Las Tunas, Cuba.- "Las Tunas people have thought and worked collectively, for the sake of the country; they have worked differently, realizing that the times are different," he said after meeting with the main authorities of the Cuban Communist Party (PCC) and the Government here, as part of the national tour to evaluate the application of the measures against the tightening of the U.S. blockade.

The first vice president Salvador Valdés Mesa; Vice Minister of the Council of Ministers, Commander of the Revolution Ramiro Valdés Menéndez; and the ministers of Economy and Planning, Alejandro Gil, and of Transportation, Eduardo Rodríguez Dávila, accompanied him at the meeting.

With the attendance of Manuel Pérez Gallego, first secretary of the PCC in Las Tunas, Jaime Chiang Vega, president of the Provincial Assembly of the People's Power, and executives of the companies and state institutions in the territory, Díaz-Canel heard a summary of the local strategy to face the decrease in fuel supply. These actions have allowed not to stop the provision of the most peremptory services, such as health, education, as well as the transfer of food and water supply; despite the reduction of its energy consumption by 14 percent.

The Cuban President praised the "coherent, comprehensive, creative and decisive" way that Las Tunas has taken to carry out the provisions. He also highlighted the community work and the push of students to save electricity.

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"We can assure that there is no scarcity, that several decisions have been made so that there is not," he confirmed. The President pointed out that it will continue to be a priority to prevent the rise in prices, hoarding and speculation.

It is important, he stressed, "to work under the concept of minimizing effects and protecting our people." Not forgetting the most remote and therefore vulnerable areas, which he called to attend differently. It is necessary, he added, to support the working groups of the Offices for attention to the population and the web portals of the State and Government institutions, for their key role in bringing up the complaints or suggestions of the population.

Given the reduction in levels of productive activity, he encouraged that the path could not be the interruption, but the change of labor. "There are many things to do and the workforce that we are not using on one task, we can link it with another," he said.

Díaz-Canel further stressed that the extreme situation we are experiencing is caused by the escalation in the Trump administration's siege of our economy, in particular, fuel supply; as a result of the failure in the attempts to destroy the Bolivarian Revolution.

Referring to the reserves that in terms of saving and efficient use of energy carriers have been discovered these days, he asked: "Why do we have to maintain the same levels of energy consumption during peak hours, if the implementation of organizational measures has demonstrated that it is possible to flatten that demand by running the schedules? Why can't we continue to apply remote work, which is included in the Labor Code? "

Something similar must happen, he said, with other initiatives, such as the creation of collective reservoirs in places where the water supply is carried out with tanker trucks, the use of animal traction in agriculture and the collection of solid waste, the use of larger vehicles for public transport during peak hours or the enhancement of the railroad in the transfer of passengers and cargo.

Another lesson that the Island can learn from the complexity of the current situation, he said, is to strengthen ties between different sectors of the economy. He exemplified that many of the steps taken now in transport assurance can be "the way of conceiving the non-state sector of the economy as a complement to the state, and maintaining an adequate relationship."

The president finally expressed his confidence that a more united and stronger country will emerge from these adverse moments. "We are convinced that to the same extent that we overcome this stage, that all of us contribute the most, we will be better citizens, better leaders and better public servants to our nation," he stressed.

And he concluded by saying: "We are not going to get bitter or stop or lose sleep. Our people will continue to be cheerful, hard-working, happy, creative and even joker. We will continue demonstrating our will of not giving up."

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