President Díaz-Canel personally verifies the progress of the work. On each visit, he listens to the residents' opinions.

By María Josefina Arce

Attention to the communities considered vulnerable constituted an important part of the work carried out during 2021 by Cuban authorities, because as stated by Cuban President Miguel Díaz Canel: "The Revolution also begins in the neighborhood."

And with this premise as a guide, transforming actions were developed throughout the year in different neighborhoods of Havana, which have been extended to the rest of the national territory to improve the living conditions of its inhabitants.

With the support of ministries, local entities and mass organizations such as the Federation of Cuban Women and the Committees for the Defense of the Revolution, the recovery of recreational areas, housing and the rehabilitation of hydraulic and road networks were carried out.

The contribution of each citizen has been essential in the transformation of his or her neighborhood, where he or she spends a good part of his or her life and, therefore, knows the existing problems. In fact, the Cuban president emphasized that creative solutions have been found to a group of problems in 67 areas of the capital, thanks to the joint work of the authorities and the people.

This union has made it possible to carry out more than 9,500 constructive actions and almost 31,000 social actions in these areas.

Great has been the effort deployed, given the limitations imposed by the reinforcement of the U.S. blockade and the resources that have had to be allocated to face COVID 19. Thus, in 22 of these communities all the planned actions have been completed, although the work will not stop because there is always room for improvement.

But this intense work has gone beyond that. The transformations have not only been material, but also training courses and the incorporation to study and work of those young people who were not involved in any of these tasks for different reasons.

Attention to the elderly, people with disabilities and mothers with three or more children under 17 years of age has also been reinforced.

In this path to improve the standard of living of citizens, Diaz Canel has called for making better use of existing community projects and the accumulated experience that has done so much good to the residents of various places.

Students have had an outstanding participation not only in these initiatives, but also in the support in each neighborhood to face the disease caused by the new coronavirus. The desire of the new generations to help was decisive in the investigations and in the assistance to vulnerable people to protect them from possible contagion.

The active involvement of the organs of the People's Power at different levels has also been counted on. District delegates and deputies have been present at the works being carried out.

This process aimed at improving the well-being of Cubans will continue in 2022, when new actions are planned to revitalize neighborhoods in Havana and throughout the country.