Tomás Alexis Martín Venegas, governor of Ciego de Ávila, returned to work after a hard convalescence. His face was contorted; he had lost 33 pounds of weight.
"They told me ʹstart softʹ, but that first day I worked 14 hours." He comments on it now, quite recovered (although some processions will go inside), while we talk in his office, rushed by a halt of barely an hour in the day. The closing of a particularly difficult year, on a professional and personal level, motivates dialogue.
A preview of the socio-economic results of the territory had already been given on the 1st. December, when he was held accountable for his management. It was the first time that this democratic exercise had taken place and, even so, Martín Venegas did not allow himself to condescension. "With the new normal, purposes are defined that require a high level of commitment, objectivity and capacity to guide the economic-social development of the province," he concluded at that time.
During his tenure, Ciego de Ávila has had to face severe tests: a raging COVID-19 pandemic, harvests that have not achieved their objectives, companies with poor performance, tourism in decline and a shortage and inflation that lacerate pockets and spirits. In this circumstance it could be said, like Martí, that "duty is so strong that it seems like a scourge."
—Of the year that ends, what results would you put on the table for discussion? Where to look in 2022?
—We are working with estimates, because the year has not yet closed. To date, the province's plan is just over 11 billion pesos and it is only 82 percent fulfilled. This has been influenced by a group of more than 40 companies that did not achieve their technical-productive goals, including a score of with losses. In a comprehensive manner, only Baraguá and Primero de Enero honored their commitments to the plan. The rest did not comply, motivated, above all, because net sales behave at 81.4 percent. The main effect on the province was the failure to comply with the sugar harvest.
"Let us remember that last year they ground three plants, although in reality the Ciro Redondo did not finish grinding."
In this harvest, two will do it: the Ciro Redondo (which was tested and should be the first to start, after the synchronizations with Bioeléctrica) and, also in the first days of January, Ecuador, in Baraguá.
“One of the issues that we have to continue specifying are those derived from sugar cane. Here we have a rum factory in Falla, a panel factory in Primero de Enero, a torula factory in Ciro Redondo and a refinery in Baraguá. The challenge is to get out of the grass everything it can give us, but for that, the first thing is to sow more sugarcane.
“After 2020 and 2021 of almost global paralysis, we expect that in 2022 tourism will experience growth, because in the last two months of this year, the main clients, Canada and Russia, have been increasing the number of vacationers. We started with four hotels, today we have 14 and we must incorporate others. That will give us a chance to increase the plan.
“The other great challenge is to ensure that all our agricultural companies fulfill their state mandates. For an eminently agricultural province, poor performance in this sector is not permissible. They have to keep getting stronger, and while some are already showing a take off, others have lagged behind.
“We closed the period with 24 private MSMEs and 66 approved local development projects. In this sense, one of the purposes is that in 2022 we can create state MSMEs, since the goal is to strengthen the state business network, knowing that new actors are essential in territorial development.
“That is why we will have to pay special attention to Commerce and Gastronomy companies, which are the ones that contribute the most to municipal plans. It is imperative to go to the efficiency of these entities, especially with the new structures and prerogatives given to this sector. That has to finish curdling, so that the territories have secure sources of financing.
“In 2022 municipal self-sufficiency plans and animal feed production will be a priority. We are in a position for each territory to produce food for its people, at the designed levels: 30 pounds of food and grains, and five kilograms of animal protein. This includes guaranteeing animal feed, because there is no money to import feed”.
The story of Ciego de Ávila cannot be told, from now on, without mentioning the bloody battle against COVID-19. Both in 2020 and 2021, the virus was primed with the Avilanians. When it seemed that we were leaving behind the regrowth of September, the beginning of this year and, especially, the pandemic peak of July and August put us on the ropes.
Governor
"I think we were all caught off guard, okay?"
—Although the direction of the Ministry of Health alerted us of the possibility of such an event, we do not imagine the magnitude of the phenomenon. In this sense, the decision to reinforce the province with cadres and specialists from various ministries, as well as from the central government and the Party, was very successful. Coupled with this, the invaluable contribution of more than 700 Health professionals who arrived in the province at the most critical moments, in July and August.
“In spite of everything, we managed to set up 54 isolation centers, using all the educational, sports, cultural, commercial and gastronomic centers of the accommodation company. However, we did not imagine that we would exceed 740 deceased. It was a hard and irreparable blow.
“What was most difficult in the province was the care for the serious one, since we only have two general hospitals. We are among the three provinces mentioned by the President a few days ago, with a poor health infrastructure. We had to look for alternatives and they were not always adequate to serve the growing number of patients requiring specialized care. Add to that circumstance the intensified blockade and the failure of the main oxygen plant in the country.
"I take this opportunity to extend a recognition and gratitude to the Marina Marlin de Júcaro that, at the worst moment, gave us more than 250 bottles of oxygen at 40 percent daily, and allowed us to maintain minimum levels of availability, while the oxygen bullets arrived. from Santiago de Cuba or Havana.
"If you asked me about the most difficult period this year, I would not tell you that it was my illness or that of my family, but rather go to the two hospitals and check that there was only one reserve in the oxygen bottle bank."
"Were you afraid that the situation would overtake you?"
—I was always very tense, but my hand did not shake to make decisions. There came a time when I said 'don't wait for trucks, put the bottles in a Lada and start where you need to'. The other thing was direct communication with the Prime Minister and sending him a message saying 'if we don't get help in two hours, people will die. We have no choice. And before two hours the first helicopter arrived, at 11:30 at night, and the second at 1:30 in the morning. Each one with 30 bottles; That gave us the cover for the car that came from Santiago de Cuba to arrive.
“It was necessary to take other measures in hospitals, seeking to rationalize the use of oxygen and looking for and sealing possible leaks. They were the most difficult moments.
“The other very, very complex one was when the burial capacities in the cemetery were exhausted. The first decision was to expand niches in an area that, originally, was in the development plan of the cemetery. However, then we asked the country's leadership to evaluate the possibility of building a new cemetery outside the urban perimeter of the city, and we did so. Furthermore, in all municipalities we created brigades to expand municipal cemeteries”.
"How many hours did you sleep?"
-Very few. I went to bed at 2:00 in the morning and got up before 6:00. Although, he was not really resting, he had a lot of pressure. To the point that I managed to have the telephone number of all the drivers who transported the oxygen bullets and monitored them to know in what time they would arrive. From those days the idea was born that the motorized police and patrols accompanied them, so that the transfer would be more expeditious.
—You came from a convalescence, precisely from COVID-19. Do you have any idea where it was infected?
-Yes. I got sick from a colleague who visited the province. His PCR was negative when he got here, but he was the source of the infection, confirmed a few days later. On the fourth day I started to feel bad; By the sixth, when I climbed the four floors to my apartment, I was out of the game. I told my wife 'call the girl (her daughter Aniley), that I think I'm going to die today'. That was at the end of May, I had had three RT-PCRs and only the last one was positive. I was in intensive care for 11 days. I lost 33 pounds.
"What lessons remain?"
—The first lesson is that everything must be put into function of Health, especially transportation. In the face of a pandemic, ambulances will never be enough, therefore, from the outset it is necessary to mobilize and appeal to the conscience and responsibility of all. I take this opportunity to recognize the people of Avila who contributed what they could in the fight against the pandemic. From those who made their means of transportation available, to those who donated food and resources. Of course, the medical staff and the rest of the workers who remained in their positions, guaranteeing vital services, in the midst of a tense health situation.
“A second lesson is the urgency of creating isolation capacities in all municipalities. For this and any epidemic, only in this way is contagion interrupted and control achieved. Finally, the prominence of the Family Physician and the rest of the community factors in epidemiological situations like this one. That has to be an indispensable condition to face any challenge”.
- Where would you place the challenges of the People's Power so that it is precisely that: power and popular?
"We still have a long way to go." At this stage, it became clear how much more vulnerable people and neighborhoods with social disadvantages could be cared for. It became clear that integrated community work is essential for governance and towards the improvement of this and other mechanisms we must walk. From the Provincial Government Council we must better visualize the needs and particular conditions of each territory, to better manage resources. This coming year should be a period of training within the structures of Popular Power, so that the new regulations are mastered and the established provisions are fulfilled. It is the Assembly that commands and the Board of Directors executes.
If we ask the Governor for a quick assessment of his two years in office, he says that, luckily, his life was spent in a municipality and for 18 years he had responsibilities in the government. Later he was a manager in two companies. “I have the vision of both areas and that, without a doubt, has helped me to undertake my assignment. However, almost all of my time as Governor has been based on dealing with the pandemic. Now we have been able to walk to places and strengthen work systems. We still have to be closer to the town”.
—It is clear to me that time, what is called time, has not had a long time.
—No, I have not (and he smiles). Prominence of the Family Physician and the rest of the community factors in epidemiological situations like this one. That has to be an indispensable condition to face any challenge”.
- Where would you place the challenges of the People's Power so that it is precisely that: power and popular?
"We still have a long way to go." At this stage, it became clear how much more vulnerable people and neighborhoods with social disadvantages could be cared for. It became clear that integrated community work is essential for governance and towards the improvement of this and other mechanisms, we must walk. From the Provincial Government Council we must better visualize the needs and particular conditions of each territory, to better manage resources. This coming year should be a period of training within the structures of Popular Power, so that the new regulations are mastered and the established provisions are fulfilled. It is the Assembly that commands and the Board of Directors executes.
If we ask the Governor for a quick assessment of his two years in office, he says that, luckily, his life was spent in a municipality and for 18 years, he had responsibilities in the government. Later he was a manager in two companies. “I have the vision of both areas and that, without a doubt, has helped me to undertake my assignment. However, almost all of my time as Governor has been based on dealing with the pandemic. Now we have been able to walk to places and strengthen work systems. We still have to be closer to the town”.
—It is clear to me that time, what is called time, has not had a long time.
—No, I have not (and he smiles).