Cuban Vice President Salvador Valdes Mesa visits Pinar del Rio. Photo: PL

Havana January 21 (RHC) Cuban Vice President Salvador Valdés urged in Pinar del Rio to efficiently and effectively materialize local development in the territory.

The member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of Cuba toured several municipalities in the region and also assessed the progress of recovery after the passage of Hurricane Ian on September 27.

At each site, he learned about the local development strategies based on the autonomy granted by the Constitution of the Republic to those regions and the reconstruction of housing since the hydrometeorological event hit the housing fund of Pinar del Río, which reported damages in more than 100 thousand properties.

It is a matter of looking for specific solutions that allow progress to be made, the Cuban vice president pointed out.

The work agenda devoted space to agricultural production whose growth is essential for the country's aspiration to achieve food sovereignty.

To that end, poultry farming in the territory promotes the breeding of quails, and highly demanded their meat and eggs, both in the state and private sectors. Alexis Rivero, a former pig farmer in the northern municipality of La Palma and owner of a large number of these birds that are already bearing fruit, is also involved in this effort.

These are the examples that we must multiply, said Salvador Valdés after talking with the producer who supports this project in the family.

We have the land, the skilled labor force, and the experience inherited or acquired from the producers and the country needs an urgent response because we cannot depend on exports to achieve food sovereignty, he said.

Every year, the country expends large amounts of money to acquire powdered milk and other foodstuffs for the population.

We have the potential to produce enough vegetables, grains, and fruits and to guarantee their presence both in winter and summer, to respond to the demands of tourism, and to create the conditions for exports, he pointed out.

The process of updating the Cuban economic and social model demands the promotion of territorial development based on the country's strategy, reads the argumentation of Decree No.33/2021 issued by the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Cuba.

The legal body indicates that the integration of the economic, social, cultural, environmental, and political components are decisive to "mobilize local potentialities to raise the quality of life of the population living in the territory, contributing to its development and that of the country". (Source: PL)