmers and local leaders more
autonomy could revitalize the sector. Officials estimate that 51 percent
of arable land in Cuba was underused or fallow because of government
mismanagement.

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/cuba/story/516850.html