The First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba (CC-PCC) and President of the Republic Miguel Díaz-Canel said Sunday that the challenge for those working in the recovery of communities affected by Hurricane Ian is to leave them better than they were.

Havana, October 9 (RHC)-- The First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba (CC-PCC) and President of the Republic Miguel Díaz-Canel said Sunday that the challenge for those working in the recovery of communities affected by Hurricane Ian is to leave them better than they were.

After participating in a day of volunteer work dedicated to Comandante Ernesto Che Guevara (1928-1967) on the 55th anniversary of his assassination in Bolivia, the dignitary exchanged with residents of the Juan de Dios Fraga neighborhood, one of the affected areas in the municipality of La Lisa, in western Havana.

Diaz-Canel described as a feat the efforts of the linemen and workers of the Electricity Company to restore service as soon as possible in the capital's neighborhoods and, once that task was completed, they marched to provide support to other territories hit by the cyclonic organism.

"The eyes of all Cuba are right now fixed on Pinar del Río where an intense battle is being fought and the necessary decisions are being taken to compensate for the losses caused by Ian, and to provide support to the families who lost their homes and belongings," he stressed.

Addressing the scientists living in the area, the head of state thanked them for the battle for life during the development of the Cuban vaccines against COVID-19, which allowed the country to face the onslaught of the pandemic, accidents such as those that occurred at the Saratoga Hotel and at the Supertanker Base in Matanzas, and the hurricane, in a more favorable scenario.

He also highlighted the presence of Cubans of different ages and origins, which shows the validity of Che's revolutionary thought and example, and that the socialist project of the largest of the Antilles is committed to continue the construction of the new man dreamed by the Heroic Guerrilla.

The meeting was also attended by the member of the Political Bureau of the CC-PCC, Ulises Guilarte de Nacimiento, general secretary of the Central de Trabajadores de Cuba; Aylín Álvarez García, first secretary of the Union of Young Communists; Luis Antonio Torres Iríbar, first secretary of the party organization in Havana, and other leaders and local authorities.