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The Militant (logo)
Vol. 81/No. 35 September 25, 2017
(lead article)
Capitalism makes storms social disaster for workers
Cuban Revolution mobilizes population to defend island
Left/Roberto Garaycoa, above AP/Mike Stewart
Above, stuck in traffic fleeing Hurricane Irma. Florida governor told
millions to evacuate, but they were left on their own. “Every man for
himself” and defense of big-business profits marks response of
capitalist governments. Left, electrical workers in Havana began repairs
immediately after storm. Revolutionary government in Cuba organized with
working people to ensure that “no one is left defenseless or on their own.”
BY SETH GALINSKY
Hurricane Irma battered Cuba for more than 72 hours, slowly moving along
the north coast, sending Category 5 winds, strong storm surges and
substantial rainfall, causing severe damage to agriculture, the
electrical grid, homes and factories. “We have one unmovable principle,”
said Cuban President Raúl Castro in a call to action to the Cuban
people. “The Revolution will not leave anyone defenseless and is already
taking measures so that no Cuban family is left on its own.”
This is the polar opposite of the attitude of government authorities in
the United States, epitomized by the pictures of tens of thousands stuck
in traffic from Miami to Atlanta… if you could get gas.
As it became clear Cuba could be in the path of Hurricane Irma, the
national and local Civil Defense sprung into action — working with the
trade unions, other mass organizations, government ministries and
directors of state-owned industries — to use all the resources of Cuba’s
revolution to minimize harm to human life.
Each of the island’s 16 provinces and every municipality has a local
defense committee. Civil Defense organizes drills and widely distributes
guides for rural and urban areas, detailing what every household and
workplace needs to do. The central leadership of the revolutionary
government at all levels is directly involved.
Everybody knows in advance what shelter they are assigned to if they
have to evacuate — or what friend, neighbor or relative plans to take
them in — what they need to have in an emergency pack, what route the
evacuation will take. Special measures are in place for the elderly,
disabled, ill and pregnant women.
All these plans kicked in for Hurricane Irma.
Brigades were organized to harvest as much as possible crops in
threatened areas to minimize losses and to have food available in
shelters. Juventud Rebelde reported that some 40 tons of seeds for use
in reconstruction efforts were identified and stored.
Livestock were moved to higher ground. Solar panels and parabolic dishes
were dismantled to avoid damage during the storm.
More than 1,600 line workers were sent to stay in the areas expected to
be hit hardest, so they would be in place to restore power. Teams of
doctors and nurses organized to be ready to attend to those who had to
evacuate. Hundreds of shelters around the country were double-checked to
make sure they had the necessary supplies, from lanterns, stoves and
radios to food and medicine.
Before the storm landed, more than a million people had been evacuated,
calmly, with dignity, 70 percent of them hosted in others’ homes.
“Because of its immense size, for all practical purposes no area was
free from the storm’s effects,” said President Castro. Agriculture was
especially hard hit. A large part of the banana crop was wiped out —
some 22,000 acres — as well as half of all vegetable crops. There were
heavy losses to cattle, hog and chicken farms.
“No material resource is worth more than the life of any individual,”
said Federico Hernández, president of the Granma province Defense
Council, Sept. 7. Ten people died during the three days the storm
battered the island. Unlike in the U.S. and the imperialist colonies in
the Caribbean, Cuba’s revolutionary government knew — and printed — the
names of each person who died, and the reason they weren’t able to survive.
‘Cuba will win battle to rebuild’
“No one should fool themselves,” Castro said. “The task we have in
front of us is immense, but with a people like ours we will win the most
important battle: the recovery.”
Cuba is also aiding other countries hard hit by the storm. Some 771
health care workers stationed in Antigua and Barbuda, San Cristóbal y
Nieves, Santa Lucía, Bahamas, Dominica and Haiti when the hurricane hit
hard continue to work.
Twelve Cuban volunteers, including linemen and an electrical engineer
arrived in St. John’s, Antigua, Sept. 10 to travel to Barbuda and repair
the electrical system wiped out in the storm there. Almost all the homes
on the island were damaged and everyone has been evacuated to Antigua
with the help of the Venezuelan government.
The Cuban people are demonstrating once again that they “share what they
have, not what’s left over.”
Related articles:
Social catastrophe in US, colonies in the Caribbean
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