HAVANA, August 10 (Migdalia Rosado, Tamarindo 34 Derechos Humanos) – More plant closings are being reported from Cuba. In all cases, the authorities specify "lack of oil" as the reason.
Most recently, the plants "Emiliano Zapata," Florestal, and CubaTabaco, in Cuba’s westernmost province of Pinar del Río, were reduced to skeleton crews. All other workers were sent home. The closed plants were the biggest employers in the region.
Pinar del Río was one of the sites chosen to celebrate the anniversary of the revolution last July 26. One of the employees sent home said: "For the political events of the 26th of July, there was plenty of fuel, free transportation and all the necessary resources for the speeches;
but to prevent the unemployment of so many heads of families, the government couldn’t find a solution."
Pinar del Río is not the only province affected by the cuts. In the city of Havana, Planta Habana (formerly the Swift meat-packing plant) was closed.
More than 200 workers were left unemployed. The director of the plant said that "repairs would have cost more than 3 million dollars and the money was just not in the budget."
Statistics related to the economy have become here secrets of State, but the authorities continue closing plants. Yet, recently, Carlos Lage, executive secretary of the Council of Ministers, said that the gross domestic product had grown 7.7% for the first semester of the year.
Versión original en español
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