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PINAR DEL RIO, April 11 (Víctor Rolando Arroyo, UPECI /
www.cubanet.org) Vicente Ortega Serra, an independent [not affiliated with a
government cooperative] cattle breeder in Sandino municipality, Pinar del Río
province, is under pressure from government officials to sell his cattle to the
State.
"They want to pay him 142.80 pesos for each head, which is equivalent
to 5.29 dollars at the official exchange rate," said Horacio Piña, a
local human rights activist.
It seems Ortega's success in breeding is what attracted officials'
attention.
"Ortega managed to build his herd to 420 head, through his own efforts,"
said Piña. Now officials say his land is not enough for that many head to
feed.
"Yet," said Piña, "around Ortega's land, there are
hundreds of hectares of fallow land that belong to the government tobacco
monopoly, but officials will not allow Ortega to turn his cattle loose on it. On
the contrary, they are pressuring him to sell, threatening to confiscate the
herd if he won't sell."
A few months back, Ortega was under pressure to sell, but the sale didn't go
through because at the last minute officials said they didn't have the money.
Now they are demanding again he sell.
In the meantime, Ortega and the other area breeders face another problem.
The trucks that are supposed to come around every day to pick up the milk don't
always show up, and the day's production is spoiled. "Nobody assumes that
loss, in the same way nobody guarantees that lab tests to classify the milk are
performed in a timely fashion; results sometimes take days," explained Piña.
Residents say Ortega has been helping old people and children in the region
by donating milk to them.
Versión
original en español
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