Just a few days after the mission was entrusted, the man received a couple of pieces of news that he had been waiting for a long time. At 55 years old, he would not necessarily have to yearn for "grandmother", but the WhatsApp messages announcing two grandchildren on the way crowned a moment that, now he understands, were the definitive impulse.
Liván Izquierdo Alonso has a phone full of photos of her grandchildren and, like all grandfathers, shows them if given the opportunity. "This is Laura's and this is Livancito's," he says without any hint of preference, even when Livancitín (that is, Liván III) wears his "pint."
I choose to show the family man first before the member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba and his first secretary in the province, but such distinctions can only be made at the time of writing. This, obviously, is a conversation with the leadership team, on the brink of closing a particularly complex cycle, and perhaps his intensity as a father, grandfather, husband and son better explains his other "intensity", that of a boss who does not give truce, which puts pressure every day.
It was the turn of Izquierdo Alonso to arrive in Ciego de Ávila at the end of the first quarter of the year, a moment in which the economic and social guidelines of the territory were already outlined. It would have two paths: stick to the agreement or revolutionize everything.
─ What was the "mission" entrusted by the highest leadership of the Party?
─ They told me that we had to work differently in Ciego de Ávila, on all fronts. Beginning with what corresponds to the Party as the rector of society: to make the grassroots organizations work and that they radiate to their environment. To this end, we have been paying special attention to the politics of cadres and the internal functioning of the organization, and, of course, economic and social issues.Since his first public appearance, on March 25, the recently elected first party secretary in Ciego de Ávila used a phrase that was already known to the people of Ciego de Avila. Without wasting a day had been the slogan of a political-social movement that transformed the province after a long period of stagnation. Then the Ciego de Ávila Heartbet would be added and more recently the Decisive Effort.
─ What do these phrases entail and why assume them as a banner of the work of the Party and the Government here? Do you feel that there was understanding and acceptance for the continuity proposed?
─ When I arrived they told me that Without losing a day was a phrase that was used and I thought it was magnificent, because it comes from the pastures of Lázaro López, the tremendous event of that day and what it meant for the future of the Revolution. The Ciego de Ávila Heartbeat was used during the pandemic, based on the efforts of doctors and other colleagues who put their own lives at risk to save us. In addition, that of Decisive Effort belongs to Fidel. It has to do with the heroism of the 10 million harvest, with Girón, with all the goals assumed by this country in all these years, and linking it with the imprint of Fidel in Ciego de Ávila. I think that he made this province with his hands, not only for the people of Avila, but for all of Cuba.
“I think that, although work has been done, we have not reached where we need to go. The debt is not only of the cadres, but of the people. It is the people who must be the protagonist of everything that is done. The purpose is not mine or a handful of paintings: it has to be everyone's.
“The Ciego de Ávila Heartbeat distinction that is delivered quarterly to the organizations, to the municipalities, is an incentive for that continuity. Others have to worry, because what will the workers of a company that is not beating for the town say? Those who receive the condition have many challenges and things to do, but others have even more to deal with.
“I am convinced that it is a special motivation, to push forward, so that each one ends their working day aware of having fulfilled their duty. What do we need in Ciego de Ávila? That we all participate, that each one contribute with his effort to the advancement of the province, that people criticize, but participating, doing”.
─ Could we say that you studied the province before you arrived?
─ Yes, of course. I exchanged with colleagues who directed here, with Tapia, with Félix. I studied Fidel's imprint in Ciego de Ávila, the events related to Lázaro López, the socioeconomic life of the territory and, above all, the productive potential in agriculture, in the sugar agro-industry. To the point that I was convinced that few provinces can produce on a par with this one, for three fundamental reasons: the soil, the water, and the people of Ciego de Avila.
─ Precisely the first place you visited in Ciego de Ávila was the Primero de Enero factory. Was it a coincidence or does it have to do with what you pointed out, confirmation that the sugar agro-industry is decisive?
─ Actually, it was a bit of a coincidence. However, we always recognized the potential of that municipality. Not only for the plant, but for the Arnaldo Ramírez Company, one of those that has been demonstrating that it can be done, that if man is useful, the land is useful.
─ In multiple scenarios I have seen that you treat the director of the company, Jorge Maceo, with respect and deference...
─ That peasant is a real Maceo. Going back to the question, after having carried out a review process in the nuclei and committees of the Party, prior to the congress, we arrived with the defined ideas, concepts and guidelines, and this helped us to outline the work objectives very well. In reality, they are an adaptation of those ideas, concepts and guidelines to the responsibilities of the province. The other thing that helped us a lot was the visit of the Secretariat of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba and its check-ups and evaluations on the spot. They were the best roadmap.
─ It will be 9 months since his proposal and election as first secretary...
─ On December 25, the 9 months were fulfilled.
─ You have counted them… Do you maintain the idea that the people of Ciego de Avila are a hard-working people? And if so, why does he constantly urge us to change pace?
─ Because I believe that we have room for more and there are several companies and organizations that demonstrate it, but they cannot be the exception, but rather the rule. The business system, agriculture and the sugar industry have to change pace, they are the backbone of this province. They are even the basis for the development of the Jardines del Rey tourist destination. What autonomy could we talk about if we do not develop agriculture? When there are municipalities that only have a Commerce and Gastronomy company. What we do have is land and we must develop it.
In addition to man-to-man work, exchanges with groups, check-up meetings and analysis of indicators, Izquierdo Alonso dedicates time ─a lot of time, we would say better─ to Internet social networks. Consequently, it has promoted a greater presence of content on and from Ciego de Ávila on platforms such as Facebook and Twitter among managers, cadres and workers from all sectors. This impulse stems from his personal example and goes through the demand, as is natural.
─ If the economic battle, the daily life of the people, is so decisive and demands so much dedication, why share time with social networks, which can become so fickle and even treacherous?
─ Because we have to take care of the Revolution, too, in that scenario. Throughout this year of blackouts and vicissitudes, we showed that we could defend it. I remember volunteer work planting sugarcane, we were more than 1,000 people, and there was a man in a corner of the field who stopped short and told me: “truly, we are incredible. The whole night in blackout and today we are sowing cane”.
We are taking care of the Revolution in the physical space, in a superior way, and we must also do it in the digital space. Unfortunately, social networks can mobilize or demobilize. And although we have made progress, we have many reserves left. That, it is clear, is not going to replace the work of the mass and political organizations; Here we continue to believe in man-to-man work that Fidel taught us.
─ Do you believe in leading by example...
─It has to be like that, I can't conceive of any other way.When there is a cadre that socializes, participates, is the first in everything, don't you think that his workers follow him more than others, that they even have the luxury of being late?
─ Do you feel that in Ciego de Ávila, you have been able to “exercise” what was done in Matanzas or have you had to “innovate” as you go along?
─ My work system now has to do with what I did previously in Matanzas, not only as first secretary. I learn every day of my years in the Provincial Committee of the CDR and I believe that the cadres must go through different responsibilities, that they not be improvised.
“But I have had to incorporate other methods. Look, there are three things to keep in mind. This year has been so complicated that every day at 7:00 p.m. we check and review how it ends and how the main services to the population start. That is new. So is the more systematic participation in popular councils, direct contact with the people. This has to do with indicating the country, but also with the need to know the territory. And as a third element, the monthly meetings with the cadres and secretaries of the municipalities, based on the strengthening of the main indicators of the Party's operation. I can tell you that we have made progress in the policy of cadres, in growth, but there is much more to do."
─ What balance can you make a few hours before the end of 2022? What are the 2023 guidelines?
─ It has been a very complex year, with a lot of work and many challenges. But also great victories. Knowing that ours was the second province with the highest popular participation in the referendum process and the municipal elections is satisfying. We have just elected the new municipal assemblies, decisive for the responsibilities of the territories. They are small big victories.
“It was a year that prepares us for a better 2023, always thinking about our potential and the collective effort. We have to be able to mobilize the people, we don't need to do anything extra, just with each one of us doing what they have to, in the place where they are”.
─ What is the most difficult part of being the first secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba in a province?
─ I would say that it is wanting to solve a group of problems and dissatisfactions of the people and not being able to because we lack material resources. And the fundamental cause is the blockage. We cannot understand the blockade for one thing and not for another. It affects us at all levels. We must study more the claims of the Americans with Cuba. We cannot forget what Batista did, all the hostility after the triumph of the Revolution; here there were provinces with more than 40 rebel bands. That is what you have to study. As the President has explained, it is not just resisting, but resisting and moving forward. Change step.
─ You came to the province alone. His family stayed in Matanzas and this suggests that his time in Ciego de Ávila could be brief, while adding complexities to the task. Have you felt alone, from the point of view of work and the response of managers and subordinates? Would that answer somehow compensate for the distance with yours?
─ No. I have never felt alone, although one always misses the family, the grandchildren. But the people of Ciego de Avila are supportive and compensate for any loneliness. I don't know if I'm in transit, that's not for me to decide. I will be as long as necessary, with the same spirit of the beginning. Every morning I will wake up beating for the town, without losing a day.